a favor to me,” Rebel said, “but they’re not going to run any DNA tests on our gut feeling alone. We need something more substantial. Right now, it just looks like things are missing—we don’t have much that makes it seem like a break-in at all.”
“But it is,” Blade growled. “We all know that.”
“Yeah, we know that,” Logan agreed. “But we can’t get the cops to just believe us. They need something concrete.”
I cringed and rubbed my forehead, exasperated. This wasn’t the news I wanted to hear—I’d been hoping they’d bag Xavier with no problems. But if he’d been able to get into the motel undetected, he obviously knew what he was doing. Of course he had an alibi. He probably had his next attack already planned.
“We obviously haven’t heard the last of this guy,” I said. “Until he’s in custody with the cops, we’re not taking any chances with Mal’s—or anyone’s—safety.”
“I agree,” Blade said, and then gave me a curious look. I flushed slightly. Rarely did I make outbursts like that—with slightly more temper than the guys were used to hearing from me. “If anything, we’re going to tighten security even more.”
Mal nodded gratefully. I stepped a little closer to him, almost unconsciously, and set my hand at his lower back. He relaxed a little under the touch, and shot me a smile—soft, small, and private. A smile I was getting really addicted to seeing.
Then he bit his lower lip and nodded toward the kitchen island, where all the guys were sitting silently, staring at us. I dropped my hand but didn’t step away from Mal; clearly that touch was a little more intimate than the guys were used to seeing from us. But at the same time, I didn’t want to hide, either.
Gunnar raised his eyebrows and elbowed Raven. “Dude, your dad is banging the president.”
“Gunnar!” Raven squawked. “Dante, admonish him!”
Dante tilted his head to the side a little, and I recognized Mal in the gesture, which made me smile a little. “I don’t know,” Dante said. “Gunnar might be onto something.”
“Guys, guys,” Mal said, raising his hands before the room could devolve into chaos. “Let’s get one thing clear. We didn’t bang.” He caught my eye and winked at me.
“Right,” I said, grinning as I realized what he was getting at. “Of course we didn’t bang. Maybe there were some wandering hands—”
“—wandering mouths, too,” Mal noted.
“And maybe we kept each other up pretty late.”
“Way too late,” Mal said. “So first, what happened—”
“No, no, no, no, no!” Dante plugged his ears. “I’m good, I’m good!”
Raven did the same, clapping his hands over his ears and shrieking his refusal of details, but he was beaming at the same time.
“I knew it!” Gunnar said, standing up. “Blade, pay up!”
“We didn’t bet anything!” Blade said.
The room dissolved into laughter, and then Joker came thumping down the stairs half-dressed and rolling his eyes. “What the hell is going on down here?” he asked. “I’m not supposed to be awake for, like, two more hours!”
That just made everyone laugh harder. I swung my arm around Mal’s shoulder and tugged him close to my side, just because I could. From where he was seated at the kitchen island, Raven caught my eye. A huge grin spread across his face, and he nodded, his blue eyes glittering with happiness as he watched Mal and me.
I hadn’t been worried about it, but I was still relieved to see all the guys take this change in our relationship in stride. No one even seemed shocked, honestly. I assumed they understood this the same way that I did—that it was a natural extension of our decades of friendship, at a time when we both needed a little extra support.
Mal wrapped his arm around my waist, under my jacket so he could press his fingers possessively into the curve of my waist. Whatever was going with Xavier, we’d get it all under control. I’d take care of the club—I’d take care of Mal. It was what I did best, and I wasn’t going to let him down now.
17
Mal
It’d been a couple of weeks since the break-in at the motel, and I still hadn’t heard anything from Xavier. The silence made me nervous, but it wasn’t keeping me up at night. And good thing, too, especially on early mornings like this, when Dante needed an extra hand at the bakery.
I rolled the bagel dough into a cylinder, then curled it around my knuckles to form the ring shape, before rolling