Lay It Down: Bastards MC Series Boxed Set (66 page)

My eyes closed automatically, and I inhaled slowly. No. This was a sick joke. Matty would never choose to go spend the night with her instead of being here with Sammy and me. I was dreaming and would wake from this nightmare soon.

“Joey?” The voice in my ear startled me. Matty was suddenly standing right next to me. “Did you hear anything I just said?”

I shook my head pathetically at his scolding tone.

“I asked if you wanted to come downstairs with me. I thought you might help soften the blow of me leaving.”

Looking up at the face I loved, I let the hurt flow through my veins. Even though they should have been buried deep, the words Taylor had flung at me last summer came flooding back, and every single insecurity came bubbling to the surface. I could practically hear her sneering, “Have you looked at yourself lately? Honey, I can promise you, if you can’t keep your own husband in your bed, you sure as hell won’t be able to get mine there.”

I studied him for a few seconds: square jawbone that was filled with scruff and ticking in frustration; heart-shaped lips twisted in concentration as he watched me; perfect long, thin nose; and bright blue eyes, surrounded by a thicket of black lashes, that were staring into mine.

Yeah, she was right. This Greek God was too beautiful to belong to me. Then I chastised myself for being a fool. Fuck her. He was mine. He was in my bed every single night while she had to lie about where she’d been.
Sorry, sweetheart, he doesn’t want to marry you, regardless of what the ring on your finger tells the world. He wants me. I have his grandfather’s ring and, most importantly, his heart.

If I had just let him explain the whole situation last night, I wouldn’t be so confused right now, I realized angrily. Well, now was really as good a time as any to get to the bottom of this shit pile.

I nodded and stood. “Taylor, you really didn’t get to say anything to Sammy earlier. Why don’t you come with us?”

Three sets of eyebrows rose, and I had to fight to keep from laughing at the disgusted look on her face. I didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, I patted Rob’s head and practically skipped across the hall to the stairs, happy with my plan.

I heard them behind me—one set of footsteps heavy and hurried, the other slow in her annoyingly stylish shoes. Matty called to me, but I didn’t stop at the landing because I didn’t want the kids to hear what was going on. This was a long overdue conversation for just the three of us.

Matty’s long legs caught up with me before I reached the last step, but he waited until we reached the bottom before he grabbed my arm and pushed me back me against the wall.

“Jesus, Joes!” He was slightly out of breath, but my chest was heaving; I didn’t know if it was from the exercise or because of excitement at his closeness. “Would you wait a fuckin’ minute?” Twisting a hand into my hair, he pulled my head back, forcing me to look at him, and pushed his body into mine, preventing any sort of escape. “Talk to me.”

Taylor’s heels click-clacked on the steps as she carefully made her way down to us. I ignored the sound, focusing on the angry sky inside Matty’s eyes. A hundred thoughts filtered through my mind as I tried to figure out what to say to him. Nothing seemed good enough. Without thinking, my hand sneaked under his shirt, and I dragged my nails up his back.

He groaned and leaned in, nipping at the soft skin between my neck and shoulder before moving his empty hand to my chin. He leaned back, just enough to meet my eyes again, then his lips were on mine.

“This isn’t what you think,” he managed as his teeth moved to my ear and sucked on my lobe. “You don’t get to run away anymore!” Teeth sank into my bottom lip almost painfully before his mouth was crushing against mine, punishing me. The hand in my hair tightened as he leaned back once more, showing me storm clouds in his baby blues. “You are wearing my ring. That means you are mine. It means I’m yours. You. Do. Not. Run. Away!”

I felt horrible as I realized that the intense look in his eye was fear. His mind was working on overdrive, and he was just as scared as I was. But he’d totally misunderstood. When I shook my head, his face fell.

"I'm so sorry Joes. I didn't know she'd be here. Didn’t know you’d have to see that. So fuckin' sorry!" And he captured my mouth again.

Taylor cleared her throat at least twice before the sound sank in and I remembered that we weren’t alone. Matty must have heard her at the same time I did, because he moved away slightly but kept his forehead pushed against mine. His eyes promised me so many things that I couldn’t begin to keep up.

“As charming as this little public display of affection is, we really do have to get going.” And bitchy Taylor was back. I was surprised she was making an appearance in front of Matty.

“I’m not fuckin’ leaving, and you damned well know it!”

Taylor sighed, obviously annoyed, and tapped her foot loudly. “And just how in the hell do you plan to get out of this one?”

Matty shrugged. “I’m going to be honest. My kid doesn’t want me to leave, and since I only get a few nights a month with him, you are gonna stay here with us. If your dad asks, I’m sure Jo has something you can wear. Then Rob can drive you to your boyfriend’s house.”

She inhaled sharply. “First of all, if anything of Jo’s fit me, I’d kill myself. Second, I don’t have a boyfriend! Is that jealousy talking, Matt?”

Matty stepped away from me and turned on her. “Oh, get over yourself. The only reason you’re minutely smaller than Jo is because she isn’t afraid to eat.”

His words and hateful tone shocked me. Something had happened between these two, and it wasn’t good.

“Make no mistake, if you insult my fiancée again, you will regret it,” he said.

I was off the wall and moving between them in a flash. Holding up my arms, I pushed Matty back from getting any closer to her. “Hey!” I snapped. “Back off!”

He backed up but only marginally, shooting daggers at the beauty behind me. “How stupid do you have to be?” he snapped at her. “Sneaking out of the house? What’s gonna happen when your father’s goons follow you and realize you aren’t coming here?”

Taylor only raised her chin defiantly.

“Holy fuck. You’ve planned it all out, haven’t you? You’re meeting him at a hotel or some shit so you can say you’re meeting me.” His tone was now one of surprise. “Good Christ, Tay! Tell me you’re not fucking a married man!”

She straightened her back. “As opposed to you, the man who was fucking a married woman?”

Ouch. That hurt a little.

“You’re such a selfish, miserable bitch,” Matty seethed back.

“Oh, I’m selfish and miserable? Funny how you’d see it that way considering you’re the only one in this room who fits both descriptions!”

“I see it the way it is!” he snapped. “I bet you know who’s following you and you’re the little boy crying wolf to get some attention.”

Feeling very much like the monkey in the middle, I put my hands up and jumped up and down, trying to get their attention before she could reply. “Seriously? Stop!” Looking from one to the other, I realized I had their attention. I pointed at the closest door. “Matty’s room. Now!”

Once we were all inside and the door was closed, I motioned Taylor to the chair and pushed Matty onto the bed. “What in the hell is going on?”

Taylor only gave me the evil eye, making Matty glare at her in return. Finally she rolled her eyes and answered, “It’s club business.”

I laughed. Of course it was. Fucking, stupid, pathetic club.

“Ohhhkayy.” I sighed, realizing I wasn’t going to get anywhere. “I’m gonna say it’s safe to assume that neither of you are happy and that this fake engagement has gone on long enough. Can you break it off?”

Matty sighed. “I don’t know. Can we, Taylor?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. He’s getting close. Especially after he met Jo.” She motioned at me with her chin. “But he’s still not there yet.”

I turned to Matty, hoping he’d fill in the blanks.

“Senator Butler and Jon Greenwood are old friends. They grew up together,” Matty said.

“Are you kidding me right now? This whole thing has been one more ploy to get the lawyer you want?” All this drama for something so stupid? So very anti-climactic. I was disgusted.

“Not really.” Matty leaned forward, grabbing my hand. “Taylor first had the idea to keep our breakup a secret last fall, after she found out you and I were no longer together.”

“Please,” Taylor interrupted. “It was a win-win for both of us. You got to have a popular senator support you and the club. He’s a powerful ally to have. All you had to do was pretend to date me. Every man in a hundred-mile radius wishes they’d been so lucky!”

Matty ignored her. “The senator knows everyone, and everyone owes him a favor. I won’t lie—it’s nice to have that connection. Tank got out early thanks to him. A few of our kids were spared the trauma of testifying because he golfs with a few judges. Plus, we’ve gotten some huge donations.”

“And been able to give numerous families a new start. We were able to give them new identities and move some of our clients that were in serious danger,” Taylor added.

“Like the witness relocation program?” I asked, confused.

“Along the same lines, but funded by the Bastards rather than the government,” she clarified. “And we’ve been able to clean up the Bastards’ image even more. Put Matty with a pretty little Daddy’s girl, and people start sucking up to the club. Everyone who owes my dad something wants to help us out, just to get in his good graces. We haven’t landed Jon yet. That’s my main concern right now.”

Now I was really confused. “Your main concern?”

Taylor’s face was blank when she looked at Matty. “This is my job, Jo. I run welfare for the club. I make sure that kids and parents have what they need until the trial is over, if there is a trial, and then I find them a new life. Whether it’s here or in another part of the country, I find them a home, a counselor, and a job, get them furniture and clothes, then check in on them every couple of months. And I work with Rob to make sure everyone is protected.”

“What’s that have to do with Jon?”

“If the Bastards go to prison, my families aren’t protected. If they go to prison, the image I’ve worked so hard to perfect becomes tainted and we won’t have the help we do now. I need the boys to stay out of prison. In order to keep them outside, we need Jon. We need him to feel camaraderie with the boys, a connection to the club. It’s there, I can see it, but he needs that final push.”

She sighed at the look of bewilderment on my face. I was impressed but shocked that this Taylor was so dedicated.

“You don’t know me, Jo, you never did, so don’t look so surprised. What I do for the club is important, and I’m not going anywhere. So as long as you’re around, you’re just going to have to put up with me.” Standing, she smoothed down her dress. “I think we’ve been gone long enough, don’t you? Let’s go tell my dad that I’m staying here with your delightful little group. Yay!” She gave me a fake excited smile then left the room.

“She won’t be here long, babe, I promise. I’ll have Rob take her to wherever she wants to go as soon as the old man is gone.”

I honestly didn’t care about that right now. I swallowed, trying to wrap my mind around everything from the last twenty-four hours. “Why do you hate her? It seems like she did you and the club a pretty big favor, and she’s helping as many people as she can.”

He laughed, standing and pulling me into a hug. “I don’t hate her. I don’t ever want to be alone in the same room as her, because she’s a lying, manipulative wench. But I don’t hate her.”

“You were so cold and mean to her!”

“Just because I don’t love her anymore doesn’t mean that I hate her. I didn’t treat her any different than I treat anyone else in my life.” Grabbing my hand, he pulled me out of our room and up the stairs. “I’m really sorry, Joes. Forgive me?”

I nodded. I’d already forgotten why I was mad. Now all I could think about was how he’d never treated me with as much indifference as he had Taylor. Not once, even before we’d gotten together and even when we’d broken up. The thought made me speechless. He really had loved me from the beginning.

Chapter 31

Matty

What a fucking day.

I opened the door to our bedroom and looked in on Jo one more time. I’d just double-checked the kids, covering Ben back up, tucking Lily’s much loved Pooh Bear in next to her, and moving Sam so that his head was on his pillow instead of his feet. Hearing Jo’s snores, I smiled at how normal this felt—her in my bed and the kids here with us. I had the sudden urge to yell, “Eleven o’clock and all is well!”

Chuckling to myself, I shut the door and climbed the stairs. After grabbing a bottle of Jack’s Tennessee Whiskey—my favorite after a hard day—and a couple of tumblers, I joined Rocker on the deck. It was a warm spring, and the city was alive beneath us. Everyone was out trying to beat the winter blues. I didn’t even ask him if he wanted a drink, just poured three fingers and handed it to him.