Ghost’s head snapped back, and the only thing that saved him from landing on his ass was his hand just barely catching the banister. Pain flamed from the center of his face and he felt the immediate gush of blood flow from his nose. Regaining his footing, Ghost clutched his nose with one hand to try to keep the evidence from splattering all over Becks’ carpeting. Ranger hadn’t broken his nose, but sometimes a broken vessel could bleed just as bad, if not more.
Lifting his shirt to his face as he headed to the kitchen, Ghost told his enforcer and now brother-in-law, “You get one.” Although, if Ranger learned all Ghost had done to his sister over the past three and a half days, one would not be enough.
Liam moved out.Becks didn’t even get a chance to talk to her brother before discovering he was gone—and Ghost refused to tell her what it was they discussed or even give her a reason as to why. Having her brother walk into the house to find her naked on the couch was definitely not the highlight of her day, but she had been looking forward to seeing him and speaking to him. Except he was gone, without even so much of a ‘heya, sis!’.
When Becks asked where Liam was going, Ghost just shrugged. “He didn’t say.”
When Becks asked if it was a permanent move-out, Ghost shrugged again. “He didn’t say.”
And when Becks asked if Liam was planning on at least coming back for dinner, Ghost shrugged for a third time. “He didn’t say.”
Becks could practically feel the steam billowing out of her ears by the end of her questioning. The fact that her husband had a bag of peas to his nose was as telling as the blood spots on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs. Between her bruising Ghost’s eye and her kneeing him in the balls Thursday morning, the small scrape on her temple and whatever it was that happened to Liam’s nose Thursday night, and now Ghost’s nose, the neighbors were going to think they were a violent family.
Thankfully her new neighbors were all part of the club. Was it good or bad that none of them even blinked at Ghost’s injury? Though a giant of a man named Bear with a pink clip-on bow in his russet hair did look it over to ensure that nothing was broken, so that was something.
Over the years, Liam had told Becks stories about things that happened with the MC and the members. She knew little things about the club for the first six-ish years, mostly about their businesses or the bar Liam was managing. But the nitty-gritty, the more lewd behaviors the MC no doubt got into at their parties, he hid from her—despite the fact that she was an adult and knew what sex was. In all fairness, it wasn’t like shewantedto hear about her brother’s sexual escapades, and now that she was meeting the members face-to-face finally, she was grateful she didn’t know about theirs either.
Especially Ghost’s.
A number of the MC was at work still, which was fine by Becks. She would have preferred meeting them in smaller groups anyway.
When Liam had first joined, he’d sent her videos of the clubhouse and the bar, which she vaguely remembered looking at. The place was bigger than she’d imagined over the years. Glass double doors replaced the wooden ones she was sure had been there in Liam’s first video. Though the building had not been a distillery in many, many years, the place still held a maltyaroma. The wooden floors were clean, though showing signs of wear. On one side of the room was a long bar with glass-locked cabinets on the wall behind it. Seven wooden stools were lined up perfectly under the front. On the opposite side of the room were a couch, loveseat, coffee table, and lounge chair next to a fenced-in toddler’s play area.
Directly opposite the front doors was a staircase that went up to a half floor. The main area had a tall ceiling with large rafters, so it was likely only a single room or a couple small rooms were on the second floor. Ghost showed her the large commercial-sized kitchen, pointed out the bathrooms, and then took her under the stairs to show her where his office was. Demo and Rhea, Demo’s assistant, were in the other office next door.
In addition to Bear and Demo, she also met Pumpkin and his very pregnant wife, Dosia. She was not having a good day, complaining of Braxton Hicks contractions. Pumpkin was trying to comfort her, and only got threats against his manhood in return. While her harsh words didn’t seem to bother him, Becks did notice the concern in his eyes each time his wife hissed in pain.
“It’s days like today that I curse my super sperm,” she overheard him whisper to Ghost.
Yelizaveta, the club’s housekeeper, was around too. She informed Ghost that most of the club kids were at the town’s new indoor playground with the club’s two nannies, Pumpkin and Dosia’s personal nanny Frankie, and members Boots, Scooby, and Poker for protection.
On their way out of the clubhouse to the building the club used as a garage and gym, Ghost asked her what she thought so far.
“Well, I’m pretty sure without you guys wearing your names on your cuts, I’d have no hope of remembering who was who,” she answered back.
Ghost squeezed her hand. “You’ll get there. A lot is going to be putting faces to the names you already know from Ranger.”
Becks looked up at her husband. “Still not going to tell me what was spoken between the two of you?”
“Nope,” he said, opening the garage door for her. “But I will tell you that your brother loves you very much and only wants what’s best for you.”
Which, Becks could infer, Liam did not believe was Ghost.
The garage part was empty, but they found Starbucks in the gym. Becks was surprised she recognized him, and realized she’d watched some of his online thirst traps. Looking around, she spotted the cat that had made him famous. Starbucks had been doing a tutorial on proper pushup technique when the cat, Cuppa Joe, had climbed onto his back. And as everyone knew, if a cat chose you as their perch, you’re not allowed to move. It was one of those unspoken rules, like no matter what, the cat survives in movies. So, camera rolling, Starbucks had to hold the plank position for over an hour before Joe woke up from her nap, stretched, and sauntered off like she hadn’t just nearly killed her daddy.
Becks rarely watched reels, but sometimes when she was sick or bored, pulled up an app to see what else was going on in the world or what was trending to see if she could come up with a different idea or outlook for her podcast. Several podcasts now had video segments too, though that was not anything she’d ever considered doing herself. The fact that she’d seen some of Starbucks’ videos without correlating him to Liam’s club brother hinted at just what sort of reach and following he had online.
She could understand why too—beyond the infamous cat, Starbucks washot. Like pure droolworthy, wet dream inducing, pregnant-by-five yumminess. Becks could only imagine the amount of heartbreaks there’d been when he announced his engagement to the internet.
After a late lunch, Ghost offered to bring her into town to see the club’s businesses and meet the members that were at their various jobs. Becks, though, declined. She was beyond exhausted, and she still hadn’t unpacked anything beyond the clothes she was currently wearing. Ghost, though, did need to head into the bar. He’d only scheduled coverage for himself through Sunday because he was originally supposed to be back for his Monday shift.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”
Becks felt bad that she wasn’t up for it, but after the little sleep she had, the excitement of the day, and meeting the club members that were around to meet, she was mentally and physically done. “Honestly, yeah. I just want to find my fuzzy pajamas, order in some pizza, and call it a night. Hell, I might even get adventurous and unpack a box or two.”
While Ghost had been taking her around, the prospects had finished unloading the boxes, and had even brought her suitcase in that had been packed in preparation of an actual honeymoon. She still did not know where her purse or phone were, but she also wasn’t in any hurry to find them.
Ghost chuckled. They were back at his house—their house—and standing by the front door. He had his arms wrapped around her shoulders with his chin resting on her head. She had taken her heels off when they’d gotten home in anticipation of finding her slippers. All her boxes were labeled, she just had to find the right one.
