Repo (The Henchmen MC Book 4) (31 page)

It did.

Damn them.

I really wanted to be angry about not getting patched-in.

Hell, I had started to take on a 'doing this for all women' attitude about the whole thing.

But if they were trying to go legit, then things had definitely gone bad with the law. The Henchmen had been around for a long, long while without ever sweating any kind of heat. And, well, I was a lot less offended that they weren't choosing me if they were trusting me to take care of their money. And, in doing so, I would help ensure their safety.

It wasn't such a bad deal.

No patch, sure.

But a helluva lot of responsibility and respect.

I could live with that.

I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright."

"Alright?" he asked, brows drawn together.

"Did you expect a fight?"

"From you?" he asked, smiling. "Fucking always, babe."

"Well, for once, you won't be getting one. I'll take the job."

"I have a feeling there's a catch here somewhere," he said, brow lifting.

"I'm sure there is. I just haven't thought of it yet," I said with a smile.

"I'll be eagerly awaiting that battle," he said, shaking his head. "Welcome aboard, Maze."

"In my non-official capacity," I emphasized.

"You're a member in all the ways that matter, babe. Don't nitpick."

With that, he turned. I did too, smiling huge because no one could see me.

Repo

1 Year-

The ring felt weighted in my pocket.

There was no other way to put it. It was a simple square-cut diamond on a platinum band. It was big, but understated. The box was black and tucked into my back pocket.

It weighed little in a literal way.

But figuratively, it was heavy as fuck.

It carried with it all my future good times, all the bad days, all my sleepless nights, all my plans, all my hopes.

It was such a little nothing.

But it was also everything.

Maze had seemingly effortlessly made the transition from probate to unofficial club member. The first couple of months, with nothing really to do, she hung around and pitched in still in little ways, doing a little cleaning or cooking, but only when she wanted to, not when someone tried to tell her to. I say 'tried' because she had, on more than one occasion, knocked fellow members onto their asses. And maybe they would have tried to retaliate if she was just any other member, but she wasn't. She also belonged to me.

She moved out of the basement, where Duke and Renny still lived until Reign put in the plans for an expansion of the club rooms, and into my room with me. I liked having her there, but it made me realize real quick that I needed to get a place of my/our own. I was pretty fucking laid back about a lot of things, but the first night I walked out into the clubhouse and got hoots from the guys about overhearing me and Maze fucking, yeah, I flipped shit.

Sure, we fucked like porn stars half the time.

But that was mine and Maze's business, not everyone else's.

The ring was the first surprise.

The house was the second.

With all the money I had socked away rebuilding and selling vintage cars over the years and having next to no living expenses save for the cut I gave The Henchmen, I had a nice chunk to sock away on a small cape-style fixer-upper right off the closest side street to the compound. It was within walking distance for the nights when we had one too many to drive home. It was seconds a ride away if the shit ever hit the fan and I needed to get my ass there.

It felt almost wrong to be deciding to move out after being the only real live-in member at the compound. But, that being said, Duke and Renny stepped into the place I vacated. They were there. They kept an eye on things along with some of the older men who had nothing else to do with their time but hang around.

The garage was supposed to open in another two months. It was nothing special. Reign bought one of the old, abandoned ones in town, just a simple shop with two lifts, a bathroom, and an office. He'd gotten a bunch of the men in and had them clean it up, fix any issues with the the Sheetrock, plumbing, and electrical. Then he'd had Summer, the only one of the girls club who seemed to have any interest in interior design, and had her fix up the office. The promotional fliers were going out in a few weeks and then we would be in business.

Lo, Janie, and Cash's gym was about another six months out due to both all the strong personalities involved and expected head-butting and some issues they ran into with construction and certifications.

And Maze, well, she'd somehow talked Reign into paying for an office for her in town to do her official business. The money for which, at first, was completely off the books. She'd been surprisingly undemanding though. When I say it was a small office, I mean that I was pretty sure you could touch both walls if you spread your arms out. But she loved it and spent a lot of time getting it just how she wanted it, insisting she not only cover the books for us, but as many of the local businesses and individuals as she could. Within a few weeks of opening her doors, she had us, a few legit small businesses, and several individuals she called clients.

"Maze," I called as I walked into the compound.

"How'd you miss her up on the roof?" Renny asked, shaking his head at me like I was an idiot. Renny was Renny. Some things never changed.

I went back outside and went around the building to climb the ladder to the roof where I found Maze sitting with a gun propped up on a milk crate and an open folder full of papers on her lap. Her hand was tapping a pen against her lip as she tried to concentrate. She was wrapped up in tight blue jeans and a big, bulky white sweater against the only mildly cool Fall weather. Her hair, which she had kept purple, was in a thick braid down one of her shoulders.

I knew it was supposed to fade, to grow old, but I never got over the punch-to-the-gut sensation I got whenever I saw her and realized she was mine.

She turned, hearing or sensing me, her head tilting, her smile tugging her lips up slightly. "Hey Rye," she said, looking a little more tired than I was used to seeing her. But she had taken to working on her accounting business with the same single-minded determination that she took to prospecting for The Henchmen MC. I walked over toward her, tucking the papers back into the folder and slipping it under the milk crate. "Everything alright?" she asked, brows drawing together.

"Yep. I got you something," I said as I crouched down in front of her. All the crates being used, it didn't seem unusual.

"Is it the grease-less hands? Because that is quite the treat," she teased, her hazel eyes bright.

I reached into my pocket, grabbing the box and flipping it open before she could fully register what I was doing.

"Rye..." she said, her eyes going huge as her gaze went from my hands to my face.

"I didn't even know your real name when I knew you were it for me. I didn't know where you grew up or your favorite flower or what song makes your soul hurt. But I didn't need to know those things to know you, Maze, to know you're determined and strong and stubborn as all fuck, but that you're also giving and sweet and snarky and sexy as all hell..." I added when her eyes started to water up, trying to lighten the mood. "There's only one thing in this world that means more to me than my brotherhood, than The Henchmen, and that's you honey. So I figured it was time to..."

"Mark your territory?" she asked, swatting at her cheek, giving me a wobbly little smile as I took her hand and started sliding the ring on.

"Something like that," I said, pushing it fully on then curling my fingers between hers. "So, yes?"

"One condition," she said, eyes getting a little mischievous.

"Anything."

"The wedding night..."

"Yeah..." I smiled, liking where this was heading.

"Come up with somewhere really fun for us to, ah, seal the deal."

"Done," I agreed, reaching for the back of her neck and hauling her toward me, lips hard and hungry and full of the neediness I hadn't been aware I had been practically exploding with until she accepted me.

Maze

1.5 Years-

"Really, the shop is small guys," I objected, but only half of my heart was in it. One, because I knew it was absolutely useless to try to fight the girls club when they got united on an issue. Two, because I actually genuinely wanted them there.

See, getting Repo meant I got The Henchmen. Getting The Henchmen meant I got The Henchmen women. Getting The Henchmen women meant I got their friends, namely Alex and Amelia who were Breaker's and Shooter's girls respectively. It meant I had Lo there to make sure I never got taken advantage of, that I was always at my best. I also got Janie who always had my back should I need it, even though she was a new mother with little (but not quite so little given that Wolf was his father) Malcolm on her hip. He was named after one of Janie and Lo's colleagues over at Hailstorm. Little Malcolm was the spitting image of his father with dark hair and almost unnatural honey-colored eyes.

He was on her hip as the whole lot of the girls club stood in my minuscule office. Lo was at Janie's side, holding her baby backpack. Summer was beside them, Ferryn at her feet desperately trying to pull her hand out of her mother's so she could grab the elephant paperweight off my desk. Summer also had her other new addition in a sling; little Fallon was sound asleep which was an absolute rarity for him. Behind Summer stood Amelia. And then, barreling through the door was Alex, shaking her head like an apology, a tall, leggy, Barbie-perfect blond at her heels. Elsie was a relatively new addition to the girls club too. She had come aboard around the same time I had apparently, but because her man, Paine, was less associated with The Henchmen than Shooter and Breaker, we didn't see him or her all that much at first.

At least that was until the girls club got their claws into her.

Then she was having her ass dragged up to Hailstorm for grappling practice just like the rest of us.

"Okay, we're here," Alex declared abruptly. "Let's make this easy for you before we even get to the dress store. Amelia, Elsie, and Summer are going to want to wear dresses. Lo and I can go either way, but don't you dare stick us in heels. And Janie, well, just fucking agree to let her wear her black skinny jeans and a tank top or I swear to Christ you are going to want to pull your hair out before this day is over."

"Umm... we're picking out
my
dress today," I informed her.

"Oh, thank God," Alex said, letting out a breath she had apparently been holding.

Then we went and picked out my dress. Amongst the quiet opinions of Elsie, Summer, and Amelia and the yelled objections or encouragement from Lo, Janie, and Alex as well as the crying of babies and the herding of a very mobile, very attracted to the 'pretty princess dresses' Ferryn, I did actually manage to find a dress. It was, well, a full-on ball gown with a ton of filmy layers to the skirt.

As the sales lady told me, 'pear-shaped' gals like me were the only ones who could pull off the coveted style. So, with a silent 'fuck you' behind her back for actually calling me 'pear-shaped' to my freaking face, I picked out the dress and tried it on.

And, well, let's just say that if you put on something that actually made Alex and Janie swipe at their eyes, that was the dress you wanted to marry the love of your life in.

Maze

2 Years-

To say I had very little input on the wedding decorations would be putting it mildly. Apparently Summer, Amelia, and Elsie had it all covered. Then, financially, Reign had it covered. Yeah, badass leader of the fucking Henchmen MC paid for my wedding.

Though I do think that was due less to some warm and gushy underneath all the dark and dangerous and a lot more to do with the fact that I was the best fucking accountant slash money launderer on the East coast. Though I only extended that particular service to a very select handful of people.

Fact of the matter was, going partially legit was bringing in an almost obnoxious stream of cash to the MC on top of the already obscene amount of money they already made from the gun trade.

He could afford my little wedding.

And it was little.

On Repo's side, he had The Henchmen and their associates: Breaker, Shooter, Paine, and the Mallick family.

On my side, I had my people from New York. It was a group that was, admittedly, quite a bit smaller than Repo's. I had K and Shelly. I had Xander and his wife Ellie. I had Gabe. I had Faith and her man who, apparently, caused quite a stir with his presence back in Navesink Bank. Back, because he had been there before and, let's just say... his actions caused a helluva headache.