Mace (Untamed Sons MC: Birmingham Chapter #1)

18. Maylie

EIGHTEEN

MAYLIE

“That would never happen!”

Toby flings his hand towards the TV, irritated by the pseudoscience in the movie we’re watching. My brother hates school, but he’s weirdly good at physics.

“You don’t have to analyse everything. Just enjoy it for what it is.”

I throw a cushion at him, which he catches and tosses back. I snatch it awkwardly out of the air and shake my head at him before I go back to watching the movie.

I try to concentrate on the plot, but all I can think about is what Mace did to me last night. I’ve touched myself—of course, I have, because a girl has needs—but I’ve never had a man in my most private places.

I can’t even fathom how it happened. One minute, we were talking, and the next, his fingers were inside my… pussy … at work . I’m sure there are a hundred rules we broke, and it’s probably a good thing the club doesn’t have an HR department because we’d both be in trouble.

As amazing as it felt—and it was amazing, and I have no idea how he got me off that fast—I can’t allow it to happen again.

Especially now I’ve been promoted. I don’t know the entire details of what my salary is going to be as manager, but no other business would ever take me on in that kind of position. I intend to take full advantage of the opportunity that is being given to me, and that means nothing more can happen between me and Mace. I don’t know what the rest of his club would think about what we did, but I don’t want to be labelled as the office bike.

Considering that’s the first time I’ve ever had a man’s fingers inside me, I don’t think that’s going to happen.

I ignore that voice in my head. Whether or not I think it will happen, people make their own assumptions. I’m already dreading Bella finding out that I’ve been promoted. She’s worked at Temptation far longer than I have. If anyone should have been made manager, it should have been her. I’m anxious that this decision may impact our friendship. She’s one of the few people I have in my life, and I don’t want to lose her.

My mind drifts back to Mace and the way I’d felt when he was touching me, when he was kissing me. I’m pretty sure I just stood there like a cold fish. Does he think I’m weird? Should I have done more?

What’s going to happen when he finds out I’m a virgin?

He’ll probably run for the hills.

No man like him wants to teach someone like me how to be good at sex.

Maybe I don’t tell him.

So many confusing emotions roll through me .

What if this is just a game to him? What if he just wants me for a good time, not a long time?

What if…

I have no idea how I keep my expression neutral, but I don’t want Toby to see the storm raging within me. The thought that none of this is real is a devastating blow I’m not sure I’d recover from.

Girl, you are crazy. He was worried about the bruise on my arm, so concerned that I called out of work that he came to my home to check on me and then took me to breakfast. He also kissed me in front of everyone at Temptation, and he sits night after night at the end of the bar just to keep me safe.

That’s not the actions of someone who isn’t interested, right?

The sound of the door opening draws both mine and Toby’s attention. I sit up straight, shuffling to the edge of the sofa. The only people with keys are Bernie and Ivy.

Please be the latter.

As I come to my feet, my sister appears in the doorway, her head ducked. Relief floods through me, and my shoulders relax for a millisecond until Link steps in behind her.

Fuck him. Ivy is my sister, my blood. He’s not part of this family, and he’ll never be.

I close the space between us, intending to hug her, but before I can reach for her, Link puts a hand in front of me, forcing me to stop.

I narrow my gaze on him. “Move your fucking hand,” I snap, and if I was in the right mindset, I would never use that language in front of Toby, but my anger makes my words terse.

Link steps in front of Ivy, forcing me to move back. “ I’m getting pretty tired of your fucking attitude towards me.”

Ice fills my belly, fighting with the hot rage pulsing through my veins.

“I’m sick of you, period.”

His eyes lock to mine as he sneers at me. “She’s only here because I’m allowing it. Go and get your shit, Ivy.”

My sister casts a glance in my direction before heading towards her bedroom, passing our brother, who is glaring at Link like he wants to stab him.

Me too, kid.

“Toby, call the police.” Link is so big, I don’t know if I can stop him if he decides to take my sister out of here by force, and I can’t fight him without getting hurt. I already know this.

Even though I’m scared to death, I square up to him, putting myself between him and the hallway my sister just ventured down.

Link’s lips tug into a dark smirk that sends waves of anxiety through every nerve in my body.

“Toby, do that and I’ll break your sister’s face.”

“You touch her?—”

“And what, tough guy?”

I snort. “It must make you feel like such a man to pick fights with little girls and boys.”

His eyes flash dangerously. “Don’t get in my way, Maylie. You won’t like what happens if you do.”

Cold spreads through me at the open threat, but my time working in Temptation has hardened me to aggressive men. The only difference is, here I don’t have back-up. “You touch me, and I’ll have you arrested.” I get in his face. “She might be scared of you, Link, but I’m not. ”

My words sound brave, but internally, my veins are filled with sticky terror. He could kill all of us, and we’d be helpless to stop it.

He laughs deep in his throat as Toby asks for the police on the phone. “I don’t need to do anything here, Maylie. Ivy will come to me no matter what you say to her. She loves me, and I love her.”

He steps back as Ivy emerges from her bedroom clutching a bag. As she tries to pass me, I stop her, throwing my hand out in front of her.

“You’re staying here tonight,” he says. “It’ll give you the time to explain how things are, and you can tell them the good news.” He backs away as he gives me a grin that makes my stomach plummet to the floor. “I’ll be back for you in the morning, baby,” he says to Ivy.

I watch him leave, and as soon as he’s out the flat, I rush to lock the door behind him. There is no way in hell I’m letting her go with him in the morning.

I turn to my sister as Toby tells the operator we no longer need help.

“You’re not going with him,” I say to her.

Her eyes don’t meet mine as her arms wrap around herself. The difference in her since I last saw her is stark. I can see the pieces of her that he’s chipped away.

“You can’t stop him.”

Can’t stop ‘him’, not ‘me’.

I roam my gaze over her, checking for any injuries, but there isn’t a mark on her. None that I can see, anyway.

“I know what he’s doing to you.”

Tears brim in her eyes. “You don’t know anything.”

“What’s he doing to her?” Toby asks.

My eyes don’t leave my sister, and without waiting for her invitation, I pull her into my arms and hug her like she’s my everything.

For a moment, she freezes, stiffening against me, but then she softens into my touch and sobs against my shoulder.

“There’s nothing you can do. You have to let me go.”

Cold seeps into my bones. The matter-of-fact way she sees this situation is upsetting. This isn’t over just because he says it is.

I pull back from her but hold her biceps, afraid she might slip away from me if I let go.

“No. Fuck no. I’m never doing that, Ivy. And fuck him. He doesn’t get to keep you. He doesn’t get to hurt you. Who the fuck is he?” I grip her tight, and I’m relieved when she doesn’t pull back. “You don’t have to put up with whatever he’s doing to you. He’s just a man. A bully, but just a man, and I haven’t taken care of you all these years, given you the best I could, for him to come in and destroy all of that. I promise, I will protect you from him, Ivy, but you have to allow me to do it.”

Her eyes slide shut as tears roll down her cheeks. “I’m so scared, Maylie.” An ugly sob rips from her body, and my stomach twists into a knot. “I don’t know what’s right or wrong anymore. Everything he says makes me doubt myself, doubt who I am.”

I grab her face between my hands, forcing her to look at me. “I know exactly who you are, Ivy Fernsby.”

“Me too,” Toby adds.

Her eyes swim again. “He’ll hurt you. He’ll kill you. You don’t have any idea how dangerous he is.”

I do. I’d seen enough to know exactly how deadly this man is, but I don’t care. “When did he start hitting you? ”

Ivy’s eyes never leave mine, and I see the shame and fear colliding with a hundred other unreadable emotions. “It didn’t happen right away. At first, he was perfect. Everything was perfect. I can’t even remember why it happened. After… I was so sure I drove him to it, and he was sorry. He cried and said he’d never do it again.”

I’d read all about the tricks these kinds of abusers use to wear down a person. Ivy is a perfect case study.

“He’s never going to do it again,” I tell her. “I won’t allow it.”

She shakes her head. “I have to go with him tomorrow, Maylie. If I don’t do what he demands… he doesn’t like my defiance. It’ll just make things worse. He’ll hurt you and Toby. I’m not going to let that happen.”

My heart shatters at her willingness to protect us from something she needs protecting from.

“What makes you think we’re going to let him hurt you to keep us safe?” Toby asks.

Ivy sniffles. “I can handle it. I’ve been handling it.”

Oh, boy, I want to kill him. “That’s not happening, Ivy,” I tell her.

“He’s not going to let me go.”

“He’s not going to have a choice.”

She shakes her head and sags against the wall behind her. “It’s not that simple. He controls everything.”

He controls nothing, but I don’t bother to fight her train of thought on that. She is so scared, all she sees is the power he has in their dynamic. “We’ll leave. Head out of town, to somewhere he won’t be able find you?—”

“I can’t. He’ll never let me go.” Tears stream down her cheeks. “I’m pregnant.”

The ground beneath me feels as if it shifts, but I’m pretty sure I’m still standing after she delivers that information. I watch as she sobs brokenly, sliding down the wall to her backside.

Toby looks at me, his face pale, and for a moment, I regret him being involved in this conversation at all, until he slides down next to our sister and wraps his arms around her. She goes willingly, her head resting against him as she cries.

“Maylie is right. He ain’t having you, or your baby.”

The fierceness in his voice sends a shiver of pride through me. But my problems just increased ten-fucking-fold. We’re barely keeping afloat as it is. The promise of my new job and my wage increase was going to fix my money problems, but babies need so much stuff.

That’s a problem for another day. Right now, I need to be Ivy’s safety net.

I push all of that into a box somewhere deep in the recesses of my mind as I sink down on the other side of her, the three of us huddled together as Ivy cries.

I have to swallow back my own tears at just how broken my sister is. “How long have you known about the pregnancy?”

“He made me take a test a few days ago. I think he suspected long before I did. I didn’t know the symptoms.”

“You’re on the pill.” I don’t mean for it to sound accusatory, but it should have protected her from this.

“He wouldn’t let me take it. When he found the packet in my stuff… he… he…” Her shoulders twitch as a sob bubbles up her throat.

I can only imagine what he did to keep her. Sick fucking bastard.

“It doesn’t matter,” I assure her, pulling her head against me and stroking her hair. “We’ll figure it out. Whatever you decide to do, I’ll be there every step of the way, Ivy.”

“I don’t deserve your help. I’ve been so horrible to you, to both of you.”

“None of that matters now.”

What does matter is finding a way to keep my sister and my unborn niece or nephew safe. I don’t have the money to leave right away, despite my earlier declaration, and I don’t trust Ivy to be in a place where she’s strong enough to deny him.

I need help.

And that’s not something I’m good at asking for, but I don’t know what else to do. I can’t lose my sister. I can’t let her be tied to that prick with a baby in tow. She’ll never be free of him.

There’s only one person I can think of who can help us, and going to him is going to throw a grenade between what we’ve been building. He’s going to end whatever budding relationship we might have been growing the moment he finds out the trouble I’m in.

There’s a moment of grief for what could have been, but I shove that into the box in my mind too. Ivy is all that matters right now. At least I had those few moments with Mace where I got to be free.

“Grab some clothes, enough for a few days, and be ready to leave in five minutes.”

I deliver the order as I push to my feet and head to my room. I don’t have Mace’s number or his address, but the location of the Sons’ clubhouse is public information.

I pull up the browser on my phone and double check the address before quickly stuffing a few items of clothes into a bag alongside my phone charger, my purse, and the photo album I have of my mum.

As soon as we’re all ready, I call a taxi. We wait in the flat until the driver is outside, and only then do we leave. I half expect Link to be waiting outside the building for us, but he obviously thinks his hold on my sister is strong enough that he can just click his fingers and she will come running.

I’m not sure he’s not wrong about that.

As soon as we’re in the car, I let some of the tension within me seep out, and when I give the driver the address, he does a double take in the rearview mirror before pulling out onto the road.

I have to hope Mace will help me, that the time we’ve shared together will be enough.

My leg bounces as I stare out the side window, feeling as if I’m heading into calamity, and when the cab pulls up outside the clubhouse, my mouth is so dry, my tongue is glued to the roof of it.

Toby leans forwards to peer out at the building as I pay the driver, his eyes wide as he takes in the rows of chrome bikes parked inside the chain link fence.

The driver says nothing, but he gives me a wary look as we get out of the taxi, and he doesn’t waste a moment peeling out of there.

“Are you sure about this?” Ivy asks, a tremor working through her voice.

No. “Of course. Come on.”

As we approach the gates, a guy about my age steps out of the building and heads over to us. He’s wearing a vest like Mace’s, and there is not a single hint of warmth in his expression. All I see is suspicion .

Maybe I should have taken Steve’s warning seriously. Mace has been good to me, more so than I deserve, but I’m not getting the vibe we’re going to get a warm welcome.

“You lost, sweetheart?” the guy asks. The words are light, but his tone is not, and his ‘sweetheart’ isn’t an endearment.

I stand in front of my brother and sister protectively, ignoring Ivy’s fingers digging into my arm. “Is Mace here?”

He stares at me for the longest moment, and every inch of my body reacts, sensing the threat from him.

“You’re definitely lost.” He turns to walk back inside, and I move along the fence, following him.

“Please, I need to see him.”

“What you need to do is turn around and get the fuck out of here.”

“He’ll be pissed if he knows you turned me away.” It’s desperation that has me saying these words. I have no idea what Mace’s reaction will be to me turning up here, but my bravado sends a ripple of doubt through him.

“Fine. I’ll call him, but if you’re lying to me…” He trails off, letting the threat hang between us.

This guy looks like he’s Ivy’s age, but already there’s an air of ruthlessness to him that is honestly a little terrifying.

His fingers swipe over the screen, his gaze splitting between us and the phone. What if Mace won’t help us? What if all he wanted was what I gave him in the office? Shit, how could I be so stupid to come here? I’ve put my siblings in even more danger.

As a thousand worst-case scenarios race through my head, the guy speaks into the phone. “Got a girl here askin’ for you. Right. Yeah.” I wish I knew what’s being said, what Mace is thinking. “What’s your name?”

“It’s Maylie.” I hold my breath, waiting for him to dash my hope. What’s my next move?

“Maylie,” he repeats into the phone, and then his eyes lift to mine. “Right. Sure.” He holds his phone out to me. “He wants to talk to you.”

I awkwardly grab it as he feeds the handset through the fence and lifts the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“Maylie? Fuck. Are you okay?” He’s not telling me to go, and the weight on my shoulders lifts.

“No, I’m not.” It costs me everything to admit that, to ask someone else for help, but I do it for my sister and brother. “I didn’t know where else to go. I’m so sorry, Mace, but?—”

“I’m glad you came to me. Are you hurt?”

“No.”

“Okay, good. I’ll be there in ten minutes, yeah? Just hang tight until then. Give Riley back the phone.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

My throat is tight as I hand the phone back to the guy who I guess is Riley. He listens to whatever Mace says, making noncommittal responses before he hangs up.

“Follow me.”

I glance at my siblings, who are watching everything with a mixture of confusion and a little bit of apprehension. Knowing Mace will be here soon eases some of my panic. He’s not angry, though he doesn’t know what’s going on, which might change things. I can’t think about that. My priority is getting Toby and my pregnant teenage sister somewhere safe .

Riley pulls open the gate wide enough for us to slip through, and I feel the blanket of safety wrap around me.

Let’s hope Steve’s fears about the club are unfounded.

Riley turns, and as he does, I see the word ‘prospect’ across the back of his vest.

“What’s a prospect?” I ask, my nerves forcing words out of my mouth.

Riley doesn’t answer, and I clamp my teeth together to stop from asking anything else. Point noted—no questions.

As we walk through the double doors that open into the building, the low hum of music meets my ears. I expect to step into a hallway or some kind of foyer, but the doors open straight into what looks like a bar.

There’s a counter running along one wall stocked with as much alcohol as we’d see in Temptation. Tables are scattered around the room, and on one of the couches, a woman is riding a man, showing all the assets her mamma gave her.

“Fucking awesome,” Toby whispers as Ivy covers his eyes.

“You’re way too young for that,” she chastises as he tries to bat her hand away.

“Stop ruining my fun,” he grumbles as he ducks away from her and gets another eyeful of the naked woman.

I give him a shove to get him moving, ignoring the fact every eye in the place is directed at us. I’m braced for someone to stop us and demand to know why we’re here, but no one moves. Not even when Riley leads us through another door and into a hallway.

There are several doors, but he stops outside the one at the end and steps back when he shoves it open.

I try not to seem hesitant as I step inside. After all, I brought us here, so it would be crazy to be scared, right? But Riley isn’t Mace, and I don’t know what to expect from him or any of the men who were in the bar area. Have I brought my siblings somewhere dangerous?

As I cross into the room, I brace for whatever might be on the other side, but it’s a little anticlimactic. The white walls are clean, though I can smell the faint tinge of cigarettes and old booze. There’s a double bed jutting out from the middle of the far wall and a sofa under the window. Another door looks like it leads to a bathroom, though I can’t see much of it.

It’s safe and warm.

And Link won’t be able to reach us here. That’s all that matters.

Riley rubs the back of his neck as he steps in behind my brother and sister. “Make yourselves at home. Uh… Mace’ll be here soon, but until then, there’s a bathroom through that door and a kitchen down the hallway, third door along. If you need anything, just let me know.” Before I can ask how I let him know, he’s out of the room and we’re alone.

The silence between us is loud.

Mace is safety. That’s the only thought I have in my mind. He’s my safety, and by extension, my family’s safety.

Ivy goes over to the bed and sinks onto the edge of it with a sigh. Black smudges line under her eyes, and the strain in her expression ages her by a decade.

I watch as her hand splays over her stomach. Her sweater hides what is perfectly obvious to me the moment the material is pulled tight against her body. Ivy’s always been tiny. I’m all thighs and belly, but she is so tiny that the swell of her stomach is obvious.

I want to ask how far along she is, but the words stick in my throat. Now isn’t the time for that conversation to happen, though I’m not sure what to even say to her when it is time.

I can’t deny I’m disappointed things went this way. This is not the future I wanted for Ivy. I wanted her to travel, to live the life I never had, to find love and have a family with someone who adores her. I wanted her to reach her potential. Her life isn’t over now she’s pregnant, but it’s certainly going to be harder.

I sit next to her, pulling her against my side, so grateful to have her back in my arms. My hand moves over hers, pressing against the tiny bump I can feel.

“I’m not going to let anything happen to either of you,” I promise, fully intending to keep it.

“I know,” she replies. “I should’ve come to you the moment things started getting bad.” Toby jumps onto the bed behind us.

“Careful,” I chastise as the mattress bounces us.

“Sorry,” he mutters, sinking into the pillows.

“How do you know the bikers?” Ivy asks.

“How do you know they’re bikers?”

“I watch TV, Maylie. They’re all wearing kuttes.”

“Kuttes?”

“The leather vest things.”

“She’s dating a member,” Toby says, ratting me out.

I twist to glare at him. “I’m not dating him. I’m—” I don’t know what we’re doing, so I don’t know how to finish that statement .

“She’s dating him,” Toby says, closing his eyes. “She’s been all goofy and happy since he turned up at the flat.”

My face heats.

“Who is he?” Ivy asks, twisting so she can glance between me and our brother.

“His name is Mace,” I say. “To be honest, I’m not really sure what he sees in me, or if he sees anything, but I don’t expect things between us to go any further.” Especially not after I’ve brought this trouble to his door. “We work together, and he took me to breakfast, but that’s all.”

Other than him getting me off in the office.

“I know what he sees in you.” Ivy’s expression is so serious as she stares at me.

“Me too,” Toby adds. He is lying back on the bed with his hands interlaced behind his head, as if we’re on holiday.

“It’s not like I have anything to offer him. And it doesn’t matter anyway. We’re just,” I grope for a word, “friends.”

“Friends who go to breakfast.”

I roll my eyes. “Breakfast isn’t dating, Toby.”

“You should date him,” Ivy says. “You deserve to be happy, Maylie. You deserve to have someone good in your life, and if this man can give you that, then you should take it. And don’t give me all the bullshit about me and Toby being a priority. You’ve always made us a priority, but we’re not little kids anymore.”

“She’s right,” Toby agrees.

“I’m starting to feel picked on,” I mutter.

“The point is, you don’t know what you offer him because you don’t see what everyone else sees.” She takes my hands in hers, and I feel the tremble in her hands as she does. “You don’t see what a truly amazing person you are, Maylie. I said some of the most horrible things to you, and your instinct wasn’t to push me away or hurt me back. Your instinct was to fight for me. I love you so much.”

I pull her against me as she dissolves into sobs once again. “It’s okay. I don’t care what you said or whether you meant it or not. You’re my sister, and there’s no force on earth that could stop me from loving you.”

“I should never have dragged you and Toby into my mess.”

I stroke her hair like I used to when we first lost Mum and she struggled to sleep. “You don’t have to drag me. I’d wade in anyway.”

“Link’s going to be so pissed.”

He will, because he’s about to learn he’s lost control of Ivy, and that is going to make him so dangerous. “You don’t need to worry about him.”

I don’t know whether Mace will help us, but even if he doesn’t, I will kill Link with my bare hands before I let him near my sister ever again.