6. Ghost

6

Ghost

It takes Luna thirty-two minutes to leave the bathroom, and when she finally does, her nails are a shade of lavender that matches her hair.

The patch bunnies hide their nail polish under the sink in the communal bathroom since theirs is packed to the brim with makeup and whatever crap they put in their hair.

Luna purses her lips, walking down the hallway and blowing on her nails to finish drying them. She pauses at the door to my office, and I don’t move so she won’t hear me.

Clicking the screen, I zoom in to get a better angle of her face, but I can’t read her expression. She stares at the wooden door, and I swear the heat of her body radiates through it.

The faint scent of acetone creeps through the crack, and I try to hold my breath and keep quiet .

But I don’t close my eyes.

I don’t blink.

If I do, I might miss something.

Like how her shoulders deflate with her thoughts. How her eyebrows furrow the longer she stares. How her teeth sink into her plump lower lip, and how her hand hovers when she considers knocking.

If I wasn’t paying attention, I wouldn’t see the defeat in her eyes as she turns and walks away, starting on the path that leads to her bedroom.

The sadness in her gaze is one more reminder that I’m failing her, and I wish I wasn’t.

But tonight, she saw too much, and if I let her stew in that, she’ll think something could happen between us. She’ll get it in her head that I care about her. Watering those thoughts will only lead to bad things.

People who hang around the club too long get into trouble, and people who associate with me end up dead.

I switch cameras and follow Luna through the clubhouse. She ignores Soul fucking a patch bunny on top of the pool table as she makes her way to her room.

I should stop here.

Shut it down and go to sleep.

If I was a better man, I might.

But just because Luna can’t know I’m watching her doesn’t stop me from actually doing it.

I switch my view to the camera on her laptop, and I’m irritated she left it open. All it would take is one unauthorized intrusion into the wireless network and someone who isn’t me could be watching her right now .

Which reminds me, I need to do a sweep of our firewalls in the morning.

Luna lets her hair down, and lavender-blonde hair pools around her shoulders as she tosses her hair tie onto the nightstand. She slips out of her fuzzy, pink slippers and climbs under her blanket, but she doesn’t lie down. She leans back against the headboard and bites on the inside of her cheek while she thinks about something.

She stares into the darkness, and when her gaze flicks to her laptop camera, her eyebrows pinch. It’s the faintest hint that has me wondering if she senses me.

If she knows I’m watching her.

Those blue eyes are my damnation. One look and my soul takes a bite out of her like she’s an apple from Eden.

It takes all I am to stay in control.

To look but not touch.

To keep her but not ruin her like I do everything good that walks into my life.

Luna’s eyes get heavy the longer she stares at the camera. Slowly, her body sinks down into the covers.

It takes her thirty-four minutes to fall asleep, and even then, she’s restless. She tosses and turns, and I wonder if it’s nightmares or something else.

I watch her, and the branded flesh on my side aches, reminding me not to lose focus. Reminding me why I can’t give in and that I’m all that stands between Luna and those out to get her.

The club might have agreed that she’s innocent, but I sensed their doubt. There was just enough hesitation that I know I’m the only one who will truly risk it all to keep her safe.

Someone is after her, and I’m the only one who can stop them.

If only I knew who they were so I could put this fucking mess to bed once and for all.

Before we left Albuquerque, the Twisted Kings obliterated every trace of the Merciless Skulls, and I thought that included whoever hired Luna to hack my system. It was reckless of me to assume someone smart enough to hire her wouldn’t also have the wits to survive.

They must have moved back to Vegas with the Iron Sinners, the same way Luna moved here with us.

I should have realized it a month ago when the Iron Sinners used a flash drive to hack us. I was so busy focusing on our business plans and financial records that I ignored what was right in front of me. Whoever gained access to my private server spent more time in the club’s payroll records than anywhere else.

They weren’t looking for money or access. They weren’t looking for something . They were after someone .

Luna Cassidy .

While to her, it was an anonymous job posting that led her to hack the Twisted Kings, the person who sent her after us was clearly after more. They knew her. The question is, did she know them?

By the time the sun rises, I’m still at my desk. My untouched bed is becoming a staple lately, and my body drags as I pull myself out of my office .

Luna isn’t at the clubhouse, so there’s no risk of running into her. I waited until she left to shop with Reina and Wren before stepping foot in the kitchen. After last night, everything is jumbled.

The gap of indifference I’ve maintained for over a year is blurring, and the only way to keep her away is to draw clearer lines.

I’ll keep an eye out, and she’ll be safe. She can hate me for ignoring her, and someday, she can move on with her life while I sit in purgatory.

By the time I make it into church, Legacy is already in his seat at the table across from me. He’s usually the first here, given he keeps a tight schedule for his daughter, Bea. Apart from the club, she’s his priority, and he spends every spare minute he has with her.

He’ll do his tasks as treasurer during the day and take breaks to see her for breakfast and dinner. And if the club’s having a party, he’ll wait until she’s in bed before leaving her with the nanny and coming out with us. Even then, he’ll try to be home before she wakes up in the morning.

And now that Tempe and her four-year-old brother, Austin, are in the picture, Steel’s been the same way.

When I first patched in, Steel and Legacy were known for their reputations with women. They were almost worse than Soul is now. But lately, everything’s changing.

It’s another reminder of why I don’t have any plans for locking down an old lady, much less a family. It’s my job to watch out for every member of this club. I can’t risk my time or attention being split .

Blink and people end up dead.

Legacy watches me take a seat, lacing his hands behind his head and leaning back in his chair. “You still coming by for family dinner this week? Bea’s been asking why you’re MIA lately.”

Usually, I eat dinner with Legacy and Bea a few times a week, but lately, it’s been less and less.

It could be guilt.

It could be fear I’ll miss something if I walk away from my post for even a minute.

Either way, Bea doesn’t deserve that.

“I’ll be there Sunday.”

Things are usually quieter on Sundays. The guys party hard on Saturdays, and most of our businesses are closed until late at night. So it’s easier to get away.

“Sunday works.” Legacy nods. “You talked to Luna since all that shit went down last night?”

“Thought she was supposed to be talking to you about bank accounts. I don’t have anything to do with that shit.”

“We both know that’s not what the fuck I’m talking about.” Legacy plants his forearms on the table and squares off with me. “Are you really gonna continue pretending whatever’s going on between you and her doesn’t exist? Even after what you did?”

I sense a hint of irritation in his tone, and I wonder if he’s still pissed at me for keeping this from him. I kept the truth from all my brothers, but the difference is that Legacy is as close to a blood sibling as it gets for me, and I lied to him .

“There’s nothing going on with me and her,” I huff. “If you want to play matchmaker, go find your own old lady. Bea’s been asking—”

“Bea’s fine,” Legacy cuts me off.

I struck a nerve, but I don’t take it back because he’s going to have to face his own issues for Bea’s sake at some point.

When Bea was a couple of weeks old, her mom, Sera, left Bea on Legacy’s doorstep without notice. He didn’t even know he’d gotten Sera pregnant since she left the clubhouse the second he knocked her up and didn’t come back until she was holding their daughter.

Sera wasn’t ready to be a mom, so she gave him a choice of raising their kid or letting a stranger do it, and he picked the former because that’s the type of man he is. But after Bea’s mom abandoned her, he hasn’t trusted a woman again.

He fucks around as much as the rest of the guys, but he avoids patch bunnies and never keeps women around for more than a one-night stand.

“The last thing Bea needs is another woman walking out of her life. I’ll leave locking down old ladies for the rest of the guys.”

“You all need to shut the fuck up with this old-lady talk.” Soul stumbles over the threshold to the room because he’s probably still drunk. “Steel settling down is bad enough, but that shit’s contagious.”

“It’s not the fucking flu.” Legacy shakes his head .

Soul practically falls into his seat beside me, pulling out a cigarette. He balances it between his lips and lights the end.

“Tell that to the Road Rebels.” He takes a drag. “After Victor put his name on Tallie’s back, it was only a matter of time before they all fell.”

“You make it sound like women are a virus taking them out.”

He shrugs. “Might as well be. I’m telling you, first it’s one old lady, then the place is crawling with ’em. And then, next thing you know, they’re getting jealous of the patch bunnies and fucking shit up for all of us.”

“Scared some woman’s gonna tie you down, Soul?” Legacy smirks.

“Chicks wish they could.”

“Like you could get a woman to stay the fuck around.” Steel walks in with Chaos and Havoc behind him.

Soul grins at Steel, always amused by a challenge. “Already forgetting our wagers with the ladies, Prez? I seem to remember winning a few over you. And with you shacked up and off the market, I’m having to do double time just to keep ’em busy.”

“Finding a woman willing to fuck you and finding a woman willing to love you are two different things.” Steel drops into his seat at the head of the table.

I never thought I’d see the day Jameson Steel would be saying shit like that. He used to be as bad as Soul, wanting nothing to do with putting a property patch on a woman’s back. Now, all it takes is one mention of Tempe or Austin to change his mood .

Steel pats his pocket out of habit, but he doesn’t carry cigarettes on him anymore, so he frowns in disappointment.

“You’re outnumbered on this, Prez.” Chaos snatches one of Soul’s cigarettes as he drops into his seat. “Spend five months in prison, wondering if you’ll ever get out, and you’ll think a little differently about all these freedoms. Free to go where I want. Free to fuck who I want. No one’s locking me down.”

Soul chuckles, and they bump knuckles across the table. Steel shakes his head, not bothering to argue. While Legacy and Havoc might eventually get past their shit and put a property patch on some woman someday, Soul and Chaos are like me.

Damaged beyond recognition and better off alone.

“All right, let’s get to business.” Steel looks at me. “Where are we with the Iron Sinners? Have you figured out which of the Merciless Skulls patched over when we took out their club?”

“I’ve found a couple who moved to Vegas when everything happened but not whoever we’re looking for.”

“How do you know?”

“The person who hired Luna wrote the code to the virus in that flash drive, which means they know what the fuck they’re doing. Anyone I’ve tied to both clubs so far doesn’t fit the profile.”

“If they were so good, why’d they use her to do their dirty work?”

“Distance, maybe?”

Soul chuckles. “Or as a distraction. Pretty faces and all. ”

“Possibly.” My jaw clenches because I don’t like thinking of Luna as just a pretty face. “But either way, I don’t think they planned shit to go down like it did; otherwise, they wouldn’t be trying to get her back.”

“If that’s the case, why not do it sooner?” Havoc asks. “She’s been here for over a year, but they’re just now making demands?”

“What are you implying?”

Havoc doesn’t immediately answer, and he doesn’t need to. I know what he’s trying to say. That Luna’s been here for over a year with access to the club, operating with our trust. We’ve seen it before with Reyes hiding in our ranks. She wouldn’t be the first person to double-cross us.

“Just asking a question.” He crosses his arms over his chest.

“For all we know, they didn’t know she was here until they got access to our payroll records,” I counter as pressure settles between my temples. “She’s clear. I made sure of it.”

Soul smirks. “I’m sure you did.”

Chaos reaches across the table again, and they bump fists.

“Focus.” Steel shakes his head, looking at Havoc. “No one leaves the compound without a guard. Even us. We move in pairs at a minimum. For all we know, they’re using Luna as just another distraction so they can keep us busy while they go after something else.”

“You got it, Prez.” Havoc nods .

“Ghost, I want to know the second you figure out who’s pulling the strings. I’m not waiting around again. When they took Tempe and Austin, they declared war. This isn’t over until we burn the Iron Sinners infrastructure to the ground. They know too much, which means there’s a leak somewhere.”

“I’ll comb back through the security footage the night of the attack and run facial recognition against the Merciless Skulls roster. See if anything pops.”

“Sounds good.” Steel’s jaw clenches. “And keep looking for Reyes while you’re at it. The second I get my hands on that traitor, he’s paying for all of this.”

Reyes pretended to prospect the club so he could plant the flash drive he used to hack our network, so I don’t blame Steel for wanting vengeance.

“And one more thing.” Steel glances over at Havoc. “We’re throwing a party tonight, so I want security doubled at the perimeter.”

“’Bout fucking time.” Chaos pounds the table, and Soul grins, nodding in agreement.

“As much as I’d like to keep us in lockdown until this Iron Sinner shit is dealt with, that’s not realistic,” Steel says. “And I refuse to let them make us seem weak or like we’re hiding. We protect our own, and that’s what we’ll do. Show those fuckers nothing slows down the Twisted Kings.”

“Music to my fucking ears.” Soul grins.

“And Ghost…” Steel looks at me. “They might see this as an opportunity.”

“If they do, I’ll be waiting. ”

An excuse is exactly what I need right now. One Iron Sinner to give me a reason to remind my brothers why I’ll always have their backs.

I lied to protect Luna, but she isn’t the only one I’m responsible for here.

On this land, it’s my eyes that keep watch.

It’s my cameras, my trackers, my systems, and my sensors that keep my brothers safe. And nothing is getting in the way of that again.