Casey
I hadn’t planned to ever tell anyone what happened. During one of the many talks I’d had with my dad, I’d implied I’d only ever been with my boyfriend and just the one time. It wasn’t true. Sure, my first time was with that monster. The second time, he’d drugged me. Not enough for me to black out. No, far worse. I’d laughed and had the grandest time, letting him take me in front of his friends, then not saying a word when they…
I swallowed hard, pushing back the memories. The drugs had worn off partway through, and I’d begged them to stop. None of them listened. How could I tell all that to Maui? He’d never look at me the same way. And what if he told my dad? I couldn’t risk it. Although, it seemed he’d already asked Wire to dig up dirt on my ex and his friends. How long before the entire story came to light anyway?
“Can you ask Wire to stop looking?” I asked.
“Are you going to give me their names?” He folded his arms and waited patiently for my answer. Maui had never been one to push me. Until now. I had a feeling he wouldn’t let this go.
“I don’t want my dad to find out. He can’t. Right now, he needs to focus on Solena and the kids. If he hears what happened to me, he’s going to lose it.”
Maui nodded. “You’re right. He would. But if you give me their names, I’ll keep this from him as long as I can. You know he’ll eventually find out. Better to tell him.”
“I can’t.” My voice cracked, and I knew I was about to cry again. “Please, Maui.”
“Be mine, Casey. None of this changes how I feel about you and Becca. Let me be the one to take care of the boys who hurt you. I’ll handle everything before your dad even finds out.”
I shook my head. “I can’t let you do that. You know he’ll be pissed. What if he kicks you out?”
“We can talk to him together after this is handled. No one else at the club needs to know, unless your dad tells them later. I can’t control Atilla. No one can.”
He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. The only person who had a prayer of holding my dad back was Solena, and I didn’t want her to know either. She’d been through so much already. Besides, what if she felt betrayed by my silence over this? She’d suffered at the hands of her ex, but she hadn’t hidden it from my dad.
“My ex-boyfriend’s name is Seth Luton. The friends who were there that night are Chris Patterson, Dylan Tate, and Parker Griggs.” I moved a little closer to Maui, reaching out for him. He took my hand and pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me. Being held by him was the best feeling in the world. I closed my eyes, breathed in his scent, and found the courage to tell him what happened. It all poured out of me, and I had to admit when I’d finished, I felt better.
“I can’t touch two of them. Not with my own hands at any rate. Chris Patterson is in prison for rape. Parker Griggs is out of the country. Makes me wonder if he’s on the run before charges can be brought against him for something. I doubt it was the first or last time those assholes did something like that. As for the other two, Wire hadn’t dug up anything yet. He said it looked like your ex paid a hacker to clean his records.”
“He had money, so it’s possible he’d do something like that.” I looked up at him. “You really still want me, knowing all that?”
“Of course, I do. You still want me, knowing I’m going to tear those two apart with my bare hands and bury them somewhere?” He lightly touched my chin with his fingertips. “Because I’m not going to let them go easily. Their deaths will be painful and messy.”
There was a time his words would have scared me. Now I knew about the monsters in the world, and I trusted Maui to protect me and little Becca. I also knew my dad’s club wouldn’t sit back and do nothing when it came to other men hurting women and children.
“Just don’t get caught,” I said. “I don’t want you to claim me and then have to visit you in prison the rest of your life. None of them are worth a murder charge.”
He grinned. “They may not be, but you are. And don’t worry. I won’t get caught.”
His assurance, and cockiness, made me think he’d done something like this before. How many others had he protected? “Don’t you need to ask my dad and the club for permission to claim me?”
“Technically, yes. Since I’m an officer of the club, it should be easier to get it pushed through. Your dad will be the deciding factor.”
“I left my phone in my room. Can I use yours?” I held out my hand. He unlocked it, not bothering to hide his passcode from me, and gave the device to me. I called my dad, knowing there was only one way to guarantee his approval.
“Did she not pick you?” my dad asked the second the call connected.
“Um, Dad, it’s me.”
“Casey? Everything all right? Why are you using Maui’s phone? Did something happen?”
I rolled my eyes. “Dad, calm down. I’m fine. I just didn’t want to go grab my phone.”
“You’re home?”
“I was too tired to go out. Maui made me dinner here, and we’re going to watch a movie. He took one look at me and knew what I needed most was time to relax.”
He grunted. “Looks like he’s doing something right, then.”
“You know how you keep asking what I want for my birthday? I’ve decided.”
“It’s about time. So what is it you want? A new car? A vacation?” Dad asked.
“Well, both sound nice, but no. What I want is… Maui.” The line was quiet, and I looked at the screen, wondering if the call had dropped. Nope. I’d just stunned my dad. “You’re still there, right?”
“I’m here. I think I need you to explain that one a bit more. When you say you want Maui for your birthday…”
“He wants to claim me and Becca, Dad. And that’s what I want too. I know I only turned eighteen today, but he’s been here quite a bit since I moved into this house. Even before that, he helped me when he could. We’ve grown close since I came to the Savage Raptors.”
I heard my dad scratch his chin through his beard. “So, he wants to claim you, but you’re the one calling me? Did he lose his balls or something?”
I snorted. “No. Look, I know the club has rules. You claimed Solena without asking for a vote. I don’t know how things worked with Meredith, or what will happen when the others find someone, but this is something I need. I need Maui, and so does Becca. I’m asking you to give your permission without the rest of the club being asked if they’re okay with it. Because if they say no, it’s going to feel like they’ve all stabbed me in the back.”
“Jesus,” he muttered. “Hit me where it hurts why don’t you? Fine. You want Maui, he’s yours. But I need to hear from him that he wants this too. It’s not like I can just gift wrap him for you.”
I handed the phone to Maui and went to cut a slice of cake for each of us while he talked to my dad. By the time he’d ended the call, he looked happier than I’d seen him. Ever. It seemed we had permission. I didn’t have a clue what happened next, but this was a good start.
“You know, I heard Lynx’s sister Ridley did something similar. She walked into Church at the Dixie Reapers clubhouse and claimed Venom in front of everyone. You’re just as ballsy as she is.”
“Not quite. I only called my dad.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree. So… cake and then what? Movie?”
“Are you all right with that? Technically, we’re a couple now.” He’d said we could take things slowly. Did he still mean it? I hadn’t been with anyone since that night, and while I knew things would be different with Maui, I wasn’t sure if I was ready for that step right this second. I needed at least a day or two to adjust to being claimed by him. Or had I claimed him? I wasn’t sure what my dad would tell the club. Would it bother Maui if everyone thought I’d laid claim to him?
He tipped my chin up and leaned in, giving me plenty of time to pull away. His lips brushed mine in a butterfly soft kiss before he retreated. It wasn’t what I’d expected for my first kiss with Maui, and yet, it felt perfect.
“I told you we could do this at your pace. You’re exhausted, Casey. Let’s relax tonight, and in the morning, we can discuss the two of you moving into my house.”
“Uh… You’re aware my dad is giving me his house, right? I mean, the one he has now.”
Maui nodded. “I know that. You’ve never been to my place. It’s a little farther back, which means it’s quieter. I think you’ll like it. If you see it and can’t stand the thought of living there, we can talk about moving into Atilla’s place. However, with all the delays, there’s no telling when he’ll be moving into the new house.”
I knew he was right. It seemed like one thing after another happened. Mostly rain. The electricians and plumbers kept getting called out on emergencies, and until the wiring and pipes were run, no one could hang drywall. Dad griped about it rather frequently.
“Will Becca have her own room?” I asked.
“Of course, she will. Do you think I’d try to move my family into a house smaller than this one? You’ve probably noticed each house in the compound looks like a log cabin. For the most part, they have a similar layout. However, those of us who were claiming a house right away had some input into our designs. It’s why your dad’s house doesn’t look like the bulk of the ones here.”
“And yours is different too?” I asked.
“Ours,” he corrected, “and yes, it is. It has two bedrooms downstairs and two upstairs.”
Now I wanted to see it. I hadn’t realized we had two-story cabins. Were there others like Maui’s? No, ours. It felt odd even thinking of his home as mine, but I’d get used to it. Eventually.
“What about a fenced yard? I didn’t like the fact this one didn’t have an area where Becca could play when she’s older without me worrying about her darting into the road or wandering off.”
“It does, and there’s a reason for it. How do you feel about furry family members?”
“Um, like a cat or dog?” I asked.
“Not exactly.”
What the hell kind of pet did he have? Waiting until tomorrow to see his place was sounding like a bad idea. I’d lie awake all night worrying about the sort of furry creature I’d end up living with.
“Want to watch the movie at my place?” he asked. “You can bring some things with you and stay the night, or you can come back here.”
“You’d let me sleep here tonight even after claiming me?” I asked.
He shrugged. “We have our entire lives together, Casey. What’s one more night apart? The last thing I want to do is scare you away by pushing for too much too fast. But starting tomorrow, we’ll be living together. Now that you’ve talked to your dad and made everything official, you don’t have a choice in the matter.”
“That’s fine. I wasn’t planning for us to be apart tonight. Of course, I hadn’t considered the fact you wouldn’t want to sleep here.”
“Can’t leave Roscoe alone for too long.”
I closed my eyes, wondering if I really wanted to know what the hell a Roscoe was. Better to find out now. Either way, I’d be living with it from now on. It wasn’t like I was going to demand Maui get rid of his pet. Unless it hurt Becca, but I didn’t think I’d have to ask then. No way he’d let anyone hurt his daughter.
My dad was the same way, which is why I didn’t want him to know about Seth and the others. He’d go track them down, even the one in prison, and kill them. I couldn’t do that to Solena.
“Let me eat my cake and then you can introduce me to Roscoe. I’m not going to get bitten, am I?”
He shook his head. “Nope. He’s a sweetheart.”
Only one way to find out.
I quickly ate my slice of cake, grabbed some essentials and tossed them into a bag, then followed Maui out to his bike. He took the bag from me and helped me onto the motorcycle. After swinging his leg over and sitting in front of me, he placed my bag in front of him.
“I’m going to go slow since you don’t have a helmet,” he said.
I clung to him, closing my eyes and enjoying the wind in my hair. Even though he couldn’t have been going more than twenty miles per hour, it still felt like freedom to ride with him. I wondered if he’d take me on a real ride sometime soon.
Maui parked under the carport at his house and helped me off the bike. A set of double doors were in front of us, and I wondered what was behind them. I knew some homes had their laundry room outside in a space like that. Or was it storage? Plenty of time for questions. Right now, I needed to meet Roscoe, and figure out whether it was time to freak the hell out.
“Ready?” he asked, reaching for my hand. I gave him a nod and held on tight as he led me into the house.
I heard nails against the wood floors and braced myself. Nothing could have prepared me for Roscoe.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” I asked, staring at his pet. “Seriously. Did you have an accident and have a TBI or something? Why the hell would you have that as a pet?”
Maui snorted, then released my hand to pick up the creature. “Careful, Casey. You’ll hurt his feelings.”
He scratched the chocolate skunk under the chin and cuddled it close. Yep. A motherfucking skunk. Who had something like that as a pet? I’d known he was somewhat crazy since he was part of this club, but I hadn’t realized how bad it was until now. Was it too late to run for the hills?
“He’s de-scented,” Maui said. “So he won’t spray you or the house. He has a play area, which keeps him from clawing up the doorframes, cabinets, and anything else that looks entertaining. Thanks to a talk with Doolittle, he even has a custom-made hideout. It’s a cat cave covered in carpet, but larger than what you’d see in stores for cats.”
“Sweet Jesus. A skunk. You seriously live with a skunk.”
“No, baby. We do.”
I whimpered and stared at Roscoe. He wasn’t going to hurt Becca, was he? I had to admit he looked rather content in Maui’s arms. Couldn’t blame him. It was a rather awesome place to be.
Shit. I was now the mom of a skunk, and I didn’t see any way out of it.
Why the hell didn’t anyone warn me? My dad had to be laughing his ass off right now.
“Here,” Maui held Roscoe out to me. “I promise he’s not as awful as you think.”
I reluctantly took the skunk and held it against me. I had to admit he didn’t smell as bad as I’d feared. No worse than a dog who hadn’t had a bath in a week. The little creature looked up at me. The trust in his eyes killed me. Whatever reservations I might have, it was clear Roscoe didn’t have any.
“Hi, Roscoe. Looks like I’m your new mom.”
He smacked his lips and snuggled closer. Maui winked at me, and I knew it pleased him to see his pet in my arms. Of all the things I’d contemplated having in my life, a skunk had never been one of them.