Sex & Mayhem 04 No Matter What (33 page)

“Hey, Mom,” he
said and stood in the door of the living room.

She looked up
from above an empty plastic container, already in her favorite
purple pajamas. She was silent for a moment before rushing to her
feet and pouncing him like a kitten. “Oh, baby...”

“Hope you don’t
mind me crashing your
Hoarders
marathon.” He laughed,
relieved, and hugged her.

She pushed him
away with a pout. “I was about to call
you
in a few days.
You haven’t even texted me.”

“I know, I
know. It’s all been a bit hectic.” He took off his jacket along
with his prospect vest and put it on the side before sitting down
in one of the armchairs. “I’ve been helping out Luca and all
that.”

Mother poured
him a glass of water and rested in her usual place, on the right
side of the sofa. She switched off the television and patted the
empty space next to her.

“I don’t get
it,” she said.

Ghost sighed
and changed to the sofa. “It’s been a process, but we’ve worked
things out between us.”

His mother
drank some of her tea, watching him from above the cup in a way
that made Ghost almost as stressed as if this were an important
exam. “You can tell me the truth.”

Ghost
swallowed. “I still love that person I fell for.”

Mother pinched
her lips. “You’re gay?”

“N-no. I’m
bisexual. And it turns out I can be in love with Luca in the same
way I was with Zara. It’s even better in some ways. We can be so
honest with each other.” Even if lately the atmosphere was
stifling, that didn’t affect the bigger picture. Nothing had
changed in the way he felt about Luca.

She opened her
mouth, and Ghost knew what she was thinking: he was going through a
‘phase’. Or that he had been secretly gay all along but wouldn’t
admit it. Or other bullshit like that. In the end, she slouched
against the backrest and spoke, “So, you two are together?”

“Yes. We’re
trying to make it work. You know, it’s all new, barely anyone
knows, so that’s hard. And living with someone is much different
than just chatting with them, but I think this is it for me. The
One.” Ghost smiled and looked away, feeling a flush creep up his
neck.

His mother
blinked, but her surprise turned into amusement, and she nudged him
with her elbow. “What counts is that you’re happy, I suppose. Your
father still can’t cope with that.”

“He can’t cope
with Luca. I’m dreading telling him the whole story. I don’t think
he’ll actually accept it or get it.” Ghost sighed. “He’s bullheaded
about these things.”

“He’s fine with
Tooth. Just give him enough time.” His mother shrugged and put her
slim arm around Ghost’s back. “The one thing he’s always been
bullheaded about is the club.”

“I’m sorry I
sprung it up on you. I mean, the prospecting. It wasn’t an impulse
decision, but I hadn’t planned on doing it right then and there
either. Everything came together, and my purpose there won’t be the
hard stuff. I’ll be the designated doctor. I can’t practice
medicine legally, so that’s all I have left.”

Mother sat up
with her gaze zeroing in on Ghost. “You know, I have family in
Canada. The attitudes to gay people are better there, I’ve heard.
You’re still prospecting, you could leave at any time―”

“Mom, it
doesn’t work that way.” Ghost sighed and couldn’t bear seeing her
eyes water.

“Why not? Why
can’t you learn from your father’s mistakes? You want to go to
prison like he did? You want to have Luca live through that?” she
hissed, and Ghost already wanted to leave the room.

“I won’t go to
prison, it will be all right…”

“How do you
know that? And just because the Nails accept Tooth doesn’t mean
they’ll be fine about you and Luca. Tooth is their VP.”

Ghost growled
and clenched his fists. “Thanks, mom. You know so much about how
the club works. Maybe you should join?”

Mother frowned
at him. “Don’t give me that! You’ll be sticking out like a sore
thumb in there. No one would chase you if you both quietly left for
Canada…”

“Maybe I’m not
so much different than all those guys. Maybe
I am
just like
Dad?” Ghost shook his head.

They sat in
silence, just the hurtful words between them for a while. In the
end, his mother petted the back of Ghost’s head. “So, are you two
gonna marry after all? You should bring him over.”

“Oh God. Marry?
I haven’t even thought about it, but I guess it’s kinda in the
picture nowadays, isn’t it?” He laughed nervously, grateful that
she let it go and changed the topic. Yep, he was pretty sure he
wanted to make it official with Luca.

Mother finished
her tea. “No rush though. Just bring him over for dinner sometime.
I don’t think we made a good impression on him.”

“Yeah, I can
imagine he’s a bit scared. What do you think though? Are you really
okay with this?”

She looked
away. “Well, I still want grandchildren, and it’s not what I
expected, but there’s not much I can really do. I need to accept
the person you want to be with.”

“You’re the
best, you know that?” Ghost nudged her with his shoulder.

“Oh, I’m just
trying to woo you back home.”

“Maybe after I
come out to Dad, but to be honest, we’re looking forward to buying
a house, or renting somewhere. I can’t live with my parents. I’m
almost thirty.”

Mother shook
her head. “I don’t recognize you. When did you grow up?”

Ghost’s phone
buzzed in his jean pocket. “Gotta get this, I’ll be back in a sec.”
He expected a call from Tooth or Priest, but he only hesitated for
a moment when he noticed it was Luca. As soon as he got out of the
room, he picked up the call. “Hey, what’s up?”

Luca’s voice
was warm and sweet with the background of music. “Hi, I’m with
Lucky at the mall. Are you still busy?”

“Yeah, it’s
gonna be a long night, a few more hours. Have fun.” Ghost hated
lying to Luca, but he really needed some time off. Maybe he’d lie
down in his old room. Read a book, chill out with some music?
Simple alone time that would give him energy to deal with the
tension between them. He missed the old Luca, but with things as
they were, he needed to be patient and not push him into anything
he wouldn’t want.

“Oh, that’s too
bad,” said Luca, the disappointment obvious in his voice. “Could
you let me know when you leave? You know, in the future? I was
looking for you today.”

“Sorry, it was
a bit of a rushed thing today,” he muttered. Ghost was used to
having time with Zara, and time to do as he pleased, whereas at the
moment, he was stuck between Luca’s big sad eyes and runs for the
club. He loved Luca with all his heart, but everyone needed to get
some space once in a while.

“Should I wait
up for you?”

“Nah, just go
to sleep, sweetie. Do whatever you like.”

Luca hummed.
“Wake me up when you’re back?”

Ghost smiled
and leaned his forehead against the wall. “I will.”

Ghost:
I could
come over and kidnap you ;D

Zara:
LOL, it’s
hardly a kidnapping if the victim’s willing to go.

Chapter 19

Luca stared at
the cars streaming away from the city center as they drove toward
the clubhouse. Having a nice meal and a chat with Lucky had helped
him relax, and with Ghost being gone for most of the night, he
decided to spend the evening at the clubhouse. Their hosts were
going to be there as well, and being alone in the house while it
was dark outside was probably the last thing he wanted.

Lucky had told
him that Priest wanted to see him as well. Probably about that
hacking thing, so Luca was more than happy to be useful. When they
arrived, the club was full of people. Not as packed and loud as at
the party, but busy. Nails coming and going, Nails with patches
from other states. Some men did seem to be chilling out in the bar
though, and women hovered around them, so it wasn’t a members only
evening.

Luca felt more
at ease with so many armed men around. Now that the club president
found him useful, they surely wouldn’t let anyone take him away. He
waved at Blitz, who was busy talking to some blonde bombshell, and
followed Lucky through the room. Tooth was by the bar with Milk and
his wife, Kat. Tooth raised his beer in greeting.

“You came to
join us for a drink, Luca?” Milk asked. He looked like he’d already
had too much alcohol. Kat smiled at them, and the pixie cut made
her look even younger than she was. During parties, she was usually
home with their small children, but it seemed that it was her night
off.

Luca shrugged.
“I have time to kill until Ghost’s back from his run.”

Milk frowned
and gave Tooth an inquisitive glance.

Tooth leaned
back and drank some more of his beer. “I let him off ages ago. He’s
only coming back in an hour or two.”

Luca’s mouth
dropped open, and his stomach twisted into a knot. He couldn’t
believe Ghost had lied to him.

Lucky slid
behind the bar. “Vodka?” He smiled at Luca.

Luca forced
himself to smile back. “Make it a double.”

“Hah, maybe
he’s got another family somewhere,” said Milk, as tactful as
usual.

“And a secret
baby,” muttered Luca, keeping up a smile for everyone’s sake.

“You gotta give
the man some room to
explore
, you know,” Milk said, earning
himself a smack on the back of the head from Kat.

Tooth watched
Luca with a stare so inquisitive it made Luca uncomfortable. “You
need to tighten the leash, Kat.”

Lucky pushed a
shot glass toward Luca and got himself one as well. “Bottoms
up.”

Luca drank the
whole thing, and the sharp bitterness made his eyes water. He
wasn’t sure he even wanted to talk to Ghost about this.

Kat chuckled,
and her slim hands tightened around Milk’s neck as she pretended to
choke him. “I’m gonna smother him.”

Milk turned
around and dove in for a kiss that was too graphic for Luca to
watch.

“There’s my
boy!” Priest yelled from afar.

Luca looked
back, with the fire from the vodka still burning hot enough to give
him courage to deal with whatever Priest wanted. He nodded at the
others and walked over to the sofa where Priest sat with some
gray-haired patch Luca didn’t know.

Priest got up,
and as soon as he got closer, Luca knew that he must have had a lot
more to drink than it was responsible at his age. “Come with me.
I’ve got a job for you.”

He looked back,
suddenly unsure whether he wanted to be alone with Priest, but
neither Tooth nor Lucky were bothered with him anymore, and so he
followed the president’s slightly wobbly steps.

They passed the
door with the ‘Members Only’ sign, and Priest led him to a bare
room that only held a mattress, a chair, and a desk. There was
literally nothing that could count as decor, and the steel bars in
the window sent Luca’s anxiety levels straight into the
stratosphere. Freaking out by the second, Luca tried to keep close
to the door, just in case.

“You got your
computer with you?” Priest turned on the light as they walked
in.

Luca exhaled
and patted his messenger bag. “Yes?”

“And you know
that everything that happens here is confidential, right?” Priest
said with a bit of a drunken mumble. He towered over Luca in such
an unpleasant way that Luca was close to hyperventilating. Smelling
the liquor on the breath of a man taller and bulkier than him made
him think of some of the horrific stories Antonio had mentioned
when he reminisced about his time in prison. They were supposed to
be funny anecdotes, but Luca suspected they were secretly meant as
a threat, too. Meant to show Luca how well he was being treated,
and how grateful he ought to be. Pretty boys treated as public
property, fair game for anyone even slightly stronger than
them.

He shuddered.
“Yes.”

“Good.” Priest
passed him a folder. “This is the intel on the members of the Rabid
Hogs that we have. I want you to go through their accounts, or
whatever you can find, and look for suspicious transactions.
Anything that looks weird in the last two weeks. Their old ladies
businesses and all that. Is that something you know how to do?”

Luca’s jaw
tightened, but he made himself relax, trying to come up with
wording that wouldn’t upset Priest. “Depends on what’s in the
folders.”

“Accounts,
addresses, photos. You’ll have to see for yourself. If those
fuckers think they can get away with a slap on the wrist after the
insult to the Coffin Nails, they’ve got another thing coming.”
Priest said and grabbed the front of his cut for emphasis. He might
be a graying older man, but Luca had no doubt those massive hands
could break his neck.

“I’ll do what I
can, but I can’t promise anything,” said Luca, biting into his lip.
He slipped from underneath Priest’s arm and backed away toward the
desk.

Priest’s heavy
gaze followed him, but he exited into the corridor. “You’re not
leaving here until you finish,” he said and shut the door.

Luca froze, his
eyes on the handle. His knees softened even as he waited for the
clang of the lock. Each second stretched into a minute, or maybe it
was his mind speeding up? He fought against his stiff joints and
walked toward the door with his breath shallow. Where was Ghost?
Ghost wouldn’t let this happen, would he? He’d promised Luca would
be free.

Before he could
even reach the door, Priest opened it up again. “Just fuckin’ with
you. Toilet’s next door. Give me a shout if you need me. Or call
Tooth if I’m too drunk to speak. He’s sober.”

Luca cleared
his throat, supporting himself by the wall not to slump. “I― can I
lock the door from the inside?”