Page 5 of Rough Return

Max chuckled. “It’ll take more than a pussy like Grier to do me in, baby.” He covered her hand on the rail with his. “Go on home and relax. I’ll see you in the morning.”

She kissed his cheek then turned to Grier. “I’ll be waiting outside. You try escaping and Hamilton is gonna finish you off. Clear?” Grier nodded, and she glanced back at her father. “Don’t wear yourself out, Daddy, okay?”

It would have been a touching moment if not for the pain radiating through Grier’s entire body. Visions of an agonizing death flashed through his mind. Didn’t take a genius to figure out this wasn’t going to be a good day.

Max waited until the door latch clicked behind her and they were alone before he spoke. “I want to make you a deal.”

“Okay.” Deals with Max only ever benefited Max, but unless he could figure an escape plan that didn’t end with his face at the end of Hamilton’s boot, he didn’t have another choice.

“I want you…” He breathed out slowly then dissolved into a coughing fit. His chest rattled, and his face faded to an almost ghostly white, but he held up a hand to stop the nurse from injecting medicine into his IV tube. “I want you to marry Fiona.” He closed his eyes even as Grier’s brain screamed at him to object. Loudly. “Take over for me.”

“Max, no. You’re gonna…” Pull through? Not likely. “Max, she’ll never agree.”

“She will.”

“I betrayed you.” Plus, he had no intention of marrying anyone. Ever. No matter how badly he wanted to taste her skin, feel her hair brush over his chest, touch her in ways he’d only ever dreamed of.

“I’ll call off the contract.”

“Max…” Marry Fiona. Take over for Max. Insanity. Pure and simple insanity. “She’ll never…”

“If you don’t marry her, I’m going to double the price on your head.”

This had to be a joke. “Does she even know?”

“She knows this all belongs to her. But she’s young and reckless. The boys will need time to learn to follow her.” He gasped and covered his face with an oxygen mask. Grier waited, his mind spinning, his guts in his throat. “You can help her. She needs you.”

Oh, the flawed logic. Of course, it was probably the only thing keeping him alive. “What makes you think anyone, her or them, will listen to me?” He should’ve kept his mouth shut and agreed, let the old man die thinking he would care for Fiona, then escape. But maybe his mouth knew something his brain didn’t.

“They’ll follow you because Hamilton will follow you. He gave me his word. And his word means something.” He tossed the oxygen mask to the side and pulled himself higher in the bed. This was the Max he knew. Calculating. Smart. Always with some plan. “Since you first came around, asking to be a demon, I knew you had something. And she saw it too. Pined over you when you ran out. She’ll do this.”

Grier had an aching jaw that said Hamilton wasn’t completely on board with the follow-Grier plan. “Why not just have Hamilton marry her?”

Max coughed again and held his chest before he shook his head. “Because I don’t want ugly grandchildren.”

Fair point. Hamilton was a beast. Over-sized. Crooked nose. Buck-teeth. He’d always reminded Grier of a gargoyle. And even Fiona’s beauty wouldn’t offset the damage Hamilton’s genetics would inflict on the family tree. But no fucking way was that Grier’s problem. And not much chance Max would live long enough to see grandchildren.

“Max…”

“Marry her or Hamilton is going to finish you off. You have until tomorrow to decide. Now get out.”

Just as he’d suspected. Today was not a good day.

Fiona didn’t want to marry Grier. She wanted to screw him and screw him over then send him back to his little island.

“It’s the only way Bruce won’t take over the club, Fi.” Hamilton handed her a beer then folded his body to sit next to her. “If you don’t marry Grier, Max is gonna have to name Bruce as his successor.”

“It’s bullshit.” But true. Man’s world. Man’s rules. And no way any of those hard-ass bikers would follow her. Not without a man beside her. And Grier, a weak traitor she could control through Hamilton, was at least easy on the eyes. And if not Grier, she could end up with Nate or One-eye Jim. Neither of whom had been chosen as Demons because of their good looks or sparkling personalities.

Hamilton looked at her and smiled. It transformed his entire face. Gone were the hard lines and usual scowl, replaced by a softness he saved for her. “It’s what Max wants.” He squeezed her shoulder. “Dying wish and all.”

Oh, not fair. “I know.”

“So, the way I figure, you marry the traitor, punish him every day until Max dies, get the boys on your side, then divorce him, and I’ll make him disappear.” His grin spread across his face. “You know how much I want to make him disappear.”

She laughed for a second because he expected her to hate Grier, which she did, but maybe not as much as she should. “Yeah, but who’s going to want him riding with them? The only thing we can trust him to do is tuck his dick between his legs and run.”

Hamilton nodded. “Why’d you agree to bring him back then?”