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“Okay, so what else has changed since we’ve been gone?” Matt asks after we toss our duffels into the trunk. “You have a new name and a badass car, and John’s apparently a biker who could snap the neck of the Devil.” He snaps his fingers. “Oh, and the two of you haveshared a bed or twodoing whatever work it is that you’ve been doing. Does that cover it, or are there more surprises awaiting us?”
Jezebel and John exchange a look. Then John lifts his hands and forever changes the course of our lives.
“How do you feel about the seven deadly sins?”
Five years later…
“How ya doing over there?”
Mark has been sulking since we left the Saints Purgatory MC clubhouse, not that I blame him. I’d be pissed too. His brother, Paul, —or Malice as everyone else called him—had no right to come at Mark like he did.
Granted, we just showed up unannounced, but we did save that chick and Soul from that fire. Maybe we should’ve called ahead, but it’s not like we knew how to contact Malice. Mark has been looking for his brother for years, and he happened to stumble across some information about where the man was living. After some more digging, we managed to link Malice to a bar called Purgatory, so we hit the road.
Some fucking reunion that turned out to be.
It’s not my place to get involved, but Mark has been there for me since that long ago night in the parking lot at The Nightly Habit. He’s seen my highs and my lows. And he’s never once turned his back on me, so I won’t turn my back on him.
“He’s a fucking asshole!” Mark shouts and smashes his fist into Stella’s dashboard.
“What the fuck, Mark? Stella didn’t do anything to you.”
“Sorry,” he mumbles.
“Don’t apologize to me. Apologize to Stella,” I demand. “You hurt her feelings.”
His mouth drops open, and he stares at me like I’ve grown two heads. “Are you serious right now?”
“Yep. You know how I feel about her.”
“You realize she’s just a vehicle, right?”
“Shush! She’ll hear you.” I stroke the steering wheel and coo, “Don’t worry baby, I won’t let the mean moody man hurt you.”
“Whatever.” Mark’s eyes roll but he pats the dashboard mockingly. “Sorry, Stella. But your owner is psychotic if she thinks you actually have feelings.”
I swing my fist out and punch his arm. In true Mark fashion, he shrugs it off like I’m an annoying fly that landed on him and shoots me a lopsided grin. For any other woman, that smile would probably drop their panties but for me, it does nothing. Mark is the brother I never had and my best friend.
Giggling, I think about the one and only time he kissed me. My dad had a mild heart attack and I hightailed it back to Wisconsin with Mark in tow. After seeing my dad lying in bed, frailer than I’d ever seen him, I broke down in Mark’s arms. He held me together, and when I looked up at him to tell him thanks for being there, he leaned down and planted his lips right on mine. Before I could push him away, he dropped his arms and stepped back.
“Oh gross.” Mark gags. “That’s like kissing my sister.”
I laugh, but wipe my mouth off, feeling equally disgusted. “You have a sister?”
“No, just a brother. If I had a sister, I wouldn’t kiss her like that.” He screws up his nose. “Scratch that. I wouldn’t kiss her at all.”
“Good to know… Wait, you have a brother?”
“Yeah.”
Up to that point, Mark had never talked about his past, and I was shocked when he offered that information. Although I’m positive it was because we were both caught off guard by him trying to kiss me. We’d only been traveling together for six weeks when I got the call about my dad, so I hadn’t really tried to pry into his life. I figured he’d tell me when he was ready, but since he opened the door, I decided it was my chance to ask a question or two.
“Where’s your brother? What’s his name?”
“Fuck if I know. And Paul.” Mark crosses his arms over his chest. “Haven’t seen him since I was fourteen.”
His body language screamed ‘not talking about this’ so I dropped the subject after that.
“What’s so funny?” Mark asks, but when he throws his hands up in annoyance, I know he’s put it together. “Oh, fuck… I kissed you one time. One freaking time! It was a mistake. Let it go.”
