Chapter 41

Mayhem

 

My phone dings in my pocket. I stuff the cigarette between my lips and grab it. It’s a message from Ivanov saying that Masters was handled. It couldn’t have come at a better time. I grin before blowing out a ring of smoke.

“What the fuck are you smilin’ about, brother?” Tic asks slapping a hand on my shoulder. I flash him the screen and watch the smile curve his lips too.

“That is somethin’ to smile about. You plan on tellin’ her?” he asks nodding toward Tay.

“Not unless she asks. She don’t need details about that shit. She knows she’s safe now that’s all that fuckin’ matters to me.”

Tic nods his agreement. “True. I’m glad you’re good, brother. I know shit’s been hard on you for a while now. I’m glad that you got someone to ground you and keep you sane.”

Tic and I have always been close. We’re more than brothers in the club; we’re brothers by blood, and I couldn’t thank God enough for him.

“I just wanna say that I’m sorry, Tic. I know I’ve been a fuckin’ mess for a while now. I know that shit was hard on this club and everyone in it. I just wasn’t me. I didn’t know how to be. She makes me better, though.”

Tic nods. He already knows all this. “You have always been my brother, Mayhem. Don’t matter what the hell is goin’ on your life or mine. We’re family, man. You’re my boy. I hated watchin’ you fall, but I knew that you needed it. You don’t know how to move up until you hit bottom. I hated leavin’ you there, but I knew you’d come back.”

“Appreciate that, Tic.”

I look over and see Tay smiling. Her face is lit up and full of life. That’s how I always want her to be. I want her to smile and be full of life. I want her to have no fears in the world. I want her to rely on me to take care of her.

She turns her head and catches me staring. Her eyes brighten a little more as she walks toward me. I can’t find the words to describe what I feel. Fucking insane, right? Me of all fucking people is left speechless. She does that to me, though. She takes all my train of thought and warps it.

“Why are you so happy?” she asks me with that perfect smile in place.

“Why wouldn’t I be? I have you.” I grab her around the waist and pull her closer to me. Her chest pressed against mine. Her warmth pulls me in. Her scent assaults my nose.

“Gotta tell you somethin’, love.” Her smile slowly fades. She always thinks the worst.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’s wrong. Everything is right. That’s what I wanted to tell you. I got this for you,” I tell her before reaching back and grabbing the box off the table. Tay steps back watching me. Her eyes follow my every move.

“What’s that?” she asks nodding toward the box in my hand.

“Open it.”

She shakes her head with her eyes wide. “No way. It’s probably some kind of gag gift. Not happening.” She smiles happily.

“What the fuck is a gag gift? Like a prank?” She nods her head still smiling. “This is far from a joke, love.”

Tay takes the box from me before slowly pulling the lid off. Her eyes widen when she looks inside.

“You really got this for me?” She looks up at me stunned. What the hell did she think was going to happen?

“Damn right, I did.”

“You didn’t even talk to me first.” Oh hell, here she goes again.

“Didn’t need to. I already know the answer,” I tell her. She widens her eyes and smirks.

“You didn’t know the answer. I could say no, Mayhem,” she says. I can’t tell if the girl is being serious or fucking with me. Neither one would be wise right now. I’ll bend her over right here in front of everyone and spank her ass raw until she says the words I want to hear.

“Will you say no, Tay? Will you deny the man you love the one thing he wants the most? Will you say no and get spanked in front of everyone?” I ask her. Her cheeks blush. I love it. I knew I had her where I wanted her.

“I say yes.” What is she saying yes to?

“Which part?”

“All of it. I want you, Mayhem. I also wouldn’t mind being spanked.” She giggles. I grab her wrist and pull her into me.

“So, you are sayin’ you will be my old lady? That you’ll wear my name all over this sexy ass body of yours?” I run my tongue up her neck watching her shiver from my touch.

“Yes. Yes, I want you,” she whispers. I pull back and smile.

“You ain’t gettin’ shit for that little tease.” I grab the cut I had made for her out of the box before tossing the box to the side. I hold the cut up to her, watching her slide her arms into it.

“I don’t know how I feel about this. I mean, I have to wear this saying that I belong to you, what the hell do you have to wear?” She turns to face me, crossing her arms over her chest as my heart swells. Fuck, she looks sexy as hell in that leather.

“I wear this.” I slide my shirt up my stomach and show her the tattoo that she didn’t know I got. Yeah, I’m a sneaky son of a bitch.

“You didn’t!” she screams loudly, but the smile on her face tells me she likes it.

“You don’t like it?” I tease. Her fingers slowly move over the tattoo that says Tay with a heart around it.

“I love it. I love you.” She throws herself into my arms. I gladly take that. I lean my head down, kissing her roughly.

The guys are all cheering around us, but like every other time I have her in my arms, I don’t hear anything else. I don’t feel anything but the beating of our hearts.

“Now you can never leave me,” I tell her. She giggles before kissing my neck.

“Why would I want to? I have everything I’ve ever wanted right here.” Her hand stills over my heart and my world falls in line.

I may have been fucked up in the past. Losing someone you love can rip you apart. Finding the one that fits you as a person though, that’s something everyone should get to feel at least once in their lifetime. No matter how hard you try to fight it, the right one will find you and you will fall hard.

I found my forever in Tay. She holds my heart carefully in her hands as I do hers. Like my Pop told me, I needed to find someone that conformed to me as a man and not my lifestyle. Tay is the furthest thing from a biker chick, but that doesn’t mean shit to me. She has a power in her. A power that holds my heart hostage. She understands me as the man that I am. The person I’ve become. She doesn’t try to change me, only make me better.

“You know you mean everything to me,” I whisper into her neck as I held her closely.

“Not as much as you mean to me.”