Mace (Untamed Sons MC: Birmingham Chapter #1)

5. Maylie

FIVE

MAYLIE

Steve gives me a lift home. He drives with one hand on the wheel, the other pressed to Bella’s thigh, and I can feel the tension coming off them both.

I have no idea what happened back there, but my heart is still doing somersaults. I’d been stupid, reckless, and we all know it. The fact Steve and Bella are not giving me shit for it is a miracle. I deserve it.

Normally, I would fill the awkwardness with mindless chatter, but my own brain is in overdrive. What was I thinking? I could have been killed for my actions, but I couldn’t stand by and watch them hurt Sam in front of me.

Kill him, you mean.

I brush that aside. I don’t know that they would have done that. No one in their right mind is going to kill someone with that many witnesses… right?

I don’t know what happens now, and the uncertainty looms over my head like a black rain cloud.

“I think you might be crazy,” Bella says, breaking through the silence .

It’s directed at me, and I’m not even sure I can argue it. “I just… reacted to the situation,” I say.

“Yeah, well, take my advice, Maylie. Don’t get in the way of those bikers again. The Sons are fucking dangerous,” Steve says. “You’re lucky you didn’t get hurt.”

A chill runs up my spine. “You’re lucky they didn’t kill you,” Bella adds. “Seriously, Maylie, you need to start looking after yourself.”

She’s right, of course, but I can’t change who I am either. “I do, but I was scared they might kill him.”

Steve snorts. “Sam ain’t a good man. He doesn’t deserve your protection.”

“He’s always been good to me.” It’s the truth. He gave me this job when no one else would employ me.

“Fuck,” Steve mutters, turning off the main road and onto the long street that leads to my flat. “This is a fucking disaster.”

“Are they going to kill him?”

“I don’t know, but you should stop worrying about him and worry about yourself.” I wish it were that easy. I’ve always been empathetic. “He was sitting around the back of the club when we left,” he adds. “Bruised but still very much breathing.”

My chest loosens. “Do you think they’ll open the bar tomorrow night?” I ask, my voice hopeful. I have no idea how I’m going to make up the money I’ve lost by being sent home early.

“I don’t know,” Steve admits, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel as he concentrates on the road ahead of us. “I think all of us should start looking for new jobs though. ”

“Really?” Bella sits up straight. “You think it’s gonna be that bad?”

“I’ve never dealt with the Sons, but I know their reputation. Trust me, it ain’t a good idea to be in their orbit.”

“I can’t do that,” I say softly. “It took me months to get this job.” I’m not exactly qualified to do a whole lot else that pays as well. “I can’t afford to work a month in hand either.”

His gaze drifts to the rearview mirror to look at me. “Figure it out, Maylie. You have to,” he says, as if it’s that fucking easy.

Irritation sweeps through me. I don’t have the luxury of being picky or falling behind. There’s no one else to pick up the slack if I’m not bringing in money. “We worked for horrible people before and everything was fine. The Pioneers never came to the bar.” Once a month, they would meet with Sam in the office, but they never ran things. “Why is this any different?”

“Because it is. Just trust me on that.”

“I can’t afford to take the moral high ground, Steve. I have bills to pay, food to put on the table. As long as they’ll allow me to keep working, I will.”

His face gets darker and stormier. I sink back into my seat, a little afraid of his anger. “Did you not just hear what I said?”

“Steve,” Bella chastises, but he huffs a breath.

The man barely speaks to me unless it’s work-related, and now, he’s acting like an overbearing big brother. I don’t need him to get in my business.

“She can’t stay working there,” he mutters. “And neither can you. We all have to leave.”

The streetlights illuminate the car briefly as we pass them, and the traffic is building up but moving. “I’m staying,” I say. “If I get evicted because I haven’t paid my rent, social services will take my brother and sister into care. So, I’m sorry, but I’m going to do what I have to. You guys should do the same.”

“Who cares who’s in charge as long as we’re getting paid, right?” Bella tries to diffuse the swirling anger in the car as Steve falls silent.

I know he’s trying to look out for me, but what he’s saying isn’t helpful. I can’t change my situation, not overnight. As much as I would like to be picky, it’s not an option.

As he pulls up outside my building, Bella turns around and gives me an awkward hug. “I’ll call you in the morning,” she says, her eyes bouncing to Steve before coming back to me.

“Good night,” I give her a loose smile before turning to him, “and thank you for the ride.”

I climb out the car when it becomes clear he’s not going to reply. I want nothing more than to crawl into a hot bath before getting into bed, but now, I have to face Ivy. She’s going to be furious that I made her come home to take care of Toby, and less than an hour later, I’m back.

Steve speeds off without so much as a backwards glance, and I’m not sure why he’s so mad at me. We’ve worked for criminals all this time and it’s never been an issue. Granted, we rarely saw our former employers, but they still owned the business.

As I walk up to the front door, unlocking it and stepping into the foyer, my shoulders slump. I feel like all the air has been drained out of my body as I trudge up the stairs. The low thrum of noise is muffled behind the doors of each apartment.

This building is expensive—nearly everywhere is these days—but I pay more for the location. We’re a twenty-minute walk into the city and far enough out that it’s a little safer than being in the centre.

It is my one non-negotiable. I’ve always picked homes in decent areas. There’s no way in hell I’m raising my siblings in some dive apartment block, dodging drug addicts and thieves. So, I work all the hours I can to ensure they have at least this small amount of stability. The irony that I work for criminals is not lost on me, but that life never touches them.

As I approach the front door of my flat, I shelve my problems for now and brace for the argument I know is about to ensue.

“Shit.” I close my eyes for a brief second, finding my zen before I unlock the door and step inside.

I hear Toby’s video game loud and clear as I shrug off my bag, dumping it by the front door, and slide off my trainers. Feeling like there is a ten-tonne weight on my shoulders, I head down the small hallway towards the living area.

Toby doesn’t realise he’s no longer alone, which also fucking worries me. He needs to be more alert to his surroundings.

“Toby.” I call his name, and he jolts as if he’s been shot before quickly pausing his game.

“Shit. You gave me a heart attack,” he complains.

I have a headache blooming as I drop onto the couch, sinking into the cushions. “Have you been on this since I left? Have you done your homework? ”

“How come you’re home early?” he asks, dodging my question, which means he hasn’t.

“Toby, I know you hate school, but when you don’t do what you’re supposed to, your teachers get annoyed and we end up on the radar of social services. Please, I know it’s boring, but just suck it up for me.”

Trying to explain consequences to him sometimes is like talking to a brick wall. “Fine.” He stands up, grumbling, but at least he seems willing to do it without an argument.

“Thank you. Is Ivy in her bedroom?” The look on his face instantly has all my senses on alert. “What?”

“I’m not a grass.”

That’s not a good start . “What does that mean?”

He dips his head, his hair falling over his forehead and into his eyes. He needs it cut, but it’s just another thing on the list of items there’s no money for.

“Toby,” I snap. It’s not often I lose my temper, so he looks a little concerned when I do.

“She left about five minutes after you.”

What the hell?

“You’ve been alone this entire time?” My voice raises an octave. The normal infinite amount of patience I have for my sister disappears behind a cloud of almost dying tonight and my mounting money troubles. I stand abruptly, pulling my phone out my pocket and dialling her number. “I’m going to kill her,” I grind out between clenched teeth.

“I was okay,” he protests.

“I walked right into the living room without you even noticing me. You’d be abducted in a heartbeat.” The phone rings and rings and rings, and my blood pressure rises with every trill it makes in my ear.

I end the call, trying not to explode in front of Toby. This isn’t his fault. “Homework, shower, and then bed.”

“And what about Ivy?”

“You let me worry about that. Move it,” I add when he doesn’t show any signs of getting up.

He grumbles as he stands, and I ruffle his hair as he passes me, earning the usual irritable response.

“May?” He hesitates, as if he’s not sure if he’s going to keep talking.

“What?” I prompt when he keeps silent. What is going on?

His jaw twitches a little, his eyes bouncing around before they land on me. “Nothing. Night.”

“Yeah, night, kiddo.”

He steps around me, leaving the room, and my stomach is heavy. What was he going to say?

I dial Ivy again. She doesn’t pick up, not that I expect her to. She’s very good at ignoring my calls considering her phone is usually glued to her hand.

This Link guy is becoming a problem. I don’t want to come down heavy on my sister, as that’s never been my way of parenting her or Toby, but I’m genuinely terrified for her. She left our brother alone, even after I explained to her the reasons why he can’t be. Usually, she and I are a team, but she’s no longer playing the game.

I sink onto the sofa, jiggling my leg as I wait for the phone to make a sound, but nothing comes through. By now, my anger is turning into red-hot fury, and this feeling is becoming a constant when it comes to her. I’m trying desperately to be patient, to remember she’s young and dealing with both first love and trying to take a step into adulthood, but I’m finding it hard to remain tolerant.

She left Toby alone.

I’m on my third cup of coffee and it’s approaching midnight when I hear the key in the lock.

I come to my feet, rushing out to the front door as she steps through it with what can only be described as a grown man. This guy is older than I am, with long hair on the top that’s shaved at the sides and piercing blue eyes. His jaw is completely shaved clean, and he has a scar running under his chin towards his Adam’s apple, as if someone tried to cut his throat.

Every inch of my body repels as he steps into my flat as if he owns the space.

This can’t be Link.

But I know deep down it is. My seventeen-year-old sister is dating someone who looks almost thirty.

Now, I understand why she’s been so cagey about letting me meet him. I would never have allowed this to continue if I’d known.

I can see the moment she realises I’m here. Her eyes bounce between me and him, and I can see the fear in her eyes, but it’s not me she’s scared of. It’s him and his reaction. And that pisses me off. Why is she scared of upsetting him and not me?

“Maylie…” Her voice wavers, and if I was in a good mood, I might have let her off the hook a little, but I’m not. I am so furious. “You’re not supposed to be back yet.”

My gaze never leaves his face as I respond to her. “I finished work early, which you would know if you bothered to check your phone. I’ve been blowing it up all night. ”

“She was with me. She don’t need to be on her phone when she’s with me .” The guy who I assume is Link says this as if Ivy is his.

Back off, buddy. She was mine long before she was ever yours.

“And who exactly are you?” Okay … that was not what I was going for. My words are sharp, and bitter too.

His hand wraps around the back of my sister’s neck in a move I can only describe as possessive. I’ve seen Steve do this to Bella before, but there’s something in the way this arse does it that sends a shard of fear stabbing into me. Bella always melts into Steve’s touch when he does this, but Ivy is stiff as a board as her eyes dance around the room.

She’s… she’s scared of this man.

And that awakens all my mama bear feelings.

“I’m her boyfriend.”

Over my dead body, you are.

“You need to leave,” I tell him. “It’s late and Ivy has school in the morning.” Because she’s a literal child, you fucking pervert.

“I’m not in school,” she complains.

“Sixth form college, which happens to be in a school,” I correct, my eyes never leaving his.

He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, his hard gaze boring into mine even as that grin remains in place. “I think we got off on the wrong foot here.”

“If you don’t leave, you’re not going to have any feet to get off on.”

Not my best comeback, but I’m not feeling at the top of my game right now.

“Maylie,” Ivy snaps. “What the hell is wrong with you? Link hasn’t done anything to warrant this amount of hostility. Quit being a bitch.” Her words are harsh, but I don’t care. This grown man is not dating my teenage sister.

He smirks at me. Fucking smirks. I want to wipe it off his stupid face, but he’s at least a foot taller than me, and I have no idea what he’s capable of.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ivy,” he says to her, but his gaze and mine never unlock.

“No, you won’t,” I counter.

“You don’t get to decide that. I’m nearly eighteen.”

She’s wrong about that. I will literally die on this hill. I don’t care how old she is, nothing about this situation seems equitable and everything about it puts me on edge.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Ivy,” he repeats, giving me an amused look before he steps through the door.

Instinct has me shutting it behind him instantly and sliding the lock into place. My job puts me in the line of men who have the potential to be dangerous. Patrons who drink too much and get grabby can be some of the deadliest men on the planet. The way Link carries himself tells me exactly what kind of man he is, and that is not what I want for my baby sister.

“You’re so ridiculous,” Ivy snarls as she heads into the living room.

I follow her, my blood pressure through the roof. I don’t know who I want to throttle more—Ivy or this man she’s dating.

“I’m ridiculous? You literally did everything I asked you not to, including leaving our brother alone while you went out to do fuck knows what with a grown man.”

She moves into the kitchen, grabbing a cup from the cupboard. “What I’m doing is none of your business. I can’t believe you just embarrassed me like that.”

My mouth opens and closes like I’m a fish tossed on land. “You’re lucky the only thing I did was embarrass you. I should’ve called the police. You’re a minor, and he is a grown adult. Where did you even meet him? And exactly how old is he?”

She switches on the kettle as if she hasn’t rolled in at gone midnight.

“I’m seventeen. Legally, the police can’t do shit, and what do you care how I met him? I love him, Maylie, which is something you wouldn’t know about. How many times have you been in love?”

Stay calm. Don’t lose your shit.

Her words don’t incite anger in me, but rather something deeper, something more painful. “I would love to be in a relationship, Ivy, but I spent years of my life taking care of you and Toby. There hasn’t exactly been time to hit Tinder.”

“Maybe if you were getting laid, you’d be less into my shit.”

Getting fed up with waiting for the kettle to boil while I’m lecturing her, she switches it off, shoving the mug back into the cupboard. As she turns to leave, I grab her arm, intending to stop her, but the moment my fingers touch her skin, she lets out a cry, as if I’d broken the bone.

Alarmed, I let her pull away from me, watching as she cradles her arm to her chest as my gut churns. I didn’t mean to hurt her. I would never hurt her, and in this moment, she looks so fragile, so vulnerable, that I feel sick to my stomach.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to?— ”

“Just leave me alone and stay out of my life. Link is my boyfriend, and you don’t have a say in that. As soon as I’m eighteen, I’m so fucking gone.”

She pushes past me, her shoulder barging mine hard enough to make my eyes squeeze shut. Thankfully, she doesn’t slam her bedroom door, but she doesn’t need to. I can tell she’s furious, but so am I.

This situation is so much worse than I could have ever imagined.

Well… that could have gone better. It also could have gone worse. I press a hand to my banging forehead. How the hell am I supposed to handle this?

She’s right. She is nearly eighteen, but that guy gives me bad vibes.

Defeated, knowing there is nothing I can do tonight, I tidy up the kitchen before I head to bed. As I pass Ivy’s closed bedroom door, I stop outside it, listening for any sound she might be awake, but all I hear is silence.

I wish she would just talk to me.

In my bedroom, I flop onto the mattress and stare up at the ceiling as tears prick my eyes. My problems just keep piling up, and I’m drowning in the shit swirling around me.

Losing the flat would suck.

Losing my job would be a nightmare.

But losing my sister is a blow I won’t recover from.