Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Malachy
Charlotte’s huge bluish-green eyes meet mine as her fingers dig into my sides. “What does that mean?”
I shrug. “There’s no telling with Pat, but he’s not sneaky—at least, not when it comes to us. He’ll tell us.”
Her teeth dig into her lower lip.
Tension rolls off her in waves that give me flashbacks of how scared she was last night.
Shit.
Her scent is bitter, betraying her anxiety, and my instincts scream at me to demolish the problem.
“Come on, up with ya.” Moving my forearm from around her lower back, I slide it under her ass and lift. She’s light enough that it’s no problem to pick her up with one arm, but she helps by scrambling up my chest and looping her arm around my neck.
There are dark circles under her eyes, and her nose and cheeks are red, betraying that she’s been crying.
She’s still beautiful in a way that’s hard to explain.
More than that, I like that she needs me.
No one does anymore.
Not since the decay took over.
Hell, I’m such a detriment since going rabid that I can’t even rule my family. I was trained to lead, but I don’t trust my own mind anymore.
Once the rage slips in…
Things get ugly fast.
But I also know I’m not a threat to Charlotte or Lukas.
Who knows, maybe I’m delusional, but it seems like she’s starting to trust me. She didn’t scream or slap my hands away when I picked her up.
Having her face only inches from mine is dangerous. It’s been more than five years since I’ve been this close to a woman, and I’ve never ached to kiss one the way I yearn to slam her back against the wall and kiss her senseless.
Instead, I take off for the stairs.
Miriam and Lucky are stretched out on the couch when we make it into the room. The boy sleeps with his head on a throw pillow and the blanket from the back of the couch over him.
Charlotte stretches her legs like she wants me to put her down, but I’m enjoying having her wrapped around me too much for that.
“Nuh-uh,” I grunt, nodding to the couch. “He’s napping. Miriam won’t leave his side.”
“We’re fine,” Miriam says. “My shows are about to come on.”
I chuckle. “She always takes a break to watch her favorite soap operas.”
“He still has accidents while he sleeps…” Charlotte looks over her shoulder, and I take a few steps and twist us to the side to make it easier for her to see.
“Wouldn’t you know, I potty trained both Patrick and Cormac,” Miriam says softly. “I’ll keep an eye on him. If he starts moving around, I’ll take him straight to the bathroom. Or if it’ll make you feel more comfortable, I can run and get a towel to put under him.”
“I just don’t want him to destroy the couch…” Charlotte says.
“Pee is far from the worst bodily fluid that I’ve scrubbed out of the furniture in this house.” Miriam laughs.
That woman needs to come with a censor button. She doesn’t stop chuckling, even when she spots the glare I shoot her way.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” the omega asks.
“We’re perfect.” Miriam brushes her hand through Lucky’s hair. “Go and have whatever important talk the four of you need to have. We’ll be here when you’re done. If he wakes up asking for you, I promise I’ll come find you.”
I nod and grunt a quick “thank you” before taking off toward the downstairs office.
The longer Miriam speaks, the more she can embarrass the three of us.
“I really feel like I should be out there watching my kid,” Charlotte says with a huff.
I chuckle, nuzzling my beard to the side of her head.
“He’s asleep. He won’t even know the difference.
Miriam is amazing with kids. If he does wake up, she’ll get him a drink and come find us.
I know you’re used to doing everything on your own, but I swear, the world won’t stop turning if you accept a little help now and then. ”
Cormac leans against the bookcase on the far wall. He does a double take when he spots Charlotte in my arms, and I fight the urge to smirk.
I could tote her sexy little ass around with me all day and never get tired.
I especially love the way she tucked her feet behind my ass and the way her tits push against my chest as we move.
Though, she does have to pull her feet down as I prepare to take a seat in one of the two club chairs on this side of the desk.
See, it’s meant to be.
With Patrick in his chair behind the desk, once Cormac takes a seat, there will be no other options.
Charlotte is clearly meant to sit on my lap. That way, I’ll be able to comfort her if anything stressful comes up.
I have no choice but to put her on her feet while I get settled in the chair.
Once I’m seated, I grab her hips, spin her back to me, and pull the startled omega down.
I stretch back in the chair, looping her legs over mine.
It forces her to recline against my chest, and I plant a hand on her middle.
“You good?” I ask as she squirms around my lap.
“Yeah, but I can stand up if I’m too heavy. Or take the other chair.”
“You’re good here.” I nod at Patrick, who watches us with his head tilted. “Don’t leave us in suspense, Pat.”
If Cormac had two brain cells to rub together, he’d come take the open seat to prevent her from having other options.
“We know who attacked your friend the other night,” Patrick says, keeping his eyes locked on Charlotte’s. “They aren’t familiar to any of us, but Emory Moretti—he’s another family head—was approached about helping them gain access to Grim. I don’t know how much you know about Lacey’s new pack—”
“Basically nothing,” Charlotte says, her tone betraying her tension.
“Right,” Patrick hums. “Okay, you have your friend Lacey. Her stepbrother is Wilder. He’s the negotiator for the Boston families.
He’s supposed to stay neutral and, for the most part, he does.
His left and right hands—essentially his closest enforcers—are Grim and Callum. They’re both bonded to Lacey now.”
“Jesus,” Charlotte whispers. “Well, she’s never coming back to work. It’s part of our contract that we have to stay unbonded.” Her head shakes. “Not that I’ll be able to go back. I panicked and called out for the entire week yesterday, but…”
“She certainly won’t be able to go back to working at the pheromone clinic,” Patrick says with a snort.
Did I know Charlotte works at one of those places Patrick tried to convince me to go to?
If I did, it didn’t fully click.
But feck.
I hate the thought of her cuddling up with feral or rabid alphas.
“There’s a possibility you might be able to return to work, but we’ll have to see how things play out.
” Patrick smiles dangerously, instantly making me suspicious.
“In the meantime, if you’d like to thank us for our generous hospitality, or make amends for the fact that you shot me, Malachy has been medically declared rabid by our private physician. Perhaps he already mentioned that?”
I growl. “No, I hadn’t.”
It’s no one’s goddamn business, and it’s in no way Charlotte’s responsibility to help fix me. I should have been the one to tell her if or when I was ready to do so. Not to mention, it’s a real dick move to put pressure on her, using her guilt as leverage.
“Whoa, don’t do that.” Cormac shoves himself off the bookshelf, pointing at Patrick. “God, why do you have to be so manipulative? Try asking like a normal goddamn person.”
“Okay, stalker,” Pat says, chuckling.
I quirk an eyebrow.
Are we really going to go at each other’s faults now?
“It’s nothing to be ashamed about.” Charlotte glances at me over her shoulder, patting my hand on her stomach.
“I’m more than happy to spend some time making sure you can soak up my pheromones.
Honestly, it’s the least I can do, even if you both were right.
He clearly deserved that graze for something. ”
“I’m not going to apologize for being who I’ve always been,” Patrick says, laughing.
“But we need to get back to the issue at hand. Grim and Callum had the assailants’ wallets—they should be ashamed at this point.
Who wouldn’t immediately run a background check?
” He sighs. “To be fair, they were focused on getting rid of the bodies and getting back to Wilder’s to end the night balls deep in their omega.
Okay, that’s not a factual account of events, but it’s my best assumption. They’re usually much more thorough.”
“Jesus, Patrick,” I mutter while Cormac looks like he’s contemplating how much it would upset Charlotte if he were to stab our middle brother.
“The men who approached Moretti belong to some 1% biker club out of Florida.” Patrick rolls his eyes.
“I’ll never understand that. We’ve spent years doing our best to convince the public that organized crime is a thing of the past in Boston.
Who would purposely want to announce to the DEA and ATF that they should be paying attention? ”
My focus tunnels on Charlotte’s face. Her entire body is rigid, and she’s not even breathing.
“What club?” she chokes out, blinking rapidly. “What city?”
“The Jacksonville Demons,” Pat says. “They have six men in town. Technically speaking, they had nine before Grim murdered three of them. The congregation is led by someone named McCarthy, and let me say, the man doesn’t have the leverage he thinks he has.
Wilder’s second-in-command is a beast in the ring.
If McCarthy thinks making the fight two-on-one will give them better odds, he couldn’t be any more incorrect.
It could be five-to-one, and I’d still put my money on Grim. ”
“What does that mean?” Charlotte asks, leaning forward on my lap.
Patrick frowns. “I thought I was clear. McCarthy and his men want to take Grim out for what he did to their MC brothers. Moretti helped negotiate a fight tonight between two of the Jacksonville Demons and Grim.”
“Oh, God,” Charlotte whispers.
It’s my turn to frown as I pull her back to my chest. “There’s no way two guys manage to take out Grim. Your friend will be fine.”
“Unless you have some other concern?” Patrick asks.
Cormac sighs, while the wheels in my head start turning.
My mind immediately went to Charlotte thinking Grim could die, which would cause Lacey agony with how fresh their bond is. Whatever Patrick is insinuating probably makes a lot more sense.
Fuck.
Going rabid really has started eating away at my brain.
Charlotte shakes her head.
“Wilder asked that we be at the fight to back him up,” Patrick says, keeping his eyes on Charlotte. “I declined. There’s no reason for us to attend, but I am sending Keegan and O’Riordan.” He turns to Cormac. “If you’d like to watch from above, it will only strengthen our relationship with Wilder.”
Well, at least he didn’t outright say that Cormac would be watching from above with a sniper rifle. Apparently he located the smallest bit of discretion.
Cormac’s gaze darts from Charlotte to Patrick. “I’ll be there. You two can stay home with Lucky and Charlotte.”
I nod.
That’s fine by me.
Charlotte quickly excuses herself to check on her son, and Patrick finally gives us a clearer understanding of what the fuck is happening.
“The MC is only in town because they’re searching for someone.” Pat glances between us, his eyebrows rising. “A woman named Candice. They didn’t say shit about the boy or why they’re hunting the woman, but…”
“There’s a damn good chance Charlotte and Candice are one and the same.” Cormac’s head falls back as it shakes.
“Why did they attack Lacey if they were after Charlotte?” I ask, praying it’s not a dumb question.
My mind is nowhere close to as sharp as it used to be. It’s embarrassing, but these are my brothers. While they may heckle me, they won’t exploit my weakness.
“I talked to Wilder about that very same thing.” Patrick shrugs. “We have no clear-cut answer for that. The most likely scenario is that they were searching for Charlotte, smelled another ripe omega, and thought they could take a detour to fuck with her and still find Charlotte afterward.”
“Charlotte left early,” Cormac says. “From the Christmas market, I mean. She got scared and left early.”
“She told you that?” Patrick asks.
Cormac’s cheeks turn pink. “No. I was there. She rarely goes anywhere except to the library, work, and Lucky’s day care. I followed her. I thought it would be a decent location to fake a chance meeting.”
I swipe a hand over my face.
It’s not a great sign if his natural obsessive tendencies are spilling into stalking a woman. He’s always used his hyperfocus to track and trap targets.
“Then she spent the next day hiding in her apartment before trying to run…” Patrick scratches his beard. “Even if Grim wins tonight, that MC is going to be a problem. They know Charlotte was in Boston. She’ll never be able to go back to work. Not if they’re actively hunting her.”
Now that I can help with.
“I’ll go with Cormac tonight. We can wipe them out in one go,” I suggest.
Patrick shakes his head. “That won’t fix the problem. Not really. Even if you kill the members that are in Boston, there’s a whole home chapter in Florida.”
“We’re not going to hand her over,” Cormac snaps.
At the same time, I say, “Even if she runs, they’ll just follow.”
“No, I know,” Patrick agrees. “And it’s not solely our problem to solve, since Grim murdered several of their members.
Let’s play this smart. We back up Wilder tonight, and we see how things go.
They may see that Charlotte’s apartment is empty and assume she ran.
They’re unlikely to continue to focus on Boston if they believe she bolted, and there’s no chance anyone would think to look for her here. ”
I don’t like the sound of any of that, but Patrick has always been more cunning than I could dream of being, and that was before the decay set in. The entire reason I handed off control of the family was because I didn’t want to risk making bad calls due to my mental state.
I’ll follow his lead for now, but I also won’t keep my mouth shut if I think things are headed in a bad direction.
After our talk, I head upstairs to find a shirt. I already know Miriam will yell at me for eating in the kitchen without being fully dressed. I’m starving, and I skipped breakfast.
I barely get my T-shirt on before my phone rings.
I stride over to the nightstand, picking up the call. “What?”
“Malachy, as chipper as ever.” Callum chuckles. “Listen, I have a snuggly little omega that I need to get back to, so I have to make this quick, but I need a favor…”
My eyebrows rise.
Callum is the guy everyone owes favors to. Him willingly putting himself in debt for a marker is practically unheard of.