Mason_ Inked Reapers MC(1)(75)

And there it was. The trap. Saying no to Marcus, after that plea for my help, wouldn’t help me get out of there without a scratch. Retiring from the club was one thing, turning my back on them while I still held full membership would earn me a whole pile of shit I didn’t need to deal with. Not with Lucy sitting up in a cottage waiting for me. Not when Tick needed to get out and get back to his pregnant wife.



“What do you say, Mason?” Marcus leaned over the table, narrowing his gaze on me. You could have heard an angel fart in the room, it was so quiet.



“I say yeah. Of course I’m here for club.” I nodded. I heard Tick curse next to me, but he knew I had no choice.



“Tick, what about you?” Marcus turned him with a sly grin. If I said yeah, no way in hell Tick would back away.



“One more ride, hell yeah.” He gave a nod and grinned like it sounded like the best damn idea in a long time. Only I could see the tick in his neck start pulsating. The room erupted into shouts and cheers. Who knew they all wanted us to stay so badly? Fuck if I believed it.



“Let’s put it to the vote.” It took less than five minutes for the club to vote to help Lucas overthrow Jayson. None of it sat right with me. Even hating Jayson as much as I did, one club helping a rebellion in another didn’t feel right. “Good. Now we go on lockdown. Bring your families into the compound. We stay here until this is over. As soon as the shit starts flying, I don’t want any vulnerabilities outside these gates.”



The members disbanded, clearing out the room. Marcus quickly made his way over to me and Tick. “What about our vote?” Tick asked as soon as Marcus was within earshot.



“Shit. Sorry, I forgot with all the excitement. Don’t worry. We don't need a full member



meeting for that. We’ll get to it as soon as this shit behind us.” Maybe it was the way Marcus didn’t quite meet Tick’s gaze when he fed him that line of bullshit, or because his hands kept sliding in and out of his pockets, but I didn’t believe a word coming out of his fucking mouth.



Tick didn’t either, but he kept it hidden. “Yeah. Okay.”



“Go get Massy and get her ass behind these gates. And Mason, grab that short haired girl you’ve been pining for, she ain't safe out there, being your girl and all—she’s a risk for us. I don’t need Jayson dangling her out there, trying to draw us out.” His ran his tongue over his teeth.



“The girls went on a little vacation,” Tick said. “Down south to visit Massy’s family.”



“Massy ain’t got no family,” Marcus barked.



“Sure as fuck does. An aunt has a house on a lake, went for a girls’ weekend. They’ll be back next week. Safe as baby lambs down there.” Tick slapped Marcus on the back and gave him a wink before walking off.



“I still think they should be here.” Marcus turned to me. I nodded.



“Yeah. Maybe.”



“How far south they go?” he asked, picking his teeth with his pinkie nail. It was no wonder the man couldn’t keep a woman for more than a few nights, unless he paid them.



“About three hours.” I stayed noncommittal.



“Maybe you should go get them anyway. You can have them back here by midnight if you two leave soon.” He examined the sliver of food he’d scraped from his teeth, then flicked it away.



“Nah. Tick’s right. They are fine down there. Out of the way.” I slapped his back in the same manner as Tick and walked away, half expecting him to chase after me and demand I go down there to get them. Except they weren’t down south. And no way in hell was I bringing those two girls back into the compound.





***





“What’s his game?” Tick looked over his shoulder while we walked through the motor pool toward the garage. A bunch of the guys who hung back started taking up spaces in the clubhouse, and the bar area. Families began to pull into the lot, things were going to get a lot louder real quick.



Watching a crib get carried into the clubhouse made me think about Lucy. I imagined her belly swollen, carrying my baby. Fuck, the image made my dick hard. What would it be like to raise a kid? Lucy would make an awesome mom. I’d never met a woman with a heart bigger than hers. I’d have to talk to her about breastfeeding though, no way I was sharing—even with our baby.



At the thought of those beautiful, round breasts my pants tightened even more.



“Mason.” Tick gave me a shove, nearly pushing me right into a bike. If a man wanted to have his nose broken in a few places, all he had to do was knock over someone's bike.