Iron & Bone (Lock & Key #3) (22 page)

“Make you dirty for me.”

“Bo!” Becca clapped. “Mommy, Bo!”

I grinned at him. “Hey, Bo.”

He grinned back. Wicked, knowing, pleased.

“Rae told me where I’d find you,” he said, shutting off his engine.

“You called Rae?”

“Yeah, I wanted to surprise you for lunch. You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“No, but I made a tuna salad for us at home before I left.”

“No tuna. Buffalo.”

“Buffalo salad?”

“Buffalo burger, hon.” He laughed. “Bacon-double-cheeseburger kind of buffalo.”

My eyes popped open.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You said you’ve never had one, right? This one is top of the line.”

“Seriously?”

“I don’t kid about burgers. It’s one of my essential food groups. Can’t have you missing out, especially when it’s a local specialty.”

Sexy times and good food. Who would have thought a fake relationship would be such a pleasure?

“Follow me.”

“I should check on Rae first.”

“Rae’s digging into that tuna salad and French bread with Martha, as we speak.”

“She told you about the French bread?”

“And the Greek olives.”

“And Martha came over?”

“The lady from next door, yeah.”

“Oh, geez. You got it all covered.”

“On most days, I do. Get in your car, key in the ignition, and follow me.”

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Double-check Becs. Make sure she’s strapped in tight and put your own seat belt on.”

“Unbe-freaking-lievable.”

Boner shot me a you’re-loving-this-as-much-as-I-am grin.

He willed his engine to make that insane uproar once again. I stood there, motionless, mesmerized by the sight of him in a very worn-out leather jacket, a blinding white V-neck T-shirt with a silver chain with a snake charm hanging from it, and dark blue jeans that must have been new because there were no rips in them. His silver rings glinted in the sunlight.

“Jill. Car.”

“You don’t like me gawking at you?”

I was openly gawking. What did it matter?

After the mall, the kitchen counter—episodes one and two—his room at the club, and last night’s little phone sexscapade, and not to mention, now that we had official Old Man/Old Lady status, I could do it openly for a change, couldn’t I?

“Oh, I like it, Firefly, but I’m a man on an empty stomach. I might bite.”

Promises, promises.

“Jill, you going to eat it or just keep staring at it?”

“I don’t know how or where to begin. It’s huge.”

“At least Becs knows how to eat. You like it, Becs?”

Becca grinned with a mouthful of buffalo burger, clutching a thick sweet potato fry.

I stroked her tiny hand. “Slowly, honey, okay?”

She nodded as she chewed.

I raised my knife. “I’m going to have to cut this in half.”

“Aw, Jill. For shame,” he said, laughing as I cut the massive burger in two.

“And now I’m going to eat it all.” I took a shameless huge bite of the juicy beast in my hands. The smoky rich flavor of the grilled meat, the luscious combination of the cheese, the bacon, the—

“Oh my God,” I managed between chews.

Both Boner and Becca stared at me.

I swallowed. “This is a religious experience.”

Boner grinned at me as he took a swig from a bottle of local craft beer, and Becca chomped on another fry.

My phone buzzed in my bag. I wiped my hands and fished it out.

Catch.

Ugh. Great timing.
It was tempting to ignore his call, but he’d only keep trying and accuse me of avoiding him.

“Hello?”

“You think I’m going to let this go, you are dead wrong,” Catch snarled over the phone.

I wiped my hands on my napkin, avoiding Boner’s laser gaze. “What’s up?”

“They tried to humiliate me.”

“What did you think was going to happen?”

“I knew you and Boner had been hanging out, but his old lady? What did you go and do that for? You need committed dick in you?”

I shot up from the table, and Boner’s eyes narrowed at me.

“Be right back. Got to take this.” I charged toward the restrooms in the back of the restaurant. “You’re disgusting.”

“Yeah, we know I’m disgusting. But you? How long is it gonna take till you drive the man insane with your bullshit?”

“Shut up, Catch. What do you care?”

“We were good for a while there, but you’re the one who fucked it up.”

“I remember it differently.” I leaned back against a wall by the ladies’ restroom.

“Yeah, sure you do. But you started it, with your suspicions and insecurities. You did that. All your uptight crap made us a mess.”

“Yes, I did go overboard, and I regret that. But you sure did something about it, didn’t you?”

“That’s right. All the shit you were always accusing me of, I finally did it. And you know what? I enjoyed myself.”

“I have no doubt.”

“And I have no doubt you’re still a miserable little girl who takes out her shit on everybody else. Gotta say, I’m concerned you’re gonna be doing that to our daughter. I don’t want her to be messed up in the head like you.”

“You’re concerned, did you say? Well,
Daddy
, seeing as how she’s already been the victim of a kidnapping before she even hit two years of age, things are not looking too good on that score.”

“That was a royal fuck-up. Won’t ever happen again.”

“News flash, Catch—me being with my old man is not about you. It’s about me. Nothing I do is about you, but everything is about our daughter. I do put her first, unlike you, and I trust my old man and the One-Eyed Jacks.”

“My old man.” Sweet hell, listen to me.

“Your daughter is a Flame first. Just because you’re warming a Jack’s bed, don’t mean my kid, my own flesh and blood, has got to be subjected to ’em.”

“Subjected? As far as I know, the Jacks and the Flames are not enemies, are they? Oh, I get it now. You’d be happy if I were with an accountant or the stock boy at the local supermarket, so you could be the big macho dick in the room?”

“Shut the fuck up, Jill, and listen. You can’t be straight with me if you tried. My kid is not growing up around another club, you hear? And the Jacks are not gonna tell me what to do and how to do it. That’s my kid we’re talking about. You should show a little more gratitude that I let you leave Nebraska in the first place.”

“Are you forgetting that I came to Meager with
your sister
to live with
your mother
and help her now that she’s weak and frail?”

“They could’ve hired a professional to do what you’re doing, but my sister managed to sucker you into it.”

“Have you even offered to help your sisters financially with your mother’s care, by the way? Your mother has good days and bad days. They come and go. And, thankfully, while the going is still good, your daughter is getting to know her very special, very wonderful grandmother. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

“It does, but meanwhile, you’re sucking Jack cock in the background. So, this is how it’s gonna go. We aren’t goin’ through lawyers, for obvious reasons, so we’re gonna do this my way.”

My heart skipped a beat. “Do what?”

“You’re gonna give me custody of Becca.”

“What?”

“You’re her ma. I get that. So, you can have her every other couple of weeks.”

“What are you talking about, Catch? You’re being totally unfair. This is bullshit.”

“You’re gonna do as I say, and you know why?”

“Why, asshole?”

He laughed. “’Cause if you don’t, your old man is gonna pay for it. All it takes is for me to give the word to Mishap, and you know what’s gonna happen, don’t you?”

My blood froze.

Mishap was the Flames of Hell assassin-on-demand. A former Army sharpshooter, his services were legendary. Hired not only by his own club nationwide, but also contracted by other clubs and even Mafia from all over the country for his particular skill set. Murder for hire. At long range, under the cover of night, in the blinking light of day—either way, quiet, untraceable, unmistakable.

“Catch, please. Please. Are you totally insane?”

“Not totally. You do as I say, and there will be no insane mishaps, baby.” His low chuckle rumbled through the phone. “Maybe I’ll start off small, just for kicks, so you get that I’m serious about this.”

“You always have to have your kicks, don’t you?”

“This is real simple, Jill. You stay with your old man, but I get my kid the way I want my kid. You do not tell him, my mother, or my sisters about this conversation. This is club business, and you know what that means. I taught you well, didn’t I?”

“Yes. Yes, you did.” My voice cracked.

One night, Catch had made me watch Finger shoot a man, point-blank, in the face with a rifle. A prospect who had snitched to an undercover cop about business. Catch had wanted me to understand how important keeping secrets was, now that I was a part of a new way of life. He’d told me I needed to wrap my head around it and stay committed to it. I’d gotten it all right, in flying blood and chunk spattered Technicolor.

Afterward, he’d fucked me against the chain-link fence of the compound as the party roared on around us. He’d fucked me until I stopped feeling numb, and my incessant shuddering had been transformed into another kind of shuddering by the quick, harsh orgasm he gave me. His loud grunts, enthusiastic filthy monologue, and the sharp gleam in his dark eyes as he’d hammered into me had told me that it had been exciting for him to share that slice of his life with me. He’d been buzzing with it. I’d been a crazy mixture of terrified, stupefied, and needy, all the while realizing how wholly dependent on Catch I was for my sanity and survival at the Flames of Hell.

After the orgasm had faded, the numb had quickly returned. What had I gotten myself into once again? Way too much.

I’d thought I’d finally gotten myself out of it when I took our daughter and left him and Nebraska behind.

I gripped my phone tighter, my stomach gnarled into knots, as I watched Boner cutting pieces of burger for Becca from where I stood. “Don’t do this to Becca, please. Come see her whenever you want. Whenever. But she’s too young right now for you to take her from me and have her on your own. The last time you did, you handed her over to some club women, and she ended up getting kidnapped by that lunatic.”

“I want my kid down here with me. I’m her father. Me. Not some One-Eyed Jack.”

The line went dead.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

My hand flew to my mouth, and I choked back the screechy sob rising in my throat. I took in a breath and made my way back to our table.

Boner’s eyes followed me as I sat down. “You okay?”

“Fine. That was the billing department from the rehab where Rae was a few months ago. There’s an issue with a Medicare payment that hasn’t gone through yet. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, so I…” I gestured toward the hall where I’d gone to take the call. “It’s always something with health insurance.”

The abrupt change in tone and spirit from Catch’s phone call to this domestic bliss of me, Boner, and Becca eating a meal together was nothing short of whiplash. I settled back in my seat and gulped at my ice water.

During those few years with Catch, my normal had been this very same all-systems-at-high-hell adrenaline level which was shooting through me right now. It was a shock after all this time. I couldn’t come down
and
lie about it right this very second.

How can I tell Boner right now, here in a crowded restaurant and in front of Becca?

No, I had to keep it together until I could think about this later when I was alone in my room. Later, yes.

Under the table, my feet rose, and my toes ground into the floor.

Boner drained his beer, his eyes on me, and set the bottle back on the table with a clunk. “Becca decided she loves sweet potatoes now.”

My shoulders fell. “Really? Wonderful, sweetie.” I kissed my daughter’s greasy hand. “We’ll have to buy some for home.”

I forced myself to eat my burger.

“Everything okay?” he asked after we’d finished.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. Thank you for this. I really loved it.”

He wiped at his mouth with a napkin and pushed a lock of hair behind his ear.

Make conversation. Say anything. He’s the Sergeant at Arms of an MC. The man’s life is all about deciphering suspicious behavior and clues. Damn it, where’s your ramble now?

I got out the mini packet of baby wipes from my handbag and wiped down Becca’s face and hands. “Did you and Dig come here?”

His brow furrowed. “What?”

“Did you two come here and eat burgers in the old days? Did he like them as much as you? You never talk about him, you know. I’d love to hear a few stories.”

His head tilted. “Would you?”

“Sure I would.”

His teeth dragged across his bottom lip. “Yeah, we used to come here. Back then, it was a dump though, a real hole-in-the-wall, and the burgers were dirt cheap. It was about all we could afford on a good night. Times have changed, as you can see.”

The small space was crowded and noisy, and the oversized vintage counters trimmed in chrome gleamed, as if they were new. The restaurant had been featured in several travel magazines, judging from the framed articles on the walls. People sporting suits and ties, probably all the way from Rapid, were sitting at the small square cloth-covered tables alongside local ranchers and farmers. Times had changed. Local, home-grown was “in” and in demand.