Mac (Riders of Apollo #8)

Chapter Six: Mackenzie Grant

I'll admit finding out more about her past shocked me, I know she explained to me how hard it was to make it in the slums but I didn't realise what she had to do to get by. She's refusing to look at me, I'm not sure whether it's in embarrassment or she is mad at me. I don't think I've done anything to irritate her, I could be wrong though.

It has been a week or so since we saw her last and right now she looks too good to be real. Her trousers are tight to her legs, revealing the shape of them and the soft silk of her shirt just hugs her too fucking well. "So, why didn't you take Matias's mission and fly off to Mexico?" Bear asks, bringing Lexie closer to his chest.

"I may despise the man but I'm not a cold blooded killer. I keep running out of scotch, one second." She disappears for a second and comes back with the bottle of scotch in her hand. She fills her glass with some more and then places the bottle down on the table beside me, the warmth of her hand is close enough for me to feel it.

"You're becoming an alcoholic." Saviour comments, pointing at the now half empty glass in her hand.

"Darling, if I'm an alcoholic then you're positively liver damaged." 

"How dare you!" Saviour moves to grab Eva, who just twirls away, grabbing the bottle on her way. "I do not have a damaged liver." 

"Then I am not alcoholic. At last, we agree on something." 

"You're drinking in the morning, that is a sure sign of alcoholism." 

"It's happy hour somewhere."

"That's the motto, two out of three." 

"If I concede to your knowledge and accept the title of alcoholic, will you leave me alone?" 

"No, I'm your kid and I can annoy you as much as I want to." Eva rolls her eyes and pats Saviour's cheek with her kind eyes. I just want her to look at me, to know that I don't think any less of her now that I know more. I still admire her and everything she's done to get where she is. "Did I win?" 

"Nope." The room is then dismissed with people flowing out to wherever they decide to go. I head back to my office with a groan as my chest pulls slightly. I bring out my own bottle of scotch the minute I get into the room, dropping into my seat seconds later. "Okay, if I kill one or both of my children, will you help me hide their bodies?" Eva requests, dropping into the seat opposite me. 

"Oh, don't drag me into this, they'll kill me first." 

"Well I can take them both, I just wanted your help burying the already dead bodies." I laugh and pass her the bottle of scotch as she reaches for it. I think she must've ditched the other one in the lounge and is now scrounging for more. "This one is much better than the other." She turns the bottle to study the label and her jaw drops. "This is vintage! You've been letting me drink it like any other scotch! That's cruel."

"You can taste the difference." I point out and she rolls her eyes, sliding the bottle back to me.

"I really should stop or I will actually be drunk before midday and then Peyton will be right about my consumption." She shakes her head out, her black curls flying everywhere as she seems to shake herself sober. "I am not an alcoholic, I swear. Matias just rubs me up the wrong way, I met him when he was eighteen and he was still a pain in my arse then." 

"I uh can't think of him as anything other than the uh Mexican Don." 

"He was a brat, if you can believe it. His father was obsessed with raising a perfect son to take over the empire, then that son marries a poor Mexican girl whose god-mother has a reputation for causing issues. I think he's proud in some way, the boy makes a rather obscene amount of money in this country."

"No wonder he's always in a mood." I reply, making her laugh as she spins the glass on my desk. 

"Are these your plans for the month?" She comes around to my side of the desk and leans over me, my heart starts a panicked dance in my chest. Her perfume washes over me and I almost collapse into her warmth. 

"Yep." My voice has gone up like twenty octaves, I sound like a prepubescent boy. 

"Oh, you took my advice then to stagger the shifts?" I nod along to her words, suddenly my throat feels tight and my brain turns off. "At least someone listens to me when I speak." She squeezes my shoulder and I black out for a few seconds. "I should probably go and help Riley plan for the wedding. Wish me luck!" She leaves the room before I even get my breath back and I fall back into the chair with a gasping inhale.

I am so fucked. 

I finish off the rest of my paperwork and haul it to Bear's office where I drop it in front of him. "Here's your hundred pages of bullshit." I declare, watching with glee as he stares down at it in anger. "See that's your face and you didn't even have to fill it out." 

"Well by the looks of it, Evangeline may have given you a hand." 

"Fuck off." I say happily and leave the office, grateful to be done with bullshit paperwork that has been gathered on my desk for close to a week now. I've never understood why Bear is such a fan of paperwork, he says it's important because the club keeps growing that it's becoming almost impossible to keep a handle on. 

"I know I said I'd stop drinking but at this point I'm sure it would be impossible." Eva walks passed me with both of her daughters on her ass, asking question after question about the wedding. "Okay! Shush!" We all watch in stunned silence as Eva manages to stop both of them from speaking effortlessly. 

"How the fuck did you do that?" Bear's jaw is basically on the floor as he watches the scene from the doorway of his office, both women throwing glares his way at the remark. Riley and Saviour are notoriously hard to deal with when it comes to certain parts of the club and they tend to talk a lot, even when Bear is meant to be talking and no one can get them to shut up. 

"They're my children, they do as they're told. Now, I appreciate your excitement for this wedding but I don't know why you keep coming to me like I have a clue what to do for your nuptials. I can attend, I can purchase a dress and help you purchase yours but I don't know how to plan events." 

Saviour actually raises her hand, waiting to be called on by Eva. "Okay, but you've also been to so many balls and weddings." 

"Attended, not planned. I have used up all of my knowledge on the matter. However, come back to me for the bachelorette and I can give you a lot." 

"No strippers." 

"No strippers? What kind of bachelorette party is this?"

"We're all either married or in committed relationships, strippers just cause problems." Riley elaborates and Eva nods in agreement. I shouldn't feel relieved at the idea of half naked men no longer going anywhere near her but I am. 

"Great, I think we've come to an agreement. You talk to Lexie and ask her all the questions under the sun while I drink all of Bear's alcohol at midday on a Tuesday." Her eyes drift back to me before she jumps over the bar and starts perusing our alcohol stores. "Tequila! Good." 

"No!"