Making Choices (Black Shamrocks MC Book 2) (28 page)

Why are they clapping?

Shuffling me forward, Lucas gets a slap on the back from the guy named Butch, who drove me back to the Clubhouse yesterday after the car accident. Mad Dog gives him a chin lift from his spot at one of the tables with Maddi curled up on his lap. The contentment radiating from the pair of them as they whisper to each other, Maddi giggling at whatever Mad Dog says to her, tells me that they more-than-likely spent last night the same way I did.

I brace for the normal tentacles of jealousy to wrap around me when I look at her, but they don’t come. Maddi briefly raises her eyes from Mad Dog to smile broadly in welcome at Lucas, flicking worried eyes to me when he blows her a kiss. She nods, acknowledging me, her eyes widening with surprise when I smile back at her without thinking.

Beaming back at me, she breaks our gaze first, to lean down and whisper in Mad Dog’s ear again. Booming laughter erupts from him, his eyes shooting to me and Lucas.

“Didn’t know you had it in ya, Timber!” one of the older guys at the bar hollers. “Haven’t heard a bitch scream that loud since Princess over there kicked Mad Dog’s ass to the curb and ruined my nightly entertainment.”

“Shut the fuck up, Smiley.” Lucas shrugs at me, apology in his eyes, when I look at him.

I hope they’re not alluding to what I think they are.

“Fuck, brother. Be proud.” Grabbing his crotch, the old guy jiggles it. “Been a long time since this bad boy stood up. Gotta live through you young bucks now. Had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in years, listening to you and Mad Dog going to town on your bitches. Fuck me, the screaming and moaning was better than a lullaby.”

The entire bar breaks into laughter at our expense.

My cheeks redden when Smiley stands up, taking a bow before sitting back in his seat and draining his beer. It’s half past eight in the morning, and half the men in the bar are drinking already. It’s like I’m visiting another planet when I’m at the Club—I think this every time I’m here.

The normal niceties of society are absent from their world.

Taking my hand, Lucas asks the Prospect behind the bar to bring us coffee before he pulls me over to the table with Maddi and Mad Dog.

“Fucking Smiley’s getting worse with age.” Lucas laughs when he sits, pulling me into his lap as he props his legs up on the table in front of us.

“You gave him plenty to talk about. Felt like a fucking competition at one point.” Mad Dog chuckles when Maddi slaps his chest. “Gotta get my own place again ASAP. Too many fucking ears here.”

“Keep dreaming. You promised me flowers and dinner dates first. Last night was a one-off.” Struggling to keep a straight face, Maddi shoots Mad Dog down. He takes one look at her as she tries not to laugh, winding his hand in her long hair, and dragging her mouth to his.

Feeling like a voyeur, I watch them kiss, trying but failing to tear my eyes away.

I’ve never seen them together.

It’s an eye-opening sight.

My worries about Maddi and Lucas take a backseat when I watch her bloom like a sunflower in the summer sun from his attention. Even Mad Dog becomes less intimidating to me as the love he has for her shines from his typically hard eyes. He looks completely happy and content for the first time since I met him.

Lucas coughs, nudging me when he realizes where my attention is. He shakes his head when the other two don’t even notice our exchange, or the Prospect placing two steaming-hot cups of coffee on the table in front of us.

“What?” I grin, brazening it out. Grabbing my coffee, I take a quick sip. “I was—”

My excuses are interrupted when the door that leads to the parking area swings open, slamming against the wall. Beast strides through, his face red with rage, battered and bruised, a huge vein in his forehead pounds visibly.

Lucas tenses, holding me to him tighter.

“Show time.” Mad Dog nods to Lucas.

Shifting his attention to Maddi, he pushes her from his lap by her hips, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“Angel, you need to take JJ somewhere. Take Smoke with you. Go see Joel or something. Do
not
come back here until I call.” Mad Dog speaks quickly. His voice is full of urgency.

Fear grows within me, and I swallow hard when Beast bellows over him.

“Come on, you little fucker. Tell me the meaning of this shit?” He waves around a thick bunch of paperwork.

“I’ll explain in a fucking moment. Sit the fuck down and wait.”

Maddi doesn’t seem surprised at the way Mad Dog orders her father around, but I’m shocked. The strict hierarchy of this Motorcycle Club is something that even I’m aware of—Mad Dog just disrespected Beast in the worst way.

“Go with Princess,” Lucas commands. I frown at his harsh tone, my temper flaring when he continues dictating to me. “When do you need to work next?
Fuck.
I’ve gotta organize someone to watch you.”

I place a finger over his lips to stop him because his words are tripping over themselves as they fall from his mouth. He’s working himself into a frenzy.

“I don’t have to work until tomorrow afternoon. I’m fine by my—”

Maddi cuts in, cutting pleading eyes to me because she sees where this argument is heading. “JJ can hang with me. We’ll take Sam with us, and pick up Benji on the way.”

The two men grunt their agreement, everyone turning to stare at me.

Maddi implores me to concede the point with big, round eyes.

Mad Dog smirks, as if he wants me to argue.

Lucas folds his arms across his wide chest. Fixing unblinking eyes on mine, he lifts one eyebrow, his lips thinning as he waits for my answer.

Huffing loudly, I nod at the arrangements.

Lucas whistles to get Smoke’s attention, quickly running over the plan for the day with him.

I listen with half an ear, silently fuming. It’s not like I was left with a lot of choice. I haven’t forgotten that less than forty-eight hours ago, I was abducted because of the situation surrounding this Club. It’s better to be safe than sorry at the present time.

A quick hug and a chaste kiss from Lucas later, I’m on my way to Maddi’s car with Smoke and another guy, who I think is called Tally trailing behind us. They’re both whining about being stuck in a “fucking cage” because we’re not allowed on their bikes behind them since we “belong” to Mad Dog and Lucas. Another stupid rule of the Club that applies to me whether I like it or not.

The misgivings I still have about the Black Shamrocks are at the forefront of my mind as my stomach revolts from the stress—our baby making her presence known.

JJ

Present Day

“O
h my GOD!” Maddi exclaims, running past me and back out the front door. 

Venturing inside of Maddi’s brother’s house behind Smoke, I don’t find anything of alarm until I run into a tall, dark, and hot-as-sin man in the living room. A man who’s stark naked, grinning at me when he watches my eyes slowly rise from his stiff cock and up his chiseled torso before landing on his handsome face. Once my eyes have reached the summit, he lifts his eyebrows up and down at me with humor, not even attempting to cover himself. 

Frozen on the spot, I stare, mouth open. I don’t know whether to laugh or graciously back out of the room. The only thing I know for certain is Maddi’s twin is an Adonis. His body is long and lean, with rippling muscles covered by smooth tanned skin. His jet-black hair is in disarray, red lipstick smeared around his generous lips. He’s regarding me with open interest through the piercing blue eyes all the O’Briens share.

He’s beautiful.

Very, very naked.

And clearly aroused.

No wonder, Maddi ran from the house.

Who wants to see their brother like this?

“Fucking hell, Benji. Put some clothes on.” Smoke laughs, his green eyes twinkling with mirth as he scratches his hands over his close-cropped, dirty-blond hair. “You’re scaring the women, you ugly bastard.”

His laughter dies when a short, pretty blonde steps around the corner, a throw rug clutched to her in an attempt to cover her nakedness. She looks familiar to me, although where I know her from eludes me at the moment.

Glancing quickly at Smoke, her expression dejected, she throws a cushion at Benji. He half-heartedly holds it in front of himself, his eyes still on my face.

“Lacey? What the fuck?” Smoke splutters, disbelief written all over his tanned face.

Pulling his cigarette packet and lighter from his leather cut, Smoke smacks the bottom of it against his palm. Taking one of the cigarettes that fall from the packet, he slips it between his lips, lighting it with one flick of his lighter. I don’t know him, but it appears to me that he’s crushed to have found the blonde woman with Benji.

Cigarette smoke billowing from his nostrils, he spins on his heel and strides out of the room without another word.

“So, ah, I’ll leave you to it,” I offer in a just audible voice. Backing away from the couple we’ve interrupted, I stop when Benji speaks.

“Tell Mads I’ll be five minutes.”

Nodding my head like a cork bobbing in rough water, I feel ridiculous. I’m a doctor, for crying out loud; I see people naked and in far worse situations than this all the time. With that thought, I attain some much-needed composure and meet his eyes. The cerulean blue is bright, almost glasslike, his pupils constricted to pin pricks. The tell-tale red around the edge of his eyes, and his tightly clenched jaw tell me one thing.

Benji O’Brien is high as a kite.

My best guess is crystal methamphetamine, or ice as it’s known on the street.

Mad Dog’s comment from last night about Benji overdosing rather than Joel makes sense.

Obviously they know he uses, and they’re not happy about it.

Raking my eyes down his arms, my heart flips when I spy the small track marks on the inside of his left elbow. Dropping my eyes to his companion, I find similar indicators on her face. Glazed red eyes stare back at me accusingly, her bottom lip red and swollen, as she chews on it nonstop.

I know her from somewhere. Somewhere not connected with the Shamrocks.

I’m positive of it.

“I’ve met you before, haven’t I?” Benji asks as he walks over to the pile of clothes in the middle of his living room. His muscled ass flexes as he pulls a pair of jeans on, his rock hard abs covered by a T-shirt a moment later.

Now that he’s dressed, I feel more comfortable.

Damn, Lucas’s Club is full of hot men.
Lucas still shines the brightest of them all for me, but the additional eye candy isn’t to be sneezed at. I feel like I’ve stumbled into a real-life Magic Mike movie sometimes.

“I was Joel’s surgeon earlier this year. I don’t think we met back then, though.” I shake my head. I don’t remember meeting him, but that’s not surprising since I was blinded by Lucas almost immediately.

“Timber’s baby mamma.” He laughs at his comment, cracking his knuckles and bouncing on his toes. “Well that puts you on my don’t-fuck-with list. That big motherfucker’ll hand me my ass. You’re hot, but not hot enough to risk a beating.”

The woman Smoke called Lacey gasps at his crass comment. She’s hurt, her eyes filling with tears that she furiously blinks away. Personally, I’m appalled at him. I don’t know if they’re together or not, but it’s poor form to say something like that in front of the woman you just finished having sex with. Not to mention, his assertion that I’m not hot enough to risk a beating is pretty damn rude.

“Jesus Christ, Benji. Stop being a prick.” Maddi comes to stand next to me.

I jump in surprise because I didn’t hear her reenter the house.

Glaring at Lacey until she ducks out of the room, she turns her poisonous gaze to her twin next. He stands there staring at her, half a smile on his face. If I were him, I’d be finding some way to escape, not antagonizing her, because she looks ready to kill him.

“JJ, can you wait in the car please? I have to deal with something before we head to the hospital.” Not taking her eyes from Benji, she pays me no mind as she advances on him.

Grabbing him by the front of his shirt, she drags him down to her. His jet-black head next to her blonde hair, they make a stunning sight with their contrasting beauty. You wouldn’t take them for twins from a distance since their coloring is the exact opposite, but once you see their faces next to each other, you can see the connection: the exact same bone structure—one feminine, one masculine—without question, they’re identical.

“Joel tries to kill himself last night, and you think it’s appropriate to get high and fuck my best friend?” Pushing him away from her, he stumbles back, catching himself on the arm of the couch. “What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea what happened yesterday? To me? To the Club? Do you know Dad was challenged as President?”

“What the fuck?” He throws himself on the couch. Maddi towers over him, her anger filling the room like a dense cloud. I should leave them to it, but I’m riveted. My family doesn’t handle things like this. We snipe at each other in a passive-aggressive way, never really resolving anything. It’s fascinating to watch.

Benji jiggles his knee, fidgeting as he looks up at her with an apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry. I fucked up.”