8. Luna

8

Luna

Spring in Vegas means the clubhouse has already started warming up. It’s April, but the back doors have been open all morning, and by afternoon, the fans will be moving air through the building. The air conditioner kicked on twice this past week, which means we’re in for another blistering hot summer.

After Ghost stormed out of his office, I finish what I started, adjusting the last of the new cameras, then go to find Legacy to review the bank account Steel wanted my insight on.

Stepping into the main body of the clubhouse, Ghost is nowhere to be found.

I don’t know what I did or said to piss him off so badly this morning, but he has no right to be upset. I’m the one who’s been lied to for the past year. If he didn’t want me around, he shouldn’t have invited me to Vegas in the first place .

My nails dig into my palms as I clench my fists, wishing he’d let his walls down for one day and admit what’s actually bothering him. Then maybe I’d finally figure him out.

There’s still so much I don’t know about Ghost.

He’s quiet and keeps to himself.

He hasn’t laid his hands on a woman in the entire time I’ve known him, and he rarely talks to anyone but his brothers.

If I were smart, I’d stop hanging onto this hope that someday he’ll let me in. Or worse, that this could grow into whatever I thought it was the first time we met.

I keep hoping he’ll wake up one day and see me like I see him.

Walking through the clubhouse, I find Legacy at the bar on his laptop. He’s typing while Kristen, one of the newest patch bunnies, tries to get his attention. She giggles and smiles, hoping he’ll look up and take notice. She’s still learning the ins and outs of the guys, so she doesn’t realize Legacy doesn’t fuck patch bunnies. His bed might not be empty like Ghost’s, but he sticks with local girls, tourists, or anyone not associated with the club.

Kristen smiles, messing with her long, blonde braid. She leans forward when Legacy says something, and her cleavage draws his attention, even if he won’t do anything about it.

I roll my eyes at the obvious move when I’m no better. I purposely bent over in front of Ghost this morning just to see if he’d pay attention. It worked, but seeing it from the other side makes me wonder if he just thought I was pathetic.

Legacy’s attention returns to his computer, and Kristen frowns. Someday, she’ll learn she’s on a long list of girls who couldn’t break him, and she won’t be so bothered by it. All the patch bunnies try when they first make the clubhouse their home, so it’s nothing personal.

Legacy is the cookie-cutter definition of what most girls melt over. He’s tall, solid muscle, and has a smile that’s practically cut from a magazine. He’s also fiercely protective and the sweetest father, so if his model good looks don’t get their attention, Bea’s first trip to the clubhouse will. Legacy is everything girls like Kristin seem to find irresistible, and I understand it, even if I don’t feel that way.

My tastes have me scanning the room for a different biker. One with more tattoos, more emotional baggage, and one who is not nearly as friendly. But Ghost is nowhere to be found.

I cross the room and slide onto the stool beside Legacy.

“Hey, Luna.” Kristen smiles, darting away.

New patch bunnies are always awkward around me at first. They don’t know what to make of my role at the club. I’m not a threat to them when it comes to the guys, but I’m not one of them either.

It’s the only benefit of being on Reina’s good side. She’s their unofficial leader, so she bridges the gap.

I glance at Legacy’s screen. “Steel said you wanted me to take a look at a few bank accounts? ”

He hums, switching browsers. “We need to know if any of these accounts look familiar. They’re all inactive now.”

Something about how Legacy says inactive feels like there’s a hidden meaning behind it, whether he intended that or not. He’s making it clear where the line is with the club’s trust. And while they need my help to figure out what I was hired to find, Legacy is also making it clear that I’m not being given access to anything that could hurt them now.

I try not to let it sting.

“Here.” Legacy spins the laptop around to give me a clearer view.

Scanning the accounts, nothing looks familiar. “No. None of that matches.”

He turns the computer toward himself again and clicks through a flurry of browsers.

Watching Legacy dig through bank accounts is like watching Ghost write a string of code. Muscle memory. Second nature. It makes me miss my fingers on the keys doing something meaningful.

It’s been so long since I’ve hacked anyone; I barely remember the rush of it.

Legacy opens a spreadsheet and finds the tab he’s looking for. “They gave a set of guidelines for what you were searching for, correct?”

“Yes.” I reach into my back pocket, pulling out a piece of scrap paper. “But I don’t remember much off the top of my head. I tried searching my old emails for our communications, but someone wiped them.”

“Ghost can probably dig it out. ”

“I already tried. It’s gone.”

Legacy glances over at me, and doubt flares in his eyes at the reminder that the club only uses me for a fraction of what I’m capable of. If I couldn’t find the emails, Ghost wouldn’t be able to either, and from the look on Legacy’s face, that’s not a settling thought.

“But…” I hand the piece of scrap paper to Legacy. “I was able to recover this. They had me searching for an account ending in these four digits. They didn’t say what for.”

Legacy picks up the paper, and his teeth clench.

“That bad?”

“It’s not good.” He sets the paper down. “What were you told to do if you located it?”

“Nothing.”

“Hmm.”

“Yeah… I thought it was strange too.”

Usually, if I was hired to hack someone, there was an end goal. But this employer made sure I stayed in the dark. They’d only send instructions one at a time, delivering the next set if I made it past the previous one. I never knew what I was after or what they were going to do if I found it.

Legacy closes the spreadsheet, opening a pdf printout of another account. I don’t recognize the business name at the top.

“How much were they supposed to pay you for that job?” Legacy asks, scrolling through the withdrawals.

“Five grand. ”

Legacy skims down the screen. “There’s a withdrawal matching that amount on the day Ghost shut you down. But you said they never paid you.”

“They didn’t.”

“Well, they paid someone.” He points to the screen, and sure enough, five thousand dollars left the account on the day Ghost caught me hacking the Twisted Kings.

“It could be a coincidence, right? Payment for something else?”

“It could be, but I doubt it. Money always talks.” He closes the pdf and slaps the laptop shut. “That’s all for now. I’ll get this to Steel and let you know if we need anything else.”

“Okay.” I slide off the stool.

“And Luna…”

I pause, looking back at Legacy. He skims me over, opening his mouth like he’s about to say something. But he stops himself, shaking his head.

“Nothing.” Legacy grabs his laptop off the bar and stalks away, leaving me wondering what that was about.

Waving at Kristen, I head to my bedroom, wishing I knew more so I could help. The war the club fought a year ago isn’t over, and it might be all my fault.

I could leave. Maybe then I’d protect them from whoever is after me. But if I do, I’ll be at their mercy without the club’s protection, and I still don’t know what their intentions are. Besides, the club is my home. The people here are my family. I can’t just walk away.

Stepping into my bedroom, I find Reina and Wren styling their hair and painting on their makeup. The guys have been walking around stressed today, so the girls have mostly been staying in their rooms and wasting time getting ready for tonight’s party.

“You done with Legacy?” Reina asks as I sit on my bed.

“Yep. You know Legacy… to the point and nothing more.”

“What did he want?” She paints a fresh coat of eyeliner.

“Nothing interesting.” I shrug. “He just had a couple of questions about a file Ghost asked for.”

“Boring.” Reina frowns, and I’m glad she feels that way since I can’t actually tell her what Legacy wanted from me.

“I wouldn’t mind getting to know Legacy better.” Wren smiles, tugging her red hair up into a ponytail. “I’d climb that man like a tree. Good lord, he’s hot.”

“I thought you and Chaos had something going on.”

“Chaos is too busy with his precious strippers.” Wren rolls her eyes. “I’m keeping my options open.”

“And you jumped to Legacy?” I try to picture the two of them, even if I know Legacy wouldn’t do anything with her. “Interesting…”

“Why do you say it like that?”

“I guess I just figured that if you were into Chaos, then you were into guys of the tattooed, dark-haired variety.”

“Like Luna and Ghost.” Reina nudges my foot.

“There is no Luna and Ghost ,” I narrow my eyes, correcting her.

“Really?” Wren’s eyebrows pinch. “I also always kinda got the impression that he was yours.”

“How? ”

She shrugs. “Just a feeling.”

“Well, for the record, Ghost is no one’s.”

“For now…” Wren tugs the hem of her tank top to reveal her cleavage. “We can test that.”

My stomach sours at the thought of her trying, but Reina laughs.

“Seriously, that’s not going to happen.” Reina spins to face Wren. “Ghost is celibate. You’d have better luck chasing a property patch from Chaos. Or breaking a priest.”

“A celibate biker? You’re joking.”

“Not celibate.” I shake my head. “It’s not like he’s a virgin or made some lifelong vow to God or anything. He just doesn’t do anything with any of the women here anymore.”

“But he used to?”

“I guess. From what the guys have said, he used to be as bad as the rest of them.”

Wren frowns. “What happened?”

“That’s the million-dollar question.” Reina turns to the mirror, painting her lips cherry red. “No one knows what his deal is. But I’ve been here two years, and I’ve never seen him with anyone. The girls before me told me the same thing. So, I guess he has his reasons.”

“Well, that’s too bad for you, Luna,” Wren says.

“I don’t like him.” My eyebrows pinch, and Reina rolls her eyes at me. “I don’t.”

“Whatever you say, Luna Cassidy.”

The two of them giggle, turning back to their hair and makeup, but I’m still hanging onto our conversation .

I don’t like Ghost. What I feel is stronger than that.

Terminal.

If I don’t do something about it soon, that man might be the end of me.