Mason:Inked Reapers MC(29)

"Hey. Why so glum?" Jessica placed the mugs of steaming coffee on the  table and sat across from me. "I know you're in a shit situation, but  you don't usually look so down."                       
       
           



       



"I was just thinking about my mom." I waved a hand in the air, and reached for the sugar bowl.



"It must have been so hard for you, taking care of her all those years and going to school and working."



"Yeah. But it didn't feel that way. It just felt normal. But after she  was gone, when it was all over with, I don't know-I freaked. Like I  didn't know what to do."



"Is that when you called Kerri?"



I snorted. "Yeah. We'd gone to high school together, but she moved away  senior year. Most of the friends I hung out with had gone off to  college, or I hadn't talked to at all since my mom got real sick. That  turned out great, didn't it?" I tried to smile, but I didn't have the  energy to force it. Staying up most of the night listening to the  silence, and praying not to hear the drunken sounds of Jayson making his  way to the bedroom, had drained me of what little energy I had had.



"Hey. It's gonna be okay." Jessica laid a hand over mine and her voice softened.



"Yeah." I nodded.



"We'll figure something out. There's shit brewing in the club and I think once it's all over with you'll be free of Jayson."



I looked up at her with a new sense of hope. Something I'd told myself  to forget. "What do you mean? Is that why Lucas doesn't want you on the  grounds?"



"I think so. He doesn't tell me much, mostly because I don't want to  know, but Jayson's been pissing off a bunch of members because of this  deal with the cartel. He's making decisions completely on his own,  holding secret meetings, sending small crews on odd jobs."



"Like that Bernardo guy?"



"Something with him, yeah. One of the Reapers didn't make it back from  one of their jobs, and Lucas thinks Jayson knows what happened."



"But I thought Lucas didn't like the Reapers like the rest of the Disciples."



"Lucas doesn't care about the Reapers as long as they stay in their  territory. He doesn't like Marcus, their president, though. Says he  reminds him of Jayson."



"Do you think both clubs are making their own plays for the cartel?" My  palms started to sweat at the idea that Mason could be in trouble. He  said he'd be gone for almost two weeks, where else could he have gone.  If he went down to Mexico to meet with Bernardo behind the Disciples'  back, he could be walking into a trap, or worse.



"I don't know." She shrugged as she sipped her coffee. "So, you and  Mason?" She eyed me carefully, like she was judging my reaction to his  name. "Lucas says you two are pretty close."



"Lucas spends too much time gossiping, I muttered, and sipped at my coffee.



"Mason is pretty hot, I can't blame you. Besides, these clubs, they aren't family to you."



"They are to you?"



"Lucas has become family to me. Jayson took care of me when my brother  died; they were his family, so I try." Her eyes saddened at the mention  of her brother. I patted her hand, I knew that pain. "But we aren't  talking about me. Now, about Mason-"



"Mason is the bossiest, most possessive guy I've ever met." I tried to  put heat into my words, to cover up how much those personality traits  turned me on, but she laughed, seeing right through me.



"It has its bonuses." She waggled her eyebrows, which made me laugh hard  enough to nearly spit out my coffee. "He reminds me of Lucas. The way  he watches you when he's in the clubhouse. Even when you don't know it,  his eyes are on you. Lucas does that, too. I think he's talking with his  guys and I'll turn around and he's staring right at me. And he won't'  let anyone so much as smile at me without running to my side. At first I  found it barbaric the way he shoved his way into any conversation I was  having, but then I got it. He was protecting me."



"Well, that explains why he's never tried anything with me. He's  probably the only member who hasn't … well … " I felt the heat creep up my  face. "Except his constant ogling. Always wanting to see my breasts."



I looked at her through lowered lashes, expecting to see an angry glare.  She let loose another laugh and patted my hand. "Honey, that man has a  huge tit fetish. The fact that he's only asked to look and never touched  is what matters."



I finished my coffee in silence, unsure of what to say next. My thoughts  continued to trail to Mason, wondering where he was, what he was up to,  and if I should just hightail it out of town. If Jessica was right and  there was shit brewing in the club, Jayson may be distracted enough not  to try and find me. It could be my out.                       
       
           



       



"You have that look." Jessica picked up my cup and took to the sink.  "The one you get when you try concocting some getaway scheme." This  woman had gotten to know me a lot over the last few months. It would be  hard to leave her. And Lucas.



"If what you're saying is true, if there's an uproar, or whatever within the club-"



"You think Jayson will forget about you because he'll be busy with the  club crap." She nodded. "That might be true, unless he thinks Mason has  anything to do with it all, then he's going to be even more determined  to find you. He'll think you ran off with Mason."



"But if Jayson's not president anymore-"

"Unless he's dead, Jayson won't forget an insult. And you running off with Mason would be an insult."



My shoulders sagged at her words. He would come after us. If Mason was  with me, he'd come looking for Mason. Or he'd go after Mason's mom. I  couldn't let that happen. "Then I go before Mason gets back. Keep Mason  out of it. If Jayson sees him when he gets back he'll know he's not with  me, and he'll just let it drop." She shook her head, but I kept working  it through out loud. "There's a cabin my mom used to take me to every  summer. Doyle, Mr. Jacob Doyle owned it. He let us stay there for a few  weeks each summer. Not too far away, up in the hills. Near Springville.  He'd let me stay there for a while, I bet."



"What about Mason? If he comes back and you're gone-"



"Mason is a grown man. He'll understand. I have to get away from Jayson,  and Mason shouldn't have to give up his whole life just for me. I can't  have other people getting hurt because of me either." With a new  determination I pushed away from the table. My phone vibrated again, but  I ignored it. I didn't want to hear from him, I couldn't. It was better  to keep my distance. To do what needed to be done without worrying  about him.



"He's going to find you." She followed me to the front door. "Mason will find you and he's going to be pissed."



"No, he won't. Because you aren't going to tell anyone what I said.  Besides. I didn't say I was leaving. I just said it was a possibility." I  tried to play it off, but she only sighed and pulled me into a hug.  "Lucas will kick my ass if he finds out I didn't stop you."



"You tried. Real hard." I smiled at her.



"Wait here." She ran back into the house. Drawers opened and closed,  then she was jogging back to me. She pulled my hand out and slapped a  wad of bills into it. I tried to shove back to her but she held tight.  "No, take this. You aren't going to get far at all without cash, and  Jayson won't let you near any of his. You'll pay me back." She pulled me  into another hug.



Sure I would. I'd pay her back for everything, so long as I lived long enough to do it.





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE



MASON





"Man, let it go. She'll get in touch when she gets in touch." Tick  shoved my shoulder when I checked my phone again. Lucy hadn't answered  my last three text messages. We'd be home in a day and I wanted to be  sure she was ready. Things were going to be happening quickly once we  got back, and she needed to be prepared. How could I keep her safe if  she wasn't listening to me?



Maybe Jayson took her phone. Maybe he figured out it was me texting and  not Susanne from the diner. There were a lot of maybes going on and no  answers.



Julio wanted an answer from us, a promise to get the job done. He'd  presented it to us as though we were actually being given a choice. As  though if we said no, he'd just give us a pat on the back and send us on  our way home. Right. Tick tried getting a hold of Marcus, but he  wouldn't take the call. That fucker. He put us right in the middle of  his harebrained scheme and hadn't bothered to even give us a fucking  choice.