Sex & Mayhem 04 No Matter What (32 page)

“What do you
think chicks would dig? We should have photos of girls having fun
at the bar, and all that.” Blitz nodded with a serious expression,
as if they were discussing a business strategy.

Luca was about
to answer when he saw Grim’s crotch right above his laptop screen.
There was no mistaking that dick for anyone else’s. Worst of all,
Grim was now obscuring Luca’s view on the office, so he couldn’t
see Ghost.

“And that we
have gay members, so if there are some bi-curious hotties, they can
come over to me,” Grim said with a bright smile. He had that
square-jawed all-American look that didn’t go at all with the
creepiness of his presence.

Luca swallowed
and turned to look at Blitz. “I think girls having fun, playing
pool would work well. Women and children make everything more
approachable. Did you organize family cookouts? We could put on
those.”

“Yeah, Milk’s
old lady and Lucky organized a barbecue for some charity in the
summer,” Blitz said.

Grim raised his
eyebrows. “Wow, way to ignore me, you little fucker.”

Blitz groaned.
“Fuck off, Grim. He’s doing a job here, and he doesn’t want your
elephant dick. And we’re not gonna have fucking gay shit on our
website.”

“I... just
don’t want any flirting, okay?” asked Luca, looking into Grim’s
eyes. He didn’t want to be on the guy’s bad side even more than he
was already. At least this time he had someone sticking up for
him.

Grim leaned
down, putting his hands on his knees, and locked his eyes with
Luca’s. “You’ll know when I’m flirting.”

Luca bit the
inside of his cheek. “Just stop.”

Blitz rolled
his eyes. “Go wave your dick around elsewhere, we’re trying to work
here.”

Grim showed him
the middle finger. “Yeah, right. Work on getting more fresh pussy
to club parties,” he said, but did turn around and walked off.

Luca froze.
Ghost was gone from the office.

He rasped. “Did
you see Ghost?” he asked Blitz. “Where is he?”

Blitz looked
around without much interest. “Dunno. Gone to clean the goat shed?
Who knows.”

“I―” Luca’s
stomach sank, and it was as if all the hairs on his body stood up
at once. “Maybe you could write down all the things you’d like on
the website, and we’ll brainstorm it later?”

Blitz groaned.
“When?”

Luca saved his
work and closed the laptop. “In an hour or so? I need to talk to
him.”

“Okay.” Blitz
got up and walked off, leaving Luca feeling even more alone.

He rushed to
his feet and went down the corridor, listening to all the sounds
around. He’d recognize Ghost’s voice anywhere. It was so
unbelievably warm and soft he’d rub it all over his bare skin if he
could. Holding the computer to his chest like a shield and with his
mind oddly numb, Luca was restlessly checking every nook and cranny
of the clubhouse.

Priest stopped
him in the kitchen. “Hey there. How’s the website going?”

Luca backed
away against the wall, his heart beating like crazy. What was up
with him to be afraid of an elderly man who so far never treated
him anything but kindly? “Good. I’m gathering ideas. If there’s
anything you want, it would be perfect if you wrote it down for
me.”

Priest nodded,
his devilishly sharp eyebrows lowering above his eyes as he poured
himself some coffee. “About that. I might have an extra job for you
later on, if you’re up for the challenge. Ghost told me you do
hacking as well?” Priest put his palm on the table, his fingers
adorned with signets that could crush a man’s jaw.

Luca swallowed,
and his mind stopped at ‘Ghost’, so he nodded.

“Good, good.
There’s some shit going down soon and we’re gonna need all the
intel we can get. You wouldn’t want to see Ghost hurt, would
you?”

Luca clutched
the laptop, stopping to breathe. “What...?”

Priest snapped
his fingers in front of Luca’s face. “Kid, you’re not all there,
are you?”

“Why would he
be hurt?”

“Shit happens.
The more information we have, the better. We’ll talk about it when
he’s back.” Priest waved his hand dismissively.

Luca blinked,
stepping forward with the most pleasant expression he could muster.
“Where did he go? I was looking for him.”

“He’s gone to
deal with club business.”

Luca stared
into the slightly bloodshot eyes, unsure whether it was okay to
pry. “Do you know when he’ll be back?” he asked, suddenly very
aware that Ghost had never told him he was leaving.

“In a few
hours.” Priest frowned. “Just call him. What the hell? Do I look
like his secretary?” He shook his head and walked off.

Luca pressed
his back harder against the wall, alone in the kitchen, with the
background noise of Priest’s footsteps. He didn’t dare move for
several moments, but eventually made his way back to the bar, which
seemed like the safest place around. But even as Luca opened the
computer, he couldn’t focus until he sent Ghost a text message.
Waiting for an answer was agony, and it took a good ten minutes,
but Ghost finally texted back.

‘Sorry, had to
go on a run. I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t wait, just go home
with Lucky. He’ll be there soon. xx’

Luca stared at
the screen, curled up on the sofa farthest away from the exit. A
few hours could be a long time, and now that he was completely
alone, he was sorry for letting go of Blitz’s company.

‘Love you,’ he
texted back, feeling an unpleasant tingle around his eyes. He
wanted to say it to Ghost’s face, but since the incident at the
Rabid Hogs clubhouse, the words simply wouldn’t pass through his
mouth, even though he did feel them deep inside.

Every minute
without an answer was like another twist of an invisible knife in
Luca’s heart. At first, he stared at the clock, but then got
himself a beer and lost track of time, nestled on the sofa.

It was Lucky’s
voice that pulled him out of the stupor. “Hey! Heard you needed a
ride?”

It surprised
him so much he almost dropped the bottle he was holding. “Oh,
hey... that was quick,” he said, forcing a smile. Ghost still
hadn’t answered.

Lucky pushed
back some of his ridiculously pretty long hair. “I was on my way
anyway when Ghost asked me.”

Luca slowly got
to his feet. Did Lucky have a gun they could use in case of an
emergency? He couldn’t see any. “Oh? You know what he’s up to? He
didn’t tell me he’s leaving,” said Luca, watching the pretty face
in front of him for any indication Lucky was hiding something.

Lucky raised an
eyebrow. “Um… no. He just asked if I could pick you up when you’re
ready.”

Luca exhaled
and put the laptop in his bag. “Thanks. It’s a bit lonely here
today. Everyone’s busy with their own thing.”

“Yeah, I only
came round to bring Tooth some lunch,” Lucky said, but when his
smile widened, Luca was sure Tooth was approaching. Those two were
always so affectionate to one another, and no matter how much they
argued, they had each other’s backs.

Tooth patted
Luca’s back with his large hand, but moments later he was cupping
Lucky’s jaw as though it was the most precious thing in the
world.

“What are you
boys doing?” he asked.

“I heard you’d
be here till late, so I brought you some extra lunch. Don’t want
you eating that packaged shit.” Lucky turned around and wrapped his
arms around Tooth’s neck. They weren’t usually as physical in the
club, but there was no one but Luca around. He supposed as a gay
guy, he didn’t count.

Tooth smirked
and buried his nose in Lucky’s hair, with a low hum. “Good boy.
Your old man needs some taking care of, or he’ll get rusty by the
time you hit your thirties.”

Luca averted
his eyes, overlooked by the only other people in the room. Was
there something wrong with him that Ghost had started ignoring him,
too? Was he disgusted that Luca wanted to kill someone?

“I have to make
sure you leave everything to me.” Lucky gave Tooth a kiss and
pulled away to pass him a brown paper bag.

Tooth ruffled
Lucky’s perfect hair. “What is it?”

“It’s
sandwiches with fried bacon, and roasted chicken, and ham, and some
veggies.” Lucky grinned.

Maybe if Luca
learned to cook, Ghost would get close to him again? Was there
something simple he could do? Maybe Lucky could help him? Provide
some tips?

He looked away
when Tooth gave Lucky a kiss, but Lucky pulled him along moments
later. They were finally going home.

“Why are you
such a sourface?” Lucky asked and pulled on his hood as soon as
they walked out into the chilly air.

Luca followed
him, pulling the jacket tighter around himself. “I’ll be okay as
soon as Ghost’s back. Priest said he could be hurt, and I’m
worried.”

Lucky rolled
his eyes and entered the car. “Don’t listen to that. He’s just
being all morbid and shit.”

Luca stood at
the car door, unwilling to break the conversation. “But Ghost just
left, without telling me. He never does that.”

“Oh.” Lucky
started the car. “That’s crap. You should tell him what you think
about that,” he said as soon as they were both in.

Luca nodded and
played with his thumb. “Things have been tense since he was at that
clubhouse. Maybe he’s stressed.”

“When’s the
last time you blew him?” Lucky laughed out loud as they drove
through the gate.

Hearing that
stung so bad Luca was rendered speechless. He hugged the computer
and held his lips stapled together with his teeth.

Lucky frowned.
“Oh. That bad?”

Luca moved
uncomfortably. It was all in the TMI category, but who else could
he ask? Lucky’s advice had worked perfectly the last time. “Since
that night he just... he doesn’t talk about it. I don’t know.”

They drove
through the city in silence. “He wouldn’t have someone on the side.
He’s not like that. If he wanted to dump you, he would say it to
your face,” said Lucky eventually.

“What if he’s
too responsible to dump me?” whispered Luca, and he had to turn his
face away when his gaze blurred.

“Oh God. Stop
being so whiny. What’s the actual problem?”

Luca was
already sorry he’d started talking to Lucky about this. He couldn’t
tell him the truth about that night, and without it, there was no
way Lucky would understand.

“I don’t
know.”

“Get him a
tracker if you’re so worried about where he is.” Lucky pulled out a
padlock necklace from under his hoodie. “Tooth got me one.”

Oh God. That
was such a terrible idea. Extremely stalkery. “You think it would
help if I made him lunch?”

“Yeah, I’m sure
he’d like that. Who doesn’t enjoy getting some food made for
them?”

“I could make a
sandwich. He likes peanut butter and jelly a lot... and I could add
some fruit,” Luca said, watching Lucky for reactions. His sandwich
game needed to be top-notch.

Lucky sighed.
“You know, if there’s some serious problem between you two, you
won’t fix it with a sandwich…”

Luca nodded.
“But maybe he’ll actually talk to me.”

“I’ve seen you
two talk at home.”

“Yeah, but you
can talk and
talk
, you know.” Luca closed his eyes. His
thoughts were constantly with Ghost, and as horrible as it was,
some part of him believed the fucking tracker was an excellent
idea.

“I know.” Lucky
sighed. “You wanna go out or something? We could go look at some
used cars. I’m sure you’ll be able to afford one soon.”

Luca exhaled
and smiled at him. His first worry was that he didn’t want Ghost to
return to an empty home, but maybe a bit of time with someone else
could help him relax? “You’re a good friend. I would like that,
actually.”

Luca’s phone
buzzed the moment they pulled close to a retail park. ‘Love you
too’, Ghost answered and it was like a cooling balm to Luca’s
nerves.

Ghost:
I’ve got
this gap year now, and I was really tired with work at the
hospital, but now that I don’t have it, I feel so useless, like I
don’t know who I am anymore.

Zara:
Enjoy your
free time. It’s not like it’s gonna last forever ;)

Ghost:
I miss it
though :( I miss being needed, being important to people. I could
disappear tomorrow and no one would notice.

Zara:
I
would...

Chapter 18

‘Love you too,’
Ghost wrote to Luca once he parked in front of his parents’ house.
It was getting dark outside, and he was done hiding ammo around the
Rabid Hogs’ clubhouse in preparation for the raid, yet he wasn’t
feeling like going home just yet. The atmosphere between him and
Luca seemed tense, even though they fell asleep in each other’s
arms like they always had. Something had changed that night on the
rooftop, and he didn’t know how to cross that invisible barrier.
Should he really have let Luca kill Antonio? And in front of other
people at that? What if Luca somehow ended up in prison because of
it? Or worse. Dead?

Don was still
at the clubhouse, and seeing the light in the living room of his
house made Ghost feel slightly melancholic. It reminded him of the
times when he visited his parents during college, back when he had
a future ahead of him. Things had changed since then, but his
mother was probably eating leftovers from the café she worked at
and watching some trash TV. Like she did every night.

He still had
the spare key, so he let himself in. It had been a good few weeks
since he joined the club, so he hoped he could have a more honest
chat with her. Especially with how things developed with Luca. It
was killing Ghost that so few people knew about the relationship
that was so important to him.