Chapter 8

8

MOLLY

A s much as I'd enjoyed slinging ink over the past week, I was beyond desperate for Maverick to get back. For a few different reasons.

Although we had only spent one day together, I missed him. Plus, my mom and Dahlia had both warned me just this morning that my time was running out with my dad. They could only hold him off for so long, and my call to him a couple of days ago had apparently left him suspicious instead of mollifying him. He'd said some crap about how my voice had sounded off.

Growing up with a father who didn't miss a thing was a pain in the butt, especially for my sisters and me since he was way overprotective when it came to us. He cut Dane a lot more slack, which was totally unfair. And probably a big part of why I didn't feel guilty about disappearing with Maverick. I should have at least the same freedom as my twenty-one-year-old brother. He was barely old enough to drink, but he was a fully patched in Silver Saint. If he took off with a woman, my dad would probably barely blink.

All thoughts of the double standard fled from my head when Whiskey tapped me on the shoulder and jerked his chin toward the door. "Let's go."

The Iron Rogue who ran their tattoo parlor was a man of few words, so I wasn't surprised by his abruptness. But I had no idea what he was talking about since I had a customer due soon. "Where?"

"Your man is a few minutes out." He flashed me a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Figured you'd want to see him right away."

I'd been sketching in a notebook that I tossed onto my station. "Hell yes, let's go."

"Scratcher will cover your appointment."

I had a ton of doubt about the club brother's skills when I first heard his road name, but it turned out to be ironic as hell. Scratcher had one of the steadiest hands I'd ever seen and a light touch with the ink. His art was impressive, too. "Cool, thanks."

He gestured toward the door again. "One of the prospects is on his way over to escort you."

I rolled my eyes with a huff. "It's two blocks in all Iron Rogue territory. I would've been fine on my own."

Whiskey crossed his arms over his chest and quirked a brow. "You know better than that. Your man would have my ass under normal circumstances, let alone with the shit that's been going on."

Ducking my head, I pressed my lips together as I thought about the third reason I'd been anxious for Maverick's return. "But?—"

"Don't give me shit, Molly," he growled. "Not when you already owe me fucking huge for keeping my mouth shut."

It was hard to argue with logic like that. "You're right. Sorry."

Luckily, the prospect yanked the door open, ending our conversation before Whiskey could make me feel guilty over the fact that I had somehow managed to convince him to keep Maverick in the dark until he got back. I wasn't sure how dangerous the club business was, and I hadn't wanted to distract him. The fact that Whiskey agreed both relieved and worried me since it was a fairly safe bet that he wouldn't have if there hadn't been much risk on Maverick's run.

"Don't get so caught up in welcoming him back that you forget to loop him in. ASAP. I'm not gonna be too far behind you, and you don't want me to be the one to tell him."

"It'll be the first thing I do after giving him a big, wet kiss," I promised, heading for the door.

Whiskey shook his head with a groan, making the prospect chuckle. I giggled as I walked past Jake, then hurried down the sidewalk toward the clubhouse with him right next to me. I made the two-block walk in only a few minutes and arrived just as Maverick's bike turned through the gates. I raced after him and threw myself into his arms as soon as he climbed off his motorcycle.

"You're back," I cried.

"Fucking finally." He cupped my butt cheeks to lift me off the ground, so I wrapped my legs around his waist and twined my arms around his neck. "Missed you like hell, princess. Sorry I was gone so long."

"Missed you too," I whispered against his lips.

He gave me the kiss I'd been waiting for, his tongue sliding inside my mouth to tangle with mine until I was breathless with need. When he lifted his head, I let out a whimper of protest.

"Don't worry." He squeezed my butt. "I'm not going anywhere for a good long while. After the shit I just handled, Fox is gonna have to deal with the next fire that needs to be put out without my help. I plan on being buried deep in your pussy for the foreseeable future."

I beamed a smile up at him. "That plan sounds awesome to me, but we're going to need to come up for air sooner rather than later. Keeping my dad in the dark about where I am hasn't been easy. It's a good thing you came back today because I think our time has just about run out."

"We'll figure out the shit with your dad together, princess." He gave me another quick kiss. "I'm so fucking lucky you grew up in the life and aren't pissed I was gone longer than planned. I hate that you had to deal with putting your dad off while I wasn't here to help."

"It's okay," I reassured him. "My mom and sister pitched in to keep him distracted."

"It's a good thing your man is back," Jake called as he strode toward us with something clutched in his fist.

As he neared, I realized they were flowers. And that I had run out of time to tell Maverick what had gone down while he was gone.

Maverick set me on my feet as he turned toward Jake. His eyes narrowed and a muscle jumped in his jaw as his gaze dropped to the flowers. "You bringing those to my woman, prospect?"

"Yeah, but it's not what you think." Jake tossed the flowers on the ground and held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. "They're not from me."

"Who the fuck are they from then?" Maverick growled as he leaned down to grab the bouquet off the ground.

"I wish I knew," Jake muttered. "If I figured that shit out, I'd get patched in for sure."

"You're a long way from being voted on." Maverick yanked the small white envelope out of the flowers, his brows drawing together as he read the note. "What the fuck?"

"If you're going to be angry with anyone, it should be me." I gripped his biceps to stop him from doing something he would regret—like throw a punch at the poor prospect who was in striking distance. Or go hunt down one of his club brothers for keeping this from him while he was gone. "I begged Whiskey to let you focus on club business while you were gone because I was scared you'd get hurt if you were distracted by this whole mess. And it's not like it's a huge deal or anything. Just some flowers and gifts from a random secret admirer."

"How many gifts, and when the fuck did this start?" Maverick snarled.

"Two bouquets of flowers, a box of chocolates, and a card," I rattled off with a sigh. "The roses were first and came to the tattoo shop the day after you left. The chocolates were a couple of days later. Then the card came to the clubhouse yesterday. Now these flowers."

"The guy switched from leaving you shit at Iron Inkworks to here, and my club still doesn't know who the fuck he is this many fucking days later?" Maverick growled.

I was worried for Whiskey's safety since he chose that moment to walk through the gates. But he didn't make it to us before he looked over his shoulder. My gaze followed…and I realized a bad situation had just gotten a hell of a lot worse.