Mace (Untamed Sons MC: Birmingham Chapter #1)

10. Maylie

TEN

MAYLIE

I wake up early on Saturday morning, and the urge to stay in bed all day makes my bones heavy. Ivy came home last night, finally . I desperately wanted to talk to her about everything, but I was so relieved to see she was okay that I just hugged her and let her go to bed.

The morning light brings all the problems I left behind while I slept and dumps them right at my feet. There is no escaping them.

Forcing myself out of bed with a groan, I get up, shower, and dress before heading to the kitchen. There is not enough caffeine in the world to fix this shit, but at least my far too strong cup of coffee chases the remnants of my crappy night’s sleep away.

What would Mum have done in this situation?

I draw a blank. I’d been a good kid, never in trouble—same for my siblings. She’d never needed to deal with anything like this, and if I’m being honest, I’m out of my depth. This is bigger than anything I’ve had to tackle as their guardian, and I don’t know what to do .

Leaning my elbows on the table, I bury my head in my hands and resist the urge to give into the tears I’m fighting. I’m finding it hard to keep my mask in place, to keep up the pretence that everything is fine. Ivy’s life is a mess, I still haven’t paid Bernie, and work is… I don’t even know what work is.

Toby and, of course, Ivy don’t know what happened at Temptation, and I have no intention of telling them, but my sleep has been marred with nightmares since my attack.

True to his word, Mace has been at the end of the bar every shift I’ve worked, watching for trouble, and although he eases some of my fear, he raises whole new ones.

The man is dangerous, and he’s a complication I don’t need when my life is already a tangled knot, but the way he looks at me across the bar sends flutters through my belly.

Are you that starved of affection that you’ll fling yourself at the first man who shows you attention?

More importantly, am I reading into a situation that doesn’t exist?

Mace is my boss. Of course, he wants me to be safe at work, especially after what happened, but it feels like more than that.

I shake my head as colliding arguments wage in my brain and don’t even try to stifle the yawn that erupts from my mouth. It’s just the sleep deprivation talking. Mace would never be interested in someone like me.

My phone buzzes on the kitchen table, and I turn it over to glance at the screen. It’s a message from Bella. She has the details for the manager of the bar Steve had mentioned. I stare at the information. There is so much going on in my life right now that I don’t think I can deal with finding a new place of employment as well. Temptation might not be perfect, but it’s familiar. I like the people there, and the bikers haven’t been terrible to us. I don’t understand why they are so set on leaving when they stayed under the Pioneers.

I message back a simple thanks, not wanting to get into a debate with Bella this morning. Not when I have so much other stuff to work through.

Movement from within the depths of the flat has my back straightening. I know I have to handle this carefully, which is making me anxious. I have to scale the walls my sister has built between us. I have to address the grown man she’s dating as well as her behaviour. I need to somehow reach my impenetrable sister, and I have no idea how I’m going to make that happen.

I wait until she’s finished in the bathroom and steps into the kitchen.

Her eyes come to mine, and already I see the suspicion behind them. She says nothing to me as she walks over to the kettle, filling it with water.

“Is this how it’s going to be from now on?” I ask. “Are you just planning on ignoring me forever?”

“I don’t have anything to say to you,” Ivy replies, her back to me.

“You disappeared for three days. I had no idea if you were okay. That’s not cool, Ivy.”

She flinches slightly. “I don’t need to run my movements past you.”

“No, you don’t, but it’s the adult thing to do.”

She spins to face me, anger contorting her face into an angry mask. “The adult thing to do is let me live my own life. You just want to control me because your own life is so shitty.”

That stings more than it should, but I deflect her blows as best I can. “That’s not what I’m doing. I’m worried. Link is older, and he’s kind of intense?—”

“You’ve never even dated a guy, Maylie. How can you give me advice on what’s right or wrong in a relationship? How would you even know?”

Ivy and I have always been close. The situation we found ourselves in demanded it. Neither of us had a mother anymore. She was a young girl who needed that guidance more than anyone, and I was grieving the life we lost. It hurts to see how she has pulled away from me, and that I didn’t even notice. I was so caught up in working and keeping things running and ticking along. I really fucked this up.

“You’re right. I’ve never had a relationship, but that doesn’t mean I’m ignorant to what a healthy one should be. You’re neglecting your responsibilities because of this man, and don’t get me started on what he said to me about owning you.” I stand, moving to her and grabbing her hand. I expect her to tear out of my grasp, but to my relief, she doesn’t. “Ivy, I’m really scared for you. This guy doesn’t seem like he has his heart in the right place.”

Am I any better? Mace is part of a criminal gang. I watched him smash a guy’s face open and didn’t do anything to stop it.

“You don’t know him,” she says with defiance in her tone.

“No, I don’t, because you’ve never brought him around. You hid him from us, which now I understand why.”

“I didn’t hide him.” She pulls out of my grasp, and I hate the loss of her touch. The chasm between us continues to widen. “I just knew you’d be like this about it.”

“Like what? Concerned? You don’t think I have any reason to be a little worried by any of this? How old even is he?”

“What difference does that make? I love him.”

That makes me flinch. She loves him? My heart thuds. This is worse than I thought. “How old, Ivy?” I repeat more firmly this time.

“He’s thirty-two,” she admits begrudgingly.

Oh… my… fuck. He’s fifteen years older than my teenage sister, and she loves him. “Don’t you see a problem with that?”

“And you wonder why I didn’t come home.”

She throws her hands in the air in exasperation, and I catch a glimpse of something on her arm. I shove her sleeve up and see the dirty-looking bruise in the shape of finger marks. She’d flinched when I grabbed her there. She’d cried out in pain. My stomach knots, and the pit in my gut opens like a gaping wound.

“Did I do that to you? When I grabbed you?” Horror descends through me that I might have hurt her. I wasn’t that rough, was I? I try to think back.

She tears out of my grasp. “I’m done talking about this.”

“Ivy, did I give you that bruise?” Guilt assaults me, choking my throat.

“Just leave me alone,” she hisses in my face, and my heart clenches as she shoves around me, knocking me back against the counter.

I stumble after her, my mind reeling, but she’s through the front door and gone before I can stop her.

Bile climbs up my throat. I’m going to be sick.

Rushing into the bathroom, I drop to my knees just in time to empty my stomach. Heaving over and over, even though all I have inside me is coffee, my body tries to repel the disgust I feel.

I hurt my sister.

I hug the toilet bowl until I’m done, and then I stand on shaky legs. I can’t look at myself in the mirror over the sink as I wipe my face and clean my teeth. No wonder she wants to be with him—I practically shoved her into his arms.

There’s a knock on the front door, and hope surges in me that it might be Ivy, that she’s forgotten her key.

I rush through the flat and drag open the front door without checking the peephole. My heart sinks into the floor when it’s not blonde hair I see but grey.

It’s not Ivy… but Bernie.

Fuck . He is the last person I want to deal with. I have some of the rent, but I’m still about a thousand pounds short, and I’m guessing Bernie wants his payment.

I force a smile onto my face that is becoming harder and harder to maintain. “Hey, Bernie.”

He peers around me, trying to see into the flat, so I step forward, pulling the door behind me. “Your payment was a little light this month, Miss Fernsby.”

A chill slithers up my spine. I detest when he calls me that.

“I know. I’m sorry. I should have the rest by Friday. ”

He tsks at me, like I’m ten years old, and I understand his frustration, but I can’t change anything. I lost two shifts, and with them, my tips.

“This isn’t a charity, Maylie. I have expenses to pay. I can’t tell the bank I don’t have their payment because my tenant won’t have it until Friday.”

“I understand, and I’m sorry. I just got a little behind. I have most of it. I can pay you what I have.”

He seems disappointed by this offer, waving a hand in my direction. “Transfer it over.”

I pull my phone out of my back pocket and open my banking app. I try not to dwell on how empty my account is as I send over everything I can, leaving enough to pay for groceries and Toby’s school stuff.

Bernie’s phone beeps as the transfer completes, and he glances down at the screen. “That’s not even half of what you owe.”

“I know. I’m trying my best here, Bernie. I’ve given you everything I have. Please, just… give me some time.”

He pockets the phone before he leans against the door jamb, his arms over his head as his gaze drops to my mouth. The gesture would be attractive from someone like Mace, but Bernie turns my stomach. He’s not a bad-looking guy, but there’s something about him that sets off all my alarm bells. “If you’re having problems, I’m sure we can come to some kind of… arrangement.”

“Like a payment plan or something?”

His thumb runs over his bottom lip as he stares at me. “Or something else more… enjoyable .”

It clicks what he’s suggesting. Dirty, fucking pervert .

“I’ll get you the money.”

I try to shut the door, but his foot sticks in the gap, and my fear ratchets up a notch as I meet his gaze. “It would be a shame if you and those two kids suddenly found yourselves homeless.”

My heart contracts, and for the second time this week, I find myself looking into the eyes of a man who wants to use me for his own gain.

Is that all I am to them? A toy to be played with?

“Please take your foot out the door.”

“What’s going on?” Toby’s voice sounds from behind me.

I twist to look over my shoulder, a whole new terror clutching me. My brother is standing behind me, his hair ruffled, the band T-shirt and sweats he’s wearing rumpled, but his eyes are alert. He may only be twelve years old, but he looks ready to throw down.

Before things get out of control, I force a smile. “Everything is fine. Bernie was just leaving.”

My landlord gives me a dark smirk. “Think about what I said, Miss Fernsby.”

Eww.

I don’t give him a smile as he pulls his foot free of the door, allowing me to close it. It takes everything I have not to slam it in his face, but I slowly shut it, as if my pulse isn’t pounding in my ears.

I take a steadying breath before I turn back to face my brother, painting yet another smile in place. My face is getting tired of faking emotions. “I’m surprised to see you up so early. What’s the matter? Did the bed set on fire?”

As I walk past him, I ruffle his hair, making him recoil. That’s always guaranteed to distract him, but this time, it doesn’t. He follows me into the living room, watching as I clean up some of the glasses and junk on the coffee table .

“What did Bernie want?” he asks.

“Just checking in on us.”

I keep my eyes averted, certain that if I look at him, he’s going to know the truth.

“Yeah, because Bernie really gives two shits about us.”

I don’t pull him up on his language, even though I should. “Of course, he doesn’t, but he cares about the property. Do you want to watch a movie with me before I have to go to work?”

His arms fold across his chest, and for the first time, he’s not the little kid I think he is. He seems older, more mature than ever before. “Are we in trouble, Maylie?”

Shit. “Why would we be in trouble?”

“Because we’ve lived here for two years and Bernie has never come to the flat. Not once. And what did he mean, ‘think about what I said’? What did he want you to think about?”

I love that my little brother is smart, but sometimes, it can be a curse. “Why don’t you let me worry about grown-up things while you just worry about being a kid,” I say.

His jaw flexes. “You don’t always have to shoulder the burden, May. You don’t have to always be strong either. No one expects that. You lost Mum too. Your life changed too. Ivy might not remember it, but I see how much you’ve sacrificed for us. And you never asked for any of this either.”

My throat is choked by his words. I didn’t choose it—I would much rather have our mother here, raising all three of us—but that was not the hand we were dealt. “You and Ivy are the most important thing in my world, Toby. I would do anything for both of you.”

“You know we feel the same way about you, right?” The lump in my throat grows again. “Even Ivy. I know she’s being a bitch right now, but she’s gonna wake up and see that. When she does, she’s gonna be so sorry.”

I have to believe I can bring our sister back into our life, because there is no alternative. “I know.” Tears prick my eyes, and I try to hold them back.

Toby shakes his head, crossing the room and throwing his arms around me. He hugs me so tight, I almost choke on my own tongue trying to keep my emotions under control. It’s been so long since anyone held me. Every ounce of my body craves to be loved, and Toby gives me this with his embrace.

“I love you, Maylie.”

His words are healing, papering over the wounds that cut me. “I love you too, you little dork.”

He snorts as he pulls back. “You’re far more dorky than I am.”

“Right. So, you want to watch the movie or not?”

“Fine, but I get to pick. I don’t wanna watch some girly chick flick.”

He picks up the remote, and I let some of the tension ooze out of me. Ivy knows I didn’t mean to hurt her, and Bernie… once I pay him, he’ll go away. Maybe I can pick up more hours or…

Or I can dance.

My gut twists unpleasantly, but I don’t see what other option there is except to get a second job in the day and work Temptation during the night. Doing that means neglecting things at home even more than I already am.

Sam pushed a lot for me to be on stage, and I always said no.

But I can’t afford to be picky. There’s no way I’m getting evicted, and I’m not sleeping with Bernie to pay my arrears.

Stripping on stage is at least something I have control over.

“Since when have I ever made you watch girly chick flicks?” I fire back at him, but my words are dulled by the emotions colliding inside me.

“What about the cheesy stuff you make us watch over Christmas?”

“That doesn’t count. Christmas movies are exempt from the chick flick bracket,” I say.

I watched a movie with my brother, barely taking in any of the plot. My mind instead is focused on my next steps. As the time for me to go to work rolls around, Ivy isn’t back, and my stomach is in knots. She’s never going to forgive me, and I can’t say I blame her.