“He shouldn’t have done that. CTE isn’t something you can take lightly.”
“Well, either way, he has. I was wondering if…”
“What?”
She blew out her cheeks. “Lily’s smart. Hella smart.”
“I’m sure she is.”
“Maybe she could help?”
“With what?”
Giulia shrugged. “Whatever has you working until eleven at night.”
My brow puckered. “I’m a lawyer. She isn’t.”
“Yeah, but I know you’re doing a lot of MC stuff, and that isn’t shit you’d ordinarily be doing in your capacity as the MC’s lawyer, is it?”
“Some of it is.”
“All of it?” she challenged.
“No,” I conceded.
She hummed. “Thought so. Anyway, just figured you wouldn’t think to look to the Old Ladies, but we’re not just cum buckets—”
My mouth rounded at that. “I never thought you were!”
"If you say so. Lily’s clever, and she’ll only hang around so much before she figures out what she wants to do with herself. I’m concerned…”
“What are you concerned about?” I asked when her words waned.
“That she’ll step away from our world, figure out that she doesn’t really belong here, and she’ll leave Link.”
“That’s a touch drastic, isn’t it?”
She sniffed. “Is it? Stone became a doctor and moved away for years. You’re a lawyer; you moved away and barely associate with the club unless it’s for business.
“However you look at it, Link doesn’t deserve that. He loves Lily, and he’d do anything for her. It’d kill him if she left because she couldn’t find a place, and that’s just not true. There’s plenty of shit to do for the MC, if they’d just let her.
“When Maverick was sick, she had a purpose. She was helping out while he was on the fritz, but now, well, she might have been raised to be a society wife, but we know that’s not her.”
I considered her. “I agree.”
She pursed her lips. “You do?”
“I do.”
“Why?”
I snorted. “Did you expect an argument?”
“Yes.”
Her simple answer had me shaking my head. “I know how smart Lily is.”
“Then why didn’t you ask her to help you out?”
“I just…” My mind went blank. “I didn’t think to.”
“Why not? Because she’s a cum bucket?”
I growled, “No, Giulia. Stop saying that. Hell, in another life, I’d have been an Old Lady. I’m certainly not a cum bucket.”
“Why another life? Why not this one?”
“Because Rex deserves better than a broken soul.”
Giulia scowled at me. “You really believe that?”
“I don’t believe it. I know it.” I stared her down. “But that isn’t something I wish to discuss. I didn’t ask her to help out because I never do.”
“Never do what?”
“Never ask for help.” I swallowed. “It’s not in my nature. I just get on with whatever I’m doing and continue until the task is complete.”
“Soldier mentality.” She tapped her chin. “Or is that martyr complex?”
I glowered at her. “Are you trying to annoy me?”
“Is it working?” She smirked. “Anyway, you’ll call Lily? Give her some shit to do? Don’t make it really easy stuff or she’ll get offended.
"My girl’s brilliant. Her talents are wasting away, Rachel. The guys have all learned business on the streets, you know? She’s been trained.
“Their instincts are solid, but she’s had an Ivy League education that’ll only take the MC to an even higher level. Why waste that? It’s a fucking shame not to take advantage of all those smarts.”
She wasn’t wrong.
The business side of the MC wasn’t something that had ever intrigued me, which was fortunate as I was only their lawyer. My specialty was criminal law, but I’d done enough corporate courses and had some accreditation that meant I could act on their behalf in a business capacity.
My field of advice was limited.
The MC really was missing out by not getting her on board.
How very myopic of me, Rex, and the rest of the council.
“You’re right,” I said softly. “I’ll contact her today.”
When I thought about the minefield of this week, I wanted to groan.
I could have done with some help but I genuinely hadn’t thought about reaching out.
“Good. You know her ma was a Lindenbourg, don’t you?”
Quirking a brow, I shook my head. “I didn’t know that.”
The Lindenbourgs were American royalty.
Jesus, Link was boning a Lindenbourg?
No wonder Giulia was worried about Lily leaving. I loved Link, but God, the Lindenbourgs were Lindenbourgs.
“You do now.” She grunted as she got to her feet. “Maybe with some help, you’ll get into bed before nine and will see the doctor.”
“Are you mothering me?”
She smirked again before she wandered out of the office. “Figured I’d get some practice in before mine comes along.”
Giulia was going to be a mother.
How fucking terrifying a prospect was that?
Shaking my head as she departed, I reached for my cellphone and called Link, and when there was no answer, I called Sin instead.
“‘Sup, Rach?”
“I need Lily’s number.”
“You don’t have it already?” Sin asked, his tone absentminded.
“No.”
“You got a pen handy?”
“Yeah.”
As he reeled off her number, I took note of it in my diary then started to transfer it to my computer contacts.
“What’s Link done?”
“Nothing as far as I know.”
His tone turned suspicious as he questioned, “What do you know?”
“Nothing,” I retorted sweetly.
“Rach, what’s going on—”
Letting him fester, I grinned to myself as I ended the call. He immediately rang back, but the second he cut off, I phoned Lily.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Lily. This is Rachel Laker. You may not know me—”
A laugh sounded down the line. “Of course I know you.”
“I didn’t know if you would over the phone,” I said, a tad sheepishly.
“Well, I do. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Everything’s fine. I was wondering if you were free to help out with some MC business.” The FAST gala was approaching too… Could I dump some of that on her lap?
“MC business?” She sounded wary. “What kind of MC business?”
“The legal side of things, not the illegal,” I drawled.
“Oh. Sure, I’d love to help out. You’d be saving me actually. Tiffany’s mother is driving me crazy.”
I arched a brow. “Is she still living with you?”
Christ, I really was out of the loop.
Guilt and unease went to war inside me at the realization. The MC was the closest thing I had to family, but I hadn’t just locked Rex out in my bid for independence as I sought to escape the ties of my past. I’d also shut the door in the MC’s face as a whole.