60. Chapter 60
Neither Cici nor Gemini answers Thor right away as they share a nervous look. Thor’s jaw works back and forth as he watches the women.
“Patch, how many times have you told Cici that you weren’t interested in being with her?” Levi asks.
“That was probably the sixth or seventh time. Before Mary came here, I’d told her four or five times. This was the second time since Mary has been here.”
“And Gemini?”
“Four times. Each time, she seemed to think she had a right to my dick since I’ve never taken her.”
Levi gets up and walks in front of the women, leaning against Thor’s desk. “Do neither of you remember the lengthy conversations we’ve had before I gave you paperwork to sign? We covered that shit for a reason and why I had you initial next to each paragraph stating you agreed to what was said.”
She pauses and points a knife at them. Wait, where did she get a knife from? And when did she pull it out?
“Regardless of what you think, you are not the ones who get to decide who a member takes as an Old Lady. If they tell you they don’t want sex, to get lost, to never touch them, or whatever, you do as they say. How would you like it if the roles were reversed, and you repeatedly told a man to not touch you or that you didn’t want to have sex and yet he still keeps pushing?”
At that, both women look a little sheepish and guilty.
“Exactly. This is why we had those talks. You must respect the guys’ requests if they rebuke your advances. And if one of them brings a woman or a partner here that they are serious about, you do not interfere in their relationship. How would you feel if some scantily clad woman was constantly worming her way into a relationship of yours?”
Gemini looks down and nods, however Cici’s face turns angry.
“That’s exactly what’s happening here!” Cici rants as she angrily points at me. “I’ve been pursuing Patch for a long time and yet she’s worming her way into our relationship. He’s only with her out of obligation, not love, since he thinks one of her brats is his.”
Exhaling heavily, I shake my head. “You are wrong on so many levels,” I mutter under my breath to which she glares at me.
Patch puts his other hand on my arm, stopping me from continuing.
“Let’s get something perfectly straight here once and for all. There is no relationship with you, Cici. Period. I have never been in a relationship with you, regardless of what you think. What we had was a one-night stand, which I made abundantly clear at the time and that it was all it would ever be. I have not pursued you since and I have been repeatedly telling you that I have no intention of pursuing a romantic interest with you.”
She’s sputters and is about to say something when Patch raises his hand, silencing her.
“Please, just fucking stop. Why can’t you accept that I don’t want you that way? I hate to be fucking blunt, again , but nothing seems to get through to you. I love Mary and always have loved her. Despite your ill-conceived notions on beauty, I’ve always had a thing for Mary’s curves. I prefer curvy women versus someone who barely eats anything because that’s what society tells her is beautiful. Well, society is wrong in my opinion. Mary will be my Old Lady and wife someday. You need to learn to accept that. If you can’t accept that, then maybe you should leave the club.”
Silence meets Patch’s words as we all watch Cici. Her eyes well with tears, but no one says anything.
“But I love you. I’ve loved you since I first saw you in high school. Why isn’t that enough?” she whispers and Patch sighs, shaking his head.
“I don’t and never have loved you. It’s always been Mary for me. I don’t remember you from high school, but if you hadn’t noticed, I was with Mary since we were sixteen. Before that, we were practically inseparable. When we got together at the bar, all it was was a one-night stand. I needed a release. I just needed to scratch an itch. That’s all. I wasn’t looking for a relationship with you. If I had wanted a relationship with you, which I don’t just to clarify again, it would have happened not too long after that night.
“If you followed me here and thought I’d take you as my Old Lady, you’re sadly mistaken because you were never who I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. If that was what you were hoping for, you need to pack your shit and leave. On top of all of that, a brother doesn’t want an Old Lady who’s been fucked by all his brothers.”
She recoils as if she’s been slapped and I honestly feel a little sorry for her, but if Patch has told her this six or seven times already, she should have gotten the hint by now that he wants nothing to do with her.
Her gaze lowers and she nods her head glumly.
Thor growls slightly and Cici’s head pops back up, paling once again at the icy glare Thor is giving her. “Now onto the other matter—what the fuck did you put in Mary’s bag?”
Cici turns her attention back to me, and once again, looks down her nose at me. “Leon had asked me to pass on a note from Mary’s mom. He said her mom had been trying to reach her for some time, but Mary kept refusing to answer the calls. She’s really concerned about her and the kids. She wanted to offer to help them.” Cici shakes her head and her lip curls in disgust. “I don’t know how you can be so cruel to your own mother. All she wants to do is help.”
Patch’s arms wrap around me, and he gently pulls me back down into my chair, which I hadn’t realized I’d stood up from.
Cici blanches at the fury I know is etched on my face and when she looks around the room, she turns white as a ghost as she licks her lips nervously.
“Do you have any idea what the fuck that bitch has put me through? Having her for a mother has been a fucking nightmare, and on top of that, she was the fucking instigator in everything I’ve endured these last nine years,” I seethe.
She looks at me in confusion. “What are you talking about? She’s a very nice old lady and she was genuinely concerned and hurt that you wouldn’t answer her calls.”
I bark out a humorless laugh. “The only person that bitch cares about is herself. Like I said, she has made my life a living nightmare since I was three or four years old. Do you know what would have happened if I had gone to her?” I pause and tilt my head, watching her, as her brow dips in confusion. “I would have been sold off to the highest bidder, most likely to be someone’s sex slave. Same for my children. You have no idea who the fuck you’re dealing with. Both Leon and my so-called mother have more blood on their hands than you can imagine. I’m not going to tell you everything they’ve done, but if you knew what was good for you, you wouldn’t go either one of them again, otherwise you very well could end up on that lifestyle yourself.”
Her brows crease even further when she realizes I mean every word I’m saying. After a moment, she looks down at the sack of papers that are still on her lap. When she looks back up, she looks damn near broken as her eyes glisten slightly. I almost feel sorry for her, but my anger wipes that thought away as soon as it’s formed.
“He lied to me again, didn’t he? Why would he do that? We’ve been the only real family each other’s had since we were sixteen. He watched out for me, kept me clothed, fed, and warm. Why would he lie to me?”
Some of my anger dissipates when I realize she really doesn’t have any idea about what’s going on or the danger she could have brought down on me. My gut tightens as I realize what’s been happening. So many more conversations I’ve overheard make so much more sense now.
“He was preparing you.”
Her confused gaze snaps up to me again from the stack of papers in her lap.
“He was using you, Cici. Using you to try and lure people into his circle so he can take them and sell them in his trafficking ring. He might even have plans to do that to you after you are no longer useful to him.”
Her throat works as she shakes her head. “I don’t believe you. Leon would never betray me like that.”
I shrug. “Believe what you want to believe, but Leon is nothing like the man you think he is. I’ve seen the evil he’s wrought on people and you really, really don’t want to be the one on the receiving end.”
The steel in my voice at that last part has her looking back sharply at me, and her hands start to shake slightly before she clasps her hands tightly in her lap.
Levi moves to stand beside Thor, who pulls her down so that she’s sitting on his leg. “Cici, this is your second strike and Gemini, your first. I’m not going to reprimand you, Cici, for delivering the letter since it’s clear you were taken advantage of. I am going to make this clear though, if Leon, Eileen, or anyone else asks you to do something, you come to us and let us know about it. Mary’s right. These are not people you want to be mixed up with. Do you understand?”
Yes,” they both reply.
“However, if either of you interfere with Patch and Mary’s relationship, or with any club member’s relationship again, you will get another strike Gemini, and Cici?” Levi pauses until Cici looks up at her. “You will be kicked out of the club and will be barred from entering any of our businesses. You also won’t be allowed to rent an apartment or house from us. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” they both reply again, though Cici’s is barely audible.
“Thor?”
“Patch, Mary, is there anything else you’d like to add?”
“I’ve said everything I need to say and I hope like fuck I never have to repeat it again,” Patch growls.
Thor turns to me and I hesitate as I figure out how to word this. “You both are very beautiful women in your own way. However, there isn’t a cookie-cutter pattern that states beauty has to look only one way. You will find your other half one day, or if you were serious about being together, finding your third. However, I’m going to take a stab that your third is not here, otherwise he or she would have approached you already. Also, please take what I’ve said about Leon to heart. I know it’s hard because you’ve looked up to him your whole life, but I don’t want to see you being thrust into that sort of life or ending up in a ditch.”
I pause and look over my shoulder at the bookshelf where Levi keeps spare journals and then turn toward Levi, raising my eyebrow in question.
She tilts her head slightly in a nod before turning to Thor and having another sort of silent communication. Levi turns to the girls, her face softer, but still stern.
“So, ladies, do you still want to stay in the club as bunnies?”
They look at each other and nod.
“Okay, please go out to the main room and wait for me there. I’ll be out in a few minutes. If the guys approach you for sex, tell them they’ll have to wait until later,” she tells them.
They murmur their thanks and quietly get up. Cici pauses at the door and glances back at the stack of hospital summaries on the couch, a confused look on her face, before she shakes her head slightly and closes the door behind them.
As soon as they do, Patch gets up and locks the door before sitting back down. The air is instantly heavier and I turn toward Thor, only to find him watching me already.
“What we say next does not get repeated outside of these walls. Is that understood, Mary?”
Instantly, I nod. “Of course. You guys know that man, right? But how can that be? Kristoff has been raving mad for the last few months that Leon’s gone missing. He thinks you guys killed him.”
“Because we did,” Thor growls. “Or at least we thought his name was Leon. Fuck, if he wasn’t Leon, then who the fuck was he?”
Smoke frowns. “Ryder took their fingerprints while they were on ice. The only hit they got for him was Leon Davenport. However, I’m wondering if that was their plan all along? To create an alias for him and have him tell us he was Leon so that afterward, the real Leon would be a ghost and could do whatever the fuck he wanted?”
“But if Leon really was Kristoff’s son, then how did he get into foster care since Cici said he was her foster brother?”
Smoke’s frown deepens at my question. “I’ll need to do some digging. I knew Cici grew up in the system, but I didn’t look into the families she was placed with. I’ll let you know when I find something,” he tells Thor.
“Okay, we’ll call Church as soon as you know more. Wildcat, you go do your thing, but make sure those bitches understand this shit needs to stop. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to reinforce everything with the other bunnies as well. Might be a good time to tell Roxy and CJ that their roles on the books are changing as well per our last vote.”
At my confused look, Levi turns toward me. “We have a couple of books we keep here, and no, I don’t mean that in an illegal way. When I became Thor and Dragon’s Old Lady, the bunnies’ roles switched to reporting to me instead of Thor. At that point, I took over the records for all the bunnies we have in the club, not just our chapter, but all chapters. Jax and I work closely when a new bunny puts in their application to verify if they are related to anyone in the club or in the history of the club.
“The other books are the business ones. On record, the bunnies are hired as housekeepers because that’s what we pay them to do. Cook, clean, do laundry, things like that. They have the option of living here or they can live in one of our apartments. What Thor meant a moment ago, is that Roxy and CJ are going to be promoted into more of a management role. I won’t be able to do as many of the extra duties once the kids are born and they are going to help me out with those duties.
“Now, the sexual part of being a bunny is their choice and isn’t paid. It’s not a prostitute situation or holding them here under duress or anything. Some, like Roxy, just came here for protection, so she has never had sex with the guys. In exchange for our protection, she does other duties around the clubhouse as well. CJ, or Trixie as she used to go by, did have sex with the guys before she learned her brother, Drae, was here. I’m going to take a stab that you’ve heard her story?” Levi asks and at my nod, she continues.
“A lot of these women like the biker lifestyle and like having multiple sexual partners. A few girls have been given shit before they came here because they have high sex drives, which the guys absolutely love. When someone comes here wanting to be a bunny, I have several meetings with them to make sure they know the rules—both their housekeeping duties and the sexual ones, if they decide to do that. For those that have sex, regular testing is required and they are not to have sexual relations with people outside of the club. If they were to do that, they could unknowingly contract something and put someone’s life or lives at risk here by passing it along. If a club member says ‘no’, they are to move on and find someone else to have sex with. They are never to go after someone a member brings in as their partner—like what Cici was trying to do with you, Luscious and Gigi tried to do with Mae and what Monica and Tiffany tried to do with me. All of them were let go as bunnies and told to keep away from the club.” She pauses again and looks at Thor, who grunts.
He gives me a hard look and I get that this is another thing that needs to be kept mum.
“In reality, those four bunnies ended up handing over Mae and Wildcat to the guys that were trying to hurt them. They wanted Mae and Wildcat out of the picture so they could stake their claim on Timber, Dragon, and me. Because of what they’d done, they were taken care of, but only the club, Mae, and now you know the truth behind what really happened to them. However, if anyone asks, you tell the story Wildcat just said. They were kicked out for their actions, and we haven’t seen them since.”
“A lot more of your ladies’ stories make sense now, and of course, I’ll use the cover if anyone ever brings them up.”
Patch squeezes my hand and raises it to his lips, kissing my fingers. “Knew you were perfect for me and the club.”
The knot that had been in my chest loosens some at his words, and I once again count my lucky stars for bringing me back into Patch’s life and that we’re together again. Even if I did have to endure all of Stephan’s abuse to get here.
A phone vibrates and Patch pulls his phone out of his pocket. He grunts as he reads a text message. “Mateo is up and asking to see Mary. Then he’d like to talk to us.”
Thor pats Levi’s thigh. “You should talk to the bunnies and Smoke can get you video of anything you miss. We need to stop this shit with them pronto. I really don’t want another brother having to go through this shit and have them fucking with their Old Ladies.” He pauses and turns to me. “Maybe after you talk to Mateo, you should join Wildcat along with Mae. You three need to present a united front. If you didn’t know, the bunnies are the lowest on the totem pole in an MC, and they need to be showing you the respect you deserve as an Old Lady, even though your title isn’t fully finalized. Once we take care of Stephan, then Patch is already cleared to give you your property cut.”
My skin bristles on instinct at the word property, even though my mind knows I’m not really ‘property’. It’s just a sign in the MC world for who my Old Man is. Patch.
At that reminder, my body relaxes and I smile up at Patch. Turning back to Levi, I point to the bookcase behind me.
“I really think we should encourage the girls to use these books. I’m guessing some of them might have come from shitty backgrounds or have had shitty experiences. That could be part of why there are problems. Part of—not completely, because I realize some women can be royal bitches and only thinking of themselves when they decide a biker is ‘theirs’,” I say with air quotes. “However, we might be able to nip some of that in the bud if we show them we’re willing to help them deal with their demons. We don’t have to be the enemy or competition.”
Levi smiles widely at me. “Knew you were a good egg. Meet me out in the main room after you’re done talking to your uncle. I’ll message Mae to come meet me out there.”