Club Ties (10 page)

“He is a sick fuck. I hope I meet him some day.”

There was no admiration in his tone. The anger was still there, intertwined with something darker. She didn’t need to read Mox’s thoughts to know that he wanted to hurt Rocco for what he had done to her. A small thrill ran through her. While she fervently prayed the two never met, Mox’s protective streak made her feel so safe.

“Do-do they bother you?” she asked, keeping her eyes on her fingers tracing his defined abdominals and praying.

He didn’t answer right away and she held her breath.

“They make me want to kill the bastard that hurt you, but they don’t take away from how beautiful you are,” he said, brushing his lips over her forehead.

“I’m not beautiful.”

“You should see you through my eyes.”

Eva couldn’t hold back a shy giggle.

“You’re such a sweet talker. How did the women in Trinity let you get away?”

“I guess they were too busy eyeing the crown prince.”

“You’re so much sexier than Rhys.”

“Now who’s the sweet talker?”

She shifted to rest her chin on his chest and to look up at him.

“You really don’t see it, do you?” She shook her head at the doubt in his eyes. “With most guys a fraction as good looking as you, I would think it false modesty, but you really don’t know, and that is even sexier. Let me tell you a secret. You’re built like the proverbial brick shithouse, and this mug you and your father call ugly is chiseled and rugged. There is nothing soft about your exterior, and yet you’re the cuddliest teddy bear under it all. You’re the complete package.”

“You say you like my package?” he teased, the color shading the top of his ears, confirming that he was deflecting with humor as usual.

“The total package and yet still a pig like most men,” Eva said, playing along with him and shaking her head in mock lament.

He shrugged unapologetically and rocked to his feet, offering her a hand.

“Let’s get cleaned up.”

The banter had revived the sense of playfulness between them, and she couldn’t resist the muscular swell of his glutes as she followed him into the bathroom. He looked over his shoulder as she palmed each cheek and gave them a little squeeze. She grinned.

“Zeke said if you warm a woman’s ass and assure she’ll walk bowlegged the next day, it’s a reminder to behave herself. I might have to work on my technique,” he said dryly.

“I was behaving. I was worshipping,” Eva said innocently.

A huge grin split Mox’s broad face. “That’s my girl. I’m going to give you that one,” he said, pulling her around in front of him to grope her assets. “You may be more like Gin then I gave you credit for.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Gin’s always been my vision of the perfect woman. So, no, it’s not a bad thing. But she doesn’t have your dimples.”

Eva giggled as he nuzzled her cheek.

“I’m glad you like them. I’ve always thought they made me look like a little girl.”

“They’re adorable.”

“Why do you call them Zeke and Ginny?” she asked as he started the shower.

Mox shrugged. “It’s a respect thing, both for them and for Rhys and Garrett. That’s their parents.”

“How old were you when they adopted you?”

“It wasn’t really an adoption. I hung around with Rhys so much Ginny just took me in when I was nine. I was there all the time. Zeke and Ginny fed me. My parents didn’t give a shit. My mother was too busy spreading her legs for anything with a dollar and a dick. Her husband spent most of his time in the bottom of a bottle. She said he was my father, but all you had to do was look at us to know that wasn’t true. We didn’t find out until this summer that Zeke is actually my father.” 

Eva stepped into the shower stall at his nudge, but couldn’t help gaping up at him.

“How could you not know that, or at least suspect?”

Mox tilted his face up to the spray. He was silent for a moment and then slowly turned and bowed his head to let the water beat on the back of his neck. His voice was hollow when he spoke, as if he were recounting someone else’s story.

“I guess when you sometimes sleep with more than one man in a day, let alone a week, it makes it a little more difficult. The funny thing is that everyone has commented, at one time or another, that I look more like Zeke than Rhys does. Rhys gets his pretty-boy looks from Ginny’s side of the family. I guess he looks a lot like her brother did. No one took it seriously because Zeke can’t stand Flo and Ginny fucking hates her. No one thought Zeke would sleep with the town whore while Gin was pregnant.”

“Flo is your mom?” Eva asked, trying to put the pieces together. Her stomach churned at the nod of his head. She couldn’t imagine how Ginny had felt finding out. Her love for Zeke seemed so strong. Mox opened his eyes and gave her a wry smile. She knew the questions had to be all over her face. His life was like a train wreck.

“Zeke claims to have no memory of it. I’d block it out if I slept with that bitch too. Flo admits that he was shit faced drunk, passed out at a party and she climbed aboard. Ginny says alcohol sometimes gives Zeke stamina instead of the opposite, so I guess it’s possible.”

“They’re really open about sex, aren’t they?”

“Yeah. They’re really passionate and neither of them is shy. Some parents treat it like something dirty, not to be discussed, but Zeke and Gin both have always been open and honest about it.”

“She seems to love him,” Eva said softly.

“She does,” Mox said, dropping a dollop of shampoo in his palm before slowly starting to wash her hair. He didn’t meet her eye when he spoke, concentrating on her long tresses. “It about killed her when she found out I was Zeke’s. She’s got some weird belief that it’s a man’s world. She lets Zeke be Zeke as long as it doesn’t show up on her doorstep. I showed up on her doorstep and never left. How do you think it feels to have the entire town know she’s been raising her husband’s bastard and didn’t know it? I think it would’ve been easier if it had been anyone other than Flo. Ginny takes being a mother real seriously, and she hates Flo for the way she treated me. Ginny treats me like I’m one of her own. I was worried when she found out that she wouldn’t want anything to do with me anymore, but she said we were the only ones it didn’t change things for. She loves me for me, and she doesn’t care who brought me into this world—I’m hers.”

Tears joined the water on Eva’s cheeks. She didn’t know what to say to that. She understood Ginny’s theory. It was a man’s world and a woman just had to find her place in it. The time with Mox had her praying she’d found her place. “She’s amazing.”

“She is. I’d do anything for her.”

The conviction in his voice sent a little chill down her spine and a twinge to her heart. Would she ever inspire that kind of devotion?

Chapter ~ 10

She knew she looked lewd, sprawled over a mound of pillows in the center of their king size bed, but Eva couldn’t find the strength to move. She smiled into the comforter. Mox stopped at the foot of the bed, fresh from the shower. She yelped when he gave her ass a hearty smack, even though she’d been anticipating it.

“If you’re going to keep seducing me like this, we really need to talk about birth control,” he said with a chuckle.

“I’m on the shot,” she assured him with a yawn.

He frowned, rubbing the top of his head. “I don’t know much about it. How long does the shot last?”

She smiled. He was adorable.

“I need them every twelve weeks. I just got one two weeks ago, so I’m free to seduce you to my heart’s content.”

He gave her a lecherous eyebrow waggle and dug a shirt out of the dresser drawer.   

“Are you going to be a good girl today?”

“Yes, sir,” she said, still smiling.

“Good. I don’t want you running away.”

Eva rolled over at the serious tone creeping into their morning play. She chose her next words carefully. “I like it here with you.”

His head cocked to the side, pale eyes narrowing slightly. She wasn’t expecting his one word reply.

“Why?”

“Why? Because you treat me like a princess, and the sex is amazing.”

Mox snorted in disbelief.

“I haven’t found a woman yet that more than tolerates me in bed. Amazing might be pushing it.”

Eva bit her lip at the bitterness in his voice. Rocco was the extent of her experience. Was she missing something? What were other women looking for? Foreplay with Rocco had always been one-sided. Mox had already explored more of her body than the Italian ever had. Where Mox had unintentionally caused her pain in an act of passion, Rocco was cruel, downright sadistic at times. She shook her head and shrugged softly. “It takes two. Maybe they weren’t right for you.”

The corner of his lips twitched as he pulled on work clothes. “I’m the common denominator.”

“You told me I didn’t deserve to be treated that way. Why do you?”

Mox paused with his t-shirt half on. He stared at her for a moment, and she wondered if she’d pushed him too far. Gathering her courage, she scooted off the bed and reached up to help him with the shirt. He grinned when she rolled it down over his chest. Smoothing the material, she smiled back at him and took her best shot.

“You’re a sweet and sexy man. You deserve a woman that realizes how good she has it with you. I’m going to do my damnedest to be that woman.”

His hand came up to cup her cheek as he searched her face. His thumb traced over her bottom lip before he lowered his head and kissed her thoroughly.

“I’m going to hold you to that.” 

Eva slammed the refrigerator door with a petulant sigh. Where the hell was it? She’d searched the cupboards top to bottom. What was meatloaf without onion? She knew she’d bought one. Blowing a rogue strand of hair out of her face, she leaned against the island. She’d already started mixing the meat and eggs. She didn’t have a choice. If she waited until Mox got home, dinner would be late. After the previous day’s fuckups, that wasn’t going to fly.

Ginny had mentioned that there was a small grocery store right here in town. Trinity Falls wasn’t that big. Surely it was within walking distance. She bit her lip. Shoving off the island, she reluctantly moved to the large window in the living room. She slipped her fingers between the wood slats and peeked out.

Fear tightened in her chest making it difficult to breathe. The street was quiet. The thought of going out alone terrified her. He would kill her this time. Guilt gnawed at her. What was the chance Rocco would look for her in tiny Trinity Falls? Was she putting Mox and his family in danger?

She closed her eyes, softly thudding her forehead against the window casing. The little voice in her head screamed to run. Shaking her head, she forced her body into motion. Putting the mixing bowl in the fridge, she picked up her purse. A small part of her prayed Mox had changed his mind and taken his change back. He hadn’t.

She smoothed the crumpled bills in her hand. It was only ten dollars, but there had been times Rocco had emptied her purse to the last penny. He’d been paranoid that she’d leave him. She smirked. Obviously not all paranoia is unfounded. Tucking the money back unto her small purse, she pulled on boots and the classic navy pea coat Ginny had convinced her to buy.

Her hand was on the door handle when she heard footsteps on the stairs. Her heart pounded. The tread wasn’t heavy enough to be Mox, or even Rhys. Backing away, she looked for a place to hide. The bang of the steel door at the bottom spurred her into motion. She ran.

Slipping inside the utility room closet, she burrowed behind Mox’s heavy Carhartt overalls. She strained for the slightest sound. Her heart sounded unnaturally loud in the small space. She held her breath.

“Eva?”

She nearly cried at the husky female voice. Ginny. Scrambling out of her hiding space, she met the other woman in the kitchen.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Hi,” Eva said in a rush, unable to meet Ginny’s questioning stare.

“I scared you.”

It wasn’t a question, but Eva nodded.

“I’m sorry. I heard footsteps and I just…”

“I understand. I’m sorry. We’ll have to get you a phone so I can call ahead or just use the buzzer like normal people. Come here.”

Eva sank into the comforting hug, clinging to Ginny for a long moment. Drawing back, she offered her a shaky smile.

“You don’t have to call first. You’re their mother, and you own the place.”

“True or not, I know what it feels like to be afraid in your own home.”

“You don’t look like you’re afraid of anything,” Eva said shyly.

“That’s years of perfecting a mask, honey. My earliest memory is hiding under my bed, listening to my father beat the hell out of my mom. Even after twenty years with Zeke, there’re still things that make me want to hide.”

The pain she’d glimpsed in Ginny’s eyes the first night was back. Under the tough exterior of this woman was a vulnerability that made Eva feel like she truly did understand.

“I told Mox I want to be you when I grow up,” she said with a giggle, hoping to break the tension. It worked. Ginny laughed.

“Honey, as beautiful and classy as you are, I think you can aspire to something a little more.”

“I would kill for cheekbones like yours. You’re stunning, and maybe more importantly, Mox thinks you’re the perfect woman.”

“You’re a hell of an ego stroke, baby girl. If you suck up to my boy that well, we’re going to get along great,” Ginny said, giving her a wink and a saucy pat on the cheek.

“I’m trying. The man treats me like a princess.”

“They get that from their father. There is no doubt Zeke is king in our household, but as gruff as he is, he treats me like a queen. I should’ve let him toughen up our oldest one a bit. He’s taken it a step too far and has one that walks all over him.”

“Rhys has a girlfriend?”

Ginny rolled her eyes. “He has a nasty skank that’s been attached to his dick since high school.”

It took Eva a moment to realize her mouth was hanging open. Snapping it shut, she blushed and shook her head. She had no idea what the girl had done to make Ginny hate her so bad, but she prayed she never elicited such a venomous response from the woman Mox loved above all others.