Mac (Riders of Apollo #8)

Chapter Twenty: Mackenzie Grant

"Where's this one from?" I ask, trailing my finger over the large scar on the back of her shoulder as she rests in his lap. My touch is soft and I try and keep my gaze soft, knowing that she's likely touchy when it comes to my scars.

"I was seventeen. Stabbed in the back in the streets on the way back from the store." My fingers stop their movement so I can concentrate on her. "Knife crime was at an all time high... I was out late because Riley was begging for some sweets that she'd been craving all day, so I went to get them. I was followed by some guy the whole way, he got the drop on me but I got him back. It was a long time ago."

"Does Riley know?" 

"God, no. That girl would blame herself at any given opportunity so I just cleaned it up in the mirror before she even noticed it was there." 

"What about this tattoo?" My hand lands on her upper arm, wrapping around the lotus blossom that marks the skin.

"I wanted to remind myself that there will always be peace in a war just as there will be peace out of it." Her hand wanders over the muscles in my torso and I watch her, my hand gliding over her hair and landing at the top of her back. We spend the next hour or so going over every scar and tattoo she's ever received. "Can I ask you something?" 

"Sure." I reply hesitantly, my hand freezing on her lower stomach as I look down at her. 

"Did you always want to join the club or did you have some other grand plan for your life?" I smile, obviously relieved that she didn't ask me anything that could make this uncomfortable. Like asking me about that cut we were looking at the other day. 

"When I was a kid, I was convinced I was going to go into some blue collar job like my uncle. Work honestly for very little and just live the normal life but my dad had already started my induction into the club when I was ten. The club has always been my family... I just didn't think I was going to be a part of it until I figured out I couldn't do a day without it. I like not knowing what's coming around the next corner."

"What happened that made you rethink it?"

"Deidre convinced me to move to her college town when I was eighteen and I did. Hated every minute of it so I moved back within a month. I felt like I had lost a limb without the club so I promised never to leave again... she wasn't happy with me." Her hand reaches up to press against my newest scar as she moves to sit up in my lap, straddling my thighs with her own. 

"Deidre?" I brought that on myself. I look away from Eva's soft eyes and try and find the courage to explain who that bitch was to me. I'm pulled back to the present by a soft hand on my cheek.

"She was my Old Lady." I focus on her eyes, hoping I don't see her feeling hurt. "I thought I loved her but I didn't. Our relationship was based on her manipulation, she forced me into loving her and used my family against me in everything. We met when we were kids really, fifteen or something and we got close fast. Got together when we were sixteen and I was sworn into the club a few months later. She refused to be my Old Lady, fought me at every step and refused to meet my family - claiming they were criminals." 

I can feel myself getting worked up as I think about her behaviour towards us and how I still stayed with her despite it. Eva calms me down easily and I find myself falling for her more. "Anyway, she wanted to go to college when she finished high school while I dropped out when I was sixteen so I could prospect. She got in and dragged me with her, spent four years riding back and forth between the clubhouse and her dorms. Then a few weeks after she finished her degree, she got pregnant."

I feel Eva's surprise in the tenseness of her back as she leans back to look at me, "I didn't know. She never told me so I didn't question it when she was drinking and taking drugs," Eva looks ready to cry as her hand lands over her mouth. I stroke her hair, kissing her forehead to try and make her feel better, "I only found out because she withdrew a hundred thousand dollars from my account to bribe the doctors at the hospital to give her a late term abortion. She left her cut and me, didn't take anything with her and I haven't seen her since." 

Eva hugs me without saying a word, her warmth comforting me as she runs her fingers through my hair, scratching my scalp softly. "I'm sorry, Mac." I roll us so we're on our sides facing each other and she flattens her palm against my cheek with her big, sad eyes. 

"It's okay now... It took me years to get over it but we're here now and I wouldn't have it any other way."

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I swear if that phone rings any louder I'm going to use it as a frisbee. I peek my eyes open to see Eva staring at her phone groggily, her back still pressed against me and half asleep. "Who is it?" I grumble, making Eva drop the phone and turn around, tucking herself into my chest with a mumble. "Who?"

"Riley." 

"Shouldn't you answer that?" Eva whines softly, trying to disappear into my chest as I hand her the phone again. Laughing when her nose scrunches up in frustration. She answers it with a tired hello, keeping her face against my chest and leaning the phone on the side of her face without holding it. I don't hear a word of it, happy to just drift back off to sleep as Eva seems to be doing the same. 

Eva's just making noises of agreement, I have heard no full word from her since the minute she answered the phone. "I'll be there later." The phone is then thrown somewhere, leaving both of us in peace again as we snooze into the later morning. It's nine when we get out of bed, Eva to the shower and me to the kitchen for coffee. 

After I manage to outsmart the coffee machine - I don't like technology and it hates me even more - I head back up the stairs to find Eva already fully dressed and ready to go. "I like this dress." I comment, sliding my hands over her waist and gripping her ass. 

"Thank you!" She kisses me gently before bypassing me to go downstairs. I use the shower quickly and the toothbrush she left out for me before putting on my clothes and following her into her office. "Oh good Lord." She stares at her monitor in frustration and I look over to see over fifty unread emails for this past hour alone. "Looks like I'll be doing more than one job today. Are you going back to the club?"

"Yeah, I need to check in with Bear."

"Okay, well I need to go into the city and argue with some people by the looks of things so I'll meet you there later?" I bring her closer with a hand on her jaw and kiss her hotly. "I'll take that as a yes." She walks me out to my bike and watches me leave. 

I'm still convinced last night wasn't real and that I'll wake up in my own bed without her but it doesn't happen. Not as I pull up to the clubhouse, not as I walk in and not as I sit down in my chair. Thankfully, no one asks me questions because I'm still too far in dreamland to talk about it with any degree of intelligence. 

"Where is Eva?" Riley whines, throwing herself onto the couch and resting her head in Boulder's lap.

"She went into the city." I reply, trying to make the shitty remote work as the news is on and I hate it. I really don't care about things happening around town unless it's near my warehouses, I just have Romeo keeping an eye on that shit for me because he's the smart one. Finally, after brutally abusing the remote the channel changes to something more tolerable. 

"Mac!" I snap out of my daze and focus back on Riley with raised eyebrows. She was likely trying to talk to me but I faze out when I trying to make something work, technology being my mortal enemy after all. "Fucking hell, I've been calling your name for ages."

"Sorry, the remote was pissing me off. What do you want?" I ask kindly, focusing half my attention on her and the other half on the TV. 

"Why is Eva in the city?"

"Probably business, she does have a lot of things to do apparently." I wave my hand in reassurance and Riley sighs in frustration, blowing her hair out of her face as Boulder tries to comfort her. 

This is going to be a long day.