He shrugs, laughing quietly under his breath, “Then it does not matter what it looks like.”
I go to shake my head at him again, but Maverick stops me in my tracks.
“You gotta know by now, Tristan Cameron, you are our home.”
“Oh my god, would you all stop being so amazing.” My face hurts from smiling so much.
“Right, let’s go eat,” King demands, steering us outside. “Besides, Tristan needs to explain to us why Maverick was the one to tell us she got dropped by her agency.” I gasp and my mouth falls open.
“You can’t have all the secrets, Tristan,” Tyson snaps over his shoulder as he passes me, more than a little frosty. And he does not hide the noticeable impact of my secret in his eyes. I hurt him.
“I’m so sorry, Ty. How did you find out?”
“I wanted to know why you got replaced on the job sheet we got last week,” Maverick says, his eyes getting narrower, his scent getting more tart, letting me know they’re all way more pissed about the actions of Banks.
“I was going to tell you. I was more worried about the house though.”
“You gorgeous dork. No fucking secrets though. We all agreed. No secrets or lies between us,” Maverick says, pulling the bench seat out so I can climb over it to sit down.
“True. Sorry,” I say in an instant, looking at each of them too.
“And what’s the go with the hot tub?” King asks, his eyebrows raised expectantly.
“We didn’t get the chance to enjoy it at the lake house. So, I bought one for us to enjoy whenever we want.”
“Why here?”
“Oh, don’t worry, I got one for home too. I just thought some nights I could creep over when you’re working late, have a sneaky hook up. Like old times.” I smile before I lob a piece of garlic bread at his scowl, nearly choking on my food when he catches it mid-air and eats it.
“You laugh all you want, killer. But we decided tonight was also time to pop your fucking cherry.”
I drop my fork. “There is no way you are all fucking my ass at the same time.”
Steel snorts out a laugh, holding his hand up for everyone to stop talking so he doesn’t choke.
King ignores him, looking at me with his mouth open. “What the fuck? How do you have such a fucking filthy mind?”
“What?” I smart back, biting my lip, “You never thought about it?”
“I didn’t say that.” He smirks right back at me. “But I was actually talking about popping your cherry and heading out for a ride tonight.”
Chapter
Sixty-One
TRISTAN
The next couple of days, we seem to spend a lot of time on a bike. We ride sometimes, we spend a lot of times fucking too but all good things came to a temporary end with the long-awaited arrival of Margaret/Marnie.
With her return came some much needed answers. Margaret and Mary are/were sisters like I remembered. Their club names are nick-names derived from their English heritage. The name thing was easy. With physical coercion Maverick got Margaret to confess that Mary had been drinking with a woman named Lizzy at the Death Riders’ compound. After the woman passed out, Mary tossed her room, stole anything she could, including the cut which had been her partner’s who had died. Apparently, he was an asshole who beat on Lizzy, but still it was fucking low to rob a widow. Margaret though was the one who paid two random street thugs to wear the Riders cut and beat me up at the hotel.
Because that’s where it fucking started. Margaret had been travelling with the Fallen for the Southern Sector catch up. She was meant to stay in the bus and wait while King caught up with Raney, but she’d snuck inside and watched me with him.
Her explanation was so fucking simple, she really believed King would one day admit he wanted her again. It blows my head at the length she went to make it happen though. The bitch would not say what she did with King’s ring though.
Attendance at Margaret’s ‘trial’ was voluntary. There was standing room only, Club Sluts banded together in a show of support—of King and The Fallen. But it was all of the Fallen because Ace brought the entire Southern Chapter with him in a very loud and grand gesture of support.
And all the bruises on Margaret’s body were not caused by my Alphas or any of the men present. They were a send-off from the girls because she fucked them over, ruining their good life because she couldn’t get over the fact that King spent one night with her and never wanted her again.
