Pagan (The Henchmen MC 8)

"So," Maze said, moving toward us. "Word has gotten around that Pagan has a sweet house right on the beach."

"He does," I agreed, smiling. "He took me there right after that first fight at Hex. Has a pool and a hot tub and water views from the whole front. Oh, and two balconies facing the water."

"Why aren't you staying there instead of the compound?"

"We spent time there occasionally, on weekend nights or if my first clients were scheduled late the next morning. It would be less of an issue if I could just take off and let him sleep in, the night owl he is. But I'm still carless. Once we had all the equipment in for the salon, I will start looking for a used one."

"Repo will go with you," Maze said casually, like I should have known Repo would go with me, like he wouldn't even hesitate. "He can make sure everything is working right and do any necessary tune-ups. Free labor, I might add. That's one major perk to having a mechanic in the family."

Family.

I realized right then that that was exactly what it was too. It wasn't just an MC club. It wasn't just a brotherhood. It went deeper than that. In fact, it seemed even to go deeper than many actual blood bonds often did. Maybe it had to do with the lifestyle, the risk, the worry involved, that made them all bond so much deeper.

And for me, to go from having a mom who only made time for me on holidays, to having a group of a dozen women and even more men who had my back, who I could lean on, who would be there for me if I needed anything... that was such a strange and wonderful feeling that I actually had to blink the sting of tears out of my eyes as I stood there.

"Just saying," I caught Benny saying right then, "I can pull off leather and growl at people like all those yummy men do. Though, the riding on a bike thing might not be my style. Who would put a helmet over hair this good?"

"Oh," Alex, the hacker, said suddenly. "Yeah, I forgot to tell you that we're not supposed to tell you..."

"Alex!" Penny said, big-eyeing her.

"What? If he didn't want me to tell her, he shouldn't have told me. Everyone knows I don't keep shit from my girls. Anyway, you're not supposed to be told, though I don't know how he thought he would pull this off since you two always see each other after work, that Pagan isn't going to be around tonight."

There was a sinking then in my stomach that I tried not to name, but absolutely knew immediately as disappointment. Which was silly, really. I knew that. We hadn't been together that long. There was no way I should have been disappointed about one night away from him. That was just a bit too co-dependent for my liking. Besides, I hadn't been back to my room in so long, I was worried there might be someone else moved into it.

"Oh, alright. Thanks for letting me know so I didn't wait around for him like an idiot."

"See?" Alex said, raising a brow at her friends. "I told you she would appreciate knowing."

"You're still welcome to crash at the compound," Summer invited and, I guess since she was married to the president, that really was her place to say. "Actually, Pagan would probably insist on it since he isn't going to be around."

"He's a little paranoid. I mean, I haven't even seen Ethan since..." I trailed off, seeing each and every set of eyes fall on me, sensing a heaviness there, a knowledge that I wasn't privy to. "What?" I directed that mostly to Alex seeing as she was the one who seemed more inclined to be forthcoming with information. Maybe that had to do with being a hacker, seeing everyone's dirty little secrets all the time, and likely knowing that the world would be a better place if people didn't keep quite so many of them.

She shook her head though, looking away for a minute. "This is one that is going to need to come from your man, I'm afraid."

"Should I be worried?"

"I think this is a more of a 'prepare yourself for some news' kind of thing," Benny said, watching the women with drawn-together brows, seeming like he was able to read more into them than I was.

"Okay, that's enough of all this heaviness," Lo declared, clapping her hands. "How about you show us the new space? I've been bugging them to let me in, but Reeve is being all 'it's a construction zone and not safe' on me. You know, because what I do for a living is all fluffy puppies and hot chocolate."