Chapter Sixteen

 

Abe

 

My life is turning into one big round of déjà vu.

It’s the second night of filming, and this one is even more brutal. I had to watch eight assholes take turns dancing with Mercy before she picked one who got to have an hour long private dinner with her.

Maybe I’m biased, but the guy was goofy as fuck and only talked to Mercy about chess for the whole meal. Chess, for sixty minutes. There’s no way she would want to be with someone that damn boring, right?

I don’t ask her, though, in case I’m wrong. Instead, I stay quiet on the drive to an open all-night diner like the one we ate at yesterday, the police cruiser following behind us the whole way.

It was while we were waiting for our food that Reece sent me a text nearly identical to the previous night, some motherfucker looking in Mercy’s damn house.

“That’s it,” I grumble when I get to my feet.

“What?” Mercy asks. Before I can respond, she says, “He’s there? Again?”

“Yes,” I answer, hating the panic in her eyes that one word causes. “I’m gonna go talk to the officer outside, see if they can send someone over to the house right now, because I don’t want to leave you.”

“I don't want you to leave either,” Mercy says instantly. “Have the police send someone.”

Nodding, I leave the table and push open the glass door to step outside. When I walk up to the police cruiser with my phone clenched so tightly in my hand the case starts to crunch, it takes a moment for the cop to roll his window down. He looks a little nervous when he finally does.

“There’s some asshole at her house right now,” I tell him before I show him the screenshot of the photo Reece just texted to me. I’m starting to wonder if that man ever sleeps either.

“Shit,” the officer curses. “I’ll call it in and have someone circle the neighborhood. Is the suspect in a vehicle?”

“Not that we know of,” I say before texting Reece to ask him. “If my IT guy monitoring the cameras finds out more, I’ll tell you.”

“Thanks,” he says before he rolls the windows up.

There’s no fucking way I’m taking Mercy back to her house tonight. I know I won’t be able to sleep, and I doubt she will be able to either. Last night neither of us got any rest until the sun came up, partly because I couldn’t keep my hands or mouth off of her, but mostly because we were both a little paranoid.

When I retake my seat at our booth, Mercy blurts out, “I don’t want to go home tonight.”

“Good,” I say with an exhale. “I was thinking the same damn thing.”

“Should we get a hotel room?” she asks. “It’s too late to wake up Sasha and Chase.”

“Nah, we don’t need a hotel or to bother the lovebirds,” I assure her. “We can stay at the clubhouse.”

After a few weeks, we’ve finally been able to plaster and paint over all of the bullet holes in the doors and wall. The bar is officially open to the public again with more security cameras out front and inside. We learned our lesson after Hector’s attack, so now each of us have no less than three firearms locked, loaded and ready in all of our apartments, in the chapel, and behind the bar. It’s an incredibly safe place, so I know Mercy will be fine with me there.

“Okay,” Mercy agrees. “Tomorrow, we can go by the house for me to change clothes before we have to be on set.”

“Yeah,” I agree, even though I’m dreading having to endure another day of men gawking at her while imagining fucking her. I know that’s exactly what they’re thinking, because no straight, single man can possibly look at her without it crossing his mind. And while I may not be good enough for her, I don’t think any of those bastards are either.

After we eat and I pay the bill despite Mercy’s protests, I give the officer a heads-up that we’re going to the clubhouse and that he needs to park on the street. My brothers would lose their shit if they saw him on the lot.

“That’s out of my jurisdiction, so I’ll call the Carteret sheriff,” he replies. That’s fine with me, since I would prefer that one of Jade’s officers shadows us. Besides, they’re on the MC’s payroll.

Our hour ride up the highway to Emerald Isle is silent, filled only with the music Mercy puts on while I drive her car. I finally break and ask her about what I saw on the set earlier.

“Do you like chess?” I ask her.

“Ah, no,” Mercy answers.

“So that guy…”

“He’s definitely going home tomorrow night during the ceremony,” she tells me. And when I glance over, I can see her smile even in the darkness.

“Good,” I reply. And while it’s a relief to know she wasn’t into that dork, I can’t help but wonder if she’s into some of the guys. I fucking hate that shitshow. I’ve never been jealous of other men. Hell, I’ve shared most of the girls that hang around the clubhouse with at least one of my brothers, and it’s never been a big deal. The whole MC could fuck Cynthia and I could watch without a single spark of jealousy.

But thinking of Mercy with anyone else makes me want to snap some necks.

Even just thinking about bringing her into the clubhouse has me on edge. I don’t want any other male to look in her direction. I want her all to myself – her body, her smiles, her laughs. They’re mine, and I’m not fucking sharing them.

After we park and I calm myself down from the ridiculous jealousy, I unlock the door to the bar that’s now closed while trying to picture what everything would look like from Mercy’s perspective. I’m glad that none of the women I’ve fucked are around. Not because I don’t want them to meet Mercy; but because, as crazy as it sounds, I feel like a bastard for sleeping with them before I met her, like I was preemptively cheating. It’s stupid, I know, since we’re not even together but just screwing each other.

Entering in the code for the basement, I hold the door open for Mercy to go first down the well-lit stairs, and then I show her to my small apartment. My hands that are trying to unlock the door are actually shaking because I’m so nervous about her seeing my space. I’ve never been nervous before; the clubhouse sluts don’t give two shits what my room looks like. They follow me down because they want to fuck. Mercy, though, I want her to like my personal area, so I hope it’s not too big of a mess. We have a housekeeper Reece hired who comes and cleans up trash, washes our clothes, and even washes our sheets for us once a week. Otherwise, the entire place would be a pigsty. Oddly enough, I’ve never seen the woman who does the cleaning. She’s like a fairy maid who swoops in and tidies up without us ever noticing her.

“I know it’s not much, but I just sleep here,” I say to Mercy as I push open the door and flip on the light, realizing that my worry is more about her thinking I’m poor and shit since she’s so classy.

“I can’t wait to see your place,” she says with a grin before she goes inside and starts looking around.

The first spot her eyes land is on the desk that’s covered in junk.

“What’s all that?” she asks while I close the door and lock it behind me.

“Nothing,” I answer, looking over the dusty antique clock along with several watches and ancient electronics with the wires hanging out. “Just some crap I’m trying to fix.”

“You’re gonna fix all of this?” Mercy asks, walking over to take a closer look.

“I’m gonna try to,” I reply.

“Will you keep it all? Are you a collector?” she asks while glancing back at the room that’s pretty much empty other than the furniture.

“Nah. There’s a pawn shop just down the road. I help out the old guy who owns it when he takes in crap that doesn’t work. He’s a sucker for a sob story.” 

“Oh,” she says. “So you fix things for him? That’s nice of you.”

“Just trying to pay back a little of my debt to society,” I mutter.

“What’s that?” Mercy asks.

“Nothing,” I tell her. What would she think of me if she knew I used to go around stealing people’s shit just like her creepy stalker stole from her? I know I fucked people over, and at the time I didn’t think I had a choice. It was either hurt strangers by taking their belongings or my brother and I would get kicked out on the streets where we would starve to death.

Ready to strip down for bed, I remove my cut and hang it up in the closet before pulling off my shirt.

“Can I sleep in that?” Mercy asks, eyeing my worn, black Motorhead tee.

Fuck yes, she can.

I toss the shirt to her. Although I would rather sleep with her naked, seeing her in a shirt that belongs to me is the next best thing.

“Thanks,” she says as she pulls the material over her head.

We both meet in the center of the bed where Mercy says, “I’m so tired. Will you just hold me tonight?”

“You don’t ever need to even ask, Red,” I assure her as I wrap my arms around her and pull her closer to me. “The answer to that question is always yes.”

“Thanks,” she says with her face buried in my neck, allowing me to get a big whiff of the mango scent of her shampoo.

Honestly, I’m too tired to even try to fuck her tonight. There’s always tomorrow or the next day. So, for now, I place a kiss on top of her head and drift off to sleep.

 

…

 

“Yo, Abe. Church in ten if you’re here!” Sax yells through the door after he knocks on it, startling me and Mercy both awake.

“Go back to sleep,” I murmur to her as I rub her hair to calm her down. It’s probably late in the morning, but she needs the sleep even more than I do. Once she relaxes and is settled back down, I ease out of her grasp and cram my pillow in her arms instead. The way she squeezes it to her chest and presses her face into it makes me regret my decision to leave. But the truth is, I may not be around the club much for the next few days. I need to drop in on a meeting to catch up on everything, especially Hector.

I take a fast as fuck shower, pull on a clean pair of jeans and a tee over my still damp body, and then grab my phone to check the time on the way out the door. It’s only eleven, so maybe I can get a few more hours of sleep with Mercy after our meeting.

Locking my apartment door behind me, I head down the hall where Sax is holding the phone bucket. I toss mine inside and give him a nod before entering the chapel. All of my brothers are already sitting around the table except for Torin, which isn’t surprising. I lock eyes with my brother, Gabriel, to see how he’s holding up. He seems good, so I jerk my chin up in a greeting that he returns before Sax joins us after shutting the door.

“So what’s up?” I ask as I take my usual seat on Chase’s left. He may not have a Sergeant at Arms as VP; but if he did, I know I would be his man.

“We’ve got a hit on Hector’s daughter,” he says solemnly before his usual smile bursts free. “She’s in Vegas, so who’s up to pop in and say hello after we have a fucking wedding?”

“Yeah!” the whole table roars in agreement.

“Congrats, man,” I tell him with a clasp of my hand on his shoulder. Chase and Sasha have wanted to elope for over ten years. It looks like fate is finally letting them get their chance.

“I’ll let Sasha handle all the arrangements, so whatever date she sets is when we’ll fly out. We need to go ahead and figure out who is staying and who is going,” Chase says.

“I’ll stay behind,” Reece offers, which is no surprise since he’s a homebody. “No offense to the bride or groom.”

“None taken,” Chase agrees with a grin. “We need a few men to stay behind and hold the place down.”

“I’d love to go, but sitting on a plane for hours is damn near impossible with these old knees,” Eddie declares.

“Understood. We’ll need you to help run the salvage yard and probably the bar with Turtle.”

“Done,” Eddie agrees with a nod.

“You know I won’t miss out on your wedding,” I tell Chase.

“Good,” he agrees. “War and Cooper, you want to come along to keep an eye on Torin?”

“Fuck yes,” Cooper agrees.

“I’m in,” War agrees. “Just need to make sure my sister can babysit.”

“Of course,” Chase agrees. “Sax, Dalton, Gabe, Miles, it’s up to you four to decide if you want to go or stay.”

“I don’t want to miss a trip to Vegas,” Sax replies with a grin.

“Me either,” Dalton agrees.

“I’ll stay,” Gabriel declares. “Too many appointments scheduled over the next few weeks. It would be impossible to reschedule them all. Congrats, though, man. I wish you and Sasha the best.”

“Thanks,” Chase replies. “Miles?”

“I’ll stay here,” he answers. “Not supposed to leave the state since I’m still on probation.”

“Then we definitely don’t want you to get locked up for a bullshit violation,” Chase agrees. “And can you check in on Ian while we’re gone, see how he’s holding up and if he needs anything other than a few more Playboys?”

“I can go see him,” Gabe offers excitedly, which makes sense because Ian was his sponsor when he was prospecting, so he’s pretty tight with Ian just like I am with Chase. I know he’s missed the man these last few months. “I mean, if that’s okay with Miles?” my brother adds.

“Good man,” Miles agrees with a tip of his chin in Gabe’s direction. “I always worry the fuckers won’t let me leave once I walk through the prison doors.”

“So, we’ve got it all settled except for the two prospects. Leave them here or take them?” Chase asks.

“Maddox is coming up on a year. So, if he wants to go, I’ll keep an eye on him,” War says since he’s the kid’s sponsor.

“Good,” Chase agrees. Looking to Cooper, he asks, “What about Holden?”

“I think you should keep him here,” Coop responds. “He’s a little hot headed, causing bullshit problems at Avalon when he’s supposed to be there helping me and Miles out with bouncing. We don’t need to draw any attention to ourselves in Vegas. Well, no more than our cuts will get us when we’re on the other side of the country.”

“Very true,” Chase replies. “Talk with me more about him later.”

“Will do,” Coop says.

“I’ll fill everyone in as soon as I have the dates lined up with Sasha. Until then, unless my brother specifically asks, let’s try and keep him out of the loop. Only because Torin is raring to go, and we need to do a little more surveillance on the girl and make plans before heading off half-cocked. All we know right now is that she applied for a driver’s license. Reece tracked down the address she listed on it, but it’s for a resort, not a house. We need a little more time to locate her.”

Everyone expresses their agreement with him.

“Next up on the agenda,” Chase says. “Why the fuck is there a pig sitting outside our parking lot?”

“Oh, that would be on me,” I admit, and everyone looks at me in concern, especially Gabe.

“There’s no heat,” I assure them. “It’s for Mercy.”

“You brought her here?” Chase asks with worry in his voice.

“The asshole showed up to her house again last night. Reece has a few images of him, but I’m guessing he was probably gone by the time the police got there. We haven’t heard anything from them so far.”

“Damn,” Chase mutters. “You could’ve brought her to our place.”

“I know, and I appreciate that, but it was around five a.m. by the time we had breakfast. We didn’t want to wake you and Sasha, and you had a late one the night before with Jade.”

“Understood,” he says. “So, she’s got the police escort now?”

“After we realized he broke in her house and keeps coming back, it was pretty much the last resort,” I explain.

“Jesus. Well, let me know if either of you need anything,” Chase says.

“Will do.”

“Then we’re done here,” he says, reaching for the gavel and slamming it down before dropping it right away as if he can’t stand to touch the thing in Torin’s absence.

“So, what’s this about some girl you brought here?” Gabriel asks when he comes up to me. “This your old lady you were talking about the other night?”

“She’s not my old lady,” I assure him, even though I wish she were. “She’s Sasha’s friend, and she’s got a stalker. I’m making sure he doesn’t fuck with her.”

“Sounds like it’s more than that. You said she made you want to be a better man or some shit. That’s deep, man,” he replies. “So, are you gonna let me meet her or what?”

“Yeah, of course,” I tell him. “She’s asleep right…” I start to say before I hear catcalls and whistles from out in the hallway where most of our brothers are leaving.

I hurry up behind them and push my way through to see exactly what they’re losing their shit for. Of course, it’s Mercy; she stepped out of my apartment wearing nothing but my t-shirt.

“Red, get your bare ass back in there!” I shout at her while pointing the way in case she forgot in the two steps she took from the room.

“I missed you,” she says while tugging on the bottom of my shirt, even though it comes down past her knees.

“Yeah, well, miss me in my room or with some more clothes on,” I gripe, even though I can’t actually be mad at her. How could anyone, as beautiful as she looks without a shred of makeup on and her red hair all big and sexy from being tousled in sleep on my pillows in my bed?

“Damn, Abe,” Dalton comments first. “She the one you trying to put on the shot? Give that shit up, man. You better put a baby in her before I do.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I warn him, not liking that thought at all. “All of you need to move the fuck on!” I suddenly roar. My anger from seeing Mercy with all those guys on set, as well as my frustration with this stalker shit gets unleashed on my brothers, who are now gawking at her.

When the entire hallway goes deadly silent, I realize I may have overreacted. But dammit, I’m tired of everyone looking at my woman and trying to get in her absent panties. That’s my pussy, and I don’t want any other dicks going near it.

Silently, everyone finally disperses either to their rooms or up the stairs, except for Gabriel.

“Hi, I’m Abram’s brother, Gabriel,” he says to Mercy, who is still standing in the same spot, refusing to follow my orders. Seems like she only follows the ones that involve us getting naked.

The two shake hands, and Mercy even smiles up at my brother. She looks at me briefly and says, “Abram, huh?” probably since I never told her my full name. “I’m Mercy Daniels. And you two definitely look alike. The eyes and dark hair for sure. Love your ink,” she adds, pointing to the tattoos on his neck and all the way down his arm. 

“Thanks,” he says proudly. He may not have tatted the black and white skulls and dragon designs on himself, but he did draw them.

“So my brother is helping you out with a stalker?” Gabriel asks.

“Yes,” she answers, glancing at me again.

“Well if you have any problems with Abram stalking you, or ever need some ink, just let me know.” He even pulls out one of his business cards and hands it to her.

“Thanks, Gabriel. I definitely will,” Mercy agrees with a smile before I pick her up and drag her back into the room with my arm around her waist after a gruff goodbye to my brother. He and I can sometimes go months only grunting at each other, but then he gets all chatty with my girl that he just met.