Prologue
Mercedes
Mercedes accepted the glass of agua fresca her husband poured for her. “Gracias.” She removed her plastic sunglasses from atop her head and put them on. She didn’t wear expensive shades at the pool since the metal nosepieces tended to get caught in her hair.
“I have business to attend, so I will be away a few days.” Juan swirled the ice in his glass before taking a sip. Mercedes turned her head his direction, giving him her full attention. This wasn’t anything new. He often went away for days at a time.
“Te voy a extrañar,” Mercedes lied with a smile. She never missed him while he was gone. Those were the days she looked forward to most.
Juan reached out his free hand, and she took it. As much as she loathed her husband, Mercedes cherished the moments he was gentle with her because they were few and far between. She hated the man, but she was starved for affection. Blue eyes flashed in her mind, and Mercedes smiled for real. If Juan thought the gesture was for him, all the better.
“Yo también te voy a extrañar, Papá,” Mateo said in perfect Spanish. Her son would miss his father, and that hurt Mercedes in ways she tried not to think about too often. The boy loved the man he thought his father was. Then again, Juan had never been anything but wonderful to Mateo. Mercedes didn’t understand how one man could have two faces. Be two different types of man. The loving father who sold drugs to other people’s children. Did he not care that someone else’s child was getting hooked on the product Juan was selling? That he was enabling others to ruin their lives? All so he could live in a lavish home, drive expensive cars, wear thousand-dollar suits? Then she thought back to her own father. The man who raised her had never doted on her the way Juan did Mateo, but never in a million years would Mercedes have thought him capable of being another real-life monster.
“Y yo te voy a extrañar, Mijo. A ti y a tu Mamá.”
Mercedes didn’t think Juan would truly miss her. Mateo? Yes. But her? Juan didn’t spend much time with Mercedes when he was home, so his words didn’t ring true. She figured he was paying lip service so their son wouldn’t know his papa didn’t love his mama.
One of the guards approached, staying several feet away. “Sorry to interrupt, Sir, but there’s a phone call for you.”
Juan released her hand and stood. His phone calls always took precedence over family time. Juan wrapped his towel around his neck. He ruffled Mateo’s hair and told the boy to be good while Juan was gone. Mateo smiled up at his father and promised he would. Without a word to Mercedes, Juan strode into the house with the guard following. Mercedes let out a sigh and leaned her head back, turning it to look at her little boy. Her innocent child who had no idea the world he lived in.
One day, Mijo. One day, I’m taking you away from here so you can live a normal life. One with friends. With family not likely to get you killed someday.
Mateo returned to the pool, and Mercedes enjoyed these moments when it was just her and her son. And several guards watching them both. Mercedes did her best to ignore the armed men. After eight years, she should be used to their presence.
Almost an hour had passed when Ana Marie ventured out to the pool. The older woman was more than Mateo’s nanny and tutor. She was also Mercedes’s only friend in the world. Friend was a stretch because Ana was Juan’s employee first.
“Elena is serving lunch in the dining room. If you’d like, I’ll take Mateo in and get him dried off.”
“That would be perfect. Gracias, Ana.”
“De nada. Come along, Mateo.” Ana was like a grandmother to Mateo, and he loved the older woman. Without fuss, he climbed from the pool. Ana wrapped him in his towel, and the two of them made their way inside. Mercedes flipped over onto her stomach. She could enjoy a few moments of solitude before she joined them.
Heavy footsteps sounded on the wooden deck where her chair was situated. Mercedes assumed it was one of the guards. A shadow fell across her body, indicating the person was standing beside her blocking the sun. Hmm. Maybe Juan had come back to tell her goodbye. No one else would come that close. Before she could open her eyes to see who it was, excruciating pain radiated across the back of her head. Mercedes tried to drag in a breath, but even that hurt too badly. Her vision dimmed, and she sank into darkness.
Chapter One
Hayden
Hayden was not hiding out in the paint booth no matter what Kyllian said. Kyllian could suck it. The custom paint job was finished, and Hayden had no reason to be sitting on his ass against the door, but there he was. It was the only place he could be alone. When that door was closed, nobody came in to bother him. If someone needed him, they knew to text. If it was an emergency, they were to call. Otherwise, his time in the booth was his. The jobs he took building bikes outside the MC were high-paying gigs, and the work he did was often meticulous. Like the bike he had to put together and deliver to Texas. Hayden was looking forward to the trip south. Not only would he score a big payday, he would also get to spend time with his older sisters. All six of them.
Between his parents, his four brothers, three mates, and toss in his nieces and nephews, Hayden rarely had a minute to just breathe. Normally, he didn’t mind his family, but lately, they’d noticed the change in his behavior, and they were getting worried. They shouldn’t be. Hay was just in a funk. He’d get over it. His sisters would see to it. Not Maveryck and Warryck, but his three sets of twin sisters. Hayden hadn’t seen his older siblings in several years, and he was looking forward to their brand of smothering. They learned from Rory, but where their mother would try to hug the truth out of him, his sisters just plied Hayden with food and alcohol.
Being around his brothers, each finding their mate, was getting to Hayden. He wanted what they had. A female to come home to at night. One who would ride on the back of his Harley and laugh at his stupid jokes. One who looked at him like he’d hung the moon, yet not expect him to be a hardass biker twenty-four seven. He didn’t care if she was a badass in her own right like Natalia or a naïve virgin like Rhiannon. Even someone in the middle like Kerrigan would do. Hayden didn’t have a type. Not really. He just wanted someone to love him for him, just the way he was.
Hayden flipped the fan off and opened the door. Thinking of Kyllian must have brought his brother to the club because he was sitting on a stool drinking a beer. “Kayos? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, dickhead. Can’t I visit because I want to?”
“You could, but lately, you don’t.” Hayden didn’t mean to get pissy with his best friend, but lately, Kyllian had been spending all his free time at one BDSM club or another. Hayden didn’t think less of him for it, but that wasn’t Hay’s scene.
“And that right there is why I’m here. I’ve missed hanging out with you. So, what do you say you get cleaned up, and we go out?”
Now that Hayden was paying attention, Kyllian was dressed nicer than just jeans and boots. Instead of a basic white T-shirt, he had on a maroon button-up with the sleeves rolled up. He wasn’t wearing his kutte either.
“I can do that. Where are we going?”
“I was thinking the Rooftop, but if there’s somewhere else you’d rather go…”