Page 74 of Mob Star

“They won’t be once they know my past.”

I slide my arm around her waist and pull her against me as I stop. “No one will blame you for your family. We have no leg to stand on. I wouldn’t let you meet them if I thought they’d be unkind.”

I give her a peck before we walk into the family room. Feck, there are a lot of us. Dillan and Mair are sharing Dillan’s favorite armchair. Sean and Shane are on a love seat while Cormac and Seamus have the sofa. I shoot my brothers a look, and they get up. I grin. Still got it.

“Thea, you’ve met everyone but Dillan.”

She walks over as Mair and Dillan stand and shakes his hand. Mair hesitates for a moment, then goes for it. Her hug sets Thea at ease. I don’t know that anyone else notices it. Maybe Mair feels it. But Thea shoots me a smile as she steps back.

“I know what you called me about, but Thea has to be back at the hospital in a few hours. She’s also exhausted. We need to talk to you. After that, Mair, could she use my room?”

“Of course.” Mair turns to Thea. “Would you like anything to eat or drink?”

“I’m all right. Thank you, though.”

I won’t press the issue, but I’m certain Thea must be hungry by now. She told me while we got dressed that she originally planned to go home, eat, sleep, and shower. She’s only done one of those.

“You know I’ll be hungry later.” I offer Mair a lopsided grin.

“Yes. All of you have hollow legs as Granny would say.” She rolls her eyes, then shoots Thea a conspiratorial wink. “You know where everything is. I’ll be in my office.”

With a kiss on the cheek for Dillan and a beleaguered sigh for the rest of us, she slips out. Normally, we’d meet in Dillan’s office. But the family room is more spacious. Having all of us in a smaller space is intimidating. Fortunately, our dads aren’t here. Add the three of them to the six of us, and it’s terrifying— and loud. She and I sit on the loveseat. I wrap my arm around her shoulders, but she doesn’t lean into me. Her hand rests lightly on my thigh, and I think she’s trying to appear confident and independent. It’s unnecessary, but I can appreciate the need.

The guys look at me, thankfully. I don’t want them all staring at Thea at once. I don’t want her to feel like I’ve put her on the spot by bringing her here. The best thing is for me to start.

“I saw Corey while I was up there. We had a chat.” Thea stiffens. “I found out Corey threw a brick through Thea’s window. Or— it’s more likely —he had someone throw it for him. Corey is Thea’s great-uncle through her dad’s side.”

Six sets of eyes dart to Thea before turning back to me.

“He’s causing problems for her family. He got her dad fired to extort him. He’s threatened Thea to force her dad’s hand.” I still haven’t told her about the background check and what the others already know about her family.

“He wants your parents to pay him to get your dad’s job back?” Cormac leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

“He wants my parents to take a loan from him. He knows the only reason to take a loan is because you don’t have the money you need. If you had the money, you wouldn’t go to someone like him. Despite being family, he’ll make the repayment terms impossible. My mom and dad know that, so they have no intention of taking a penny from him. My dad’ll find a new job if he has to way before taking Uncle Corey’s— help.”

She says the last word with such disgust.

“Corey wants to terrify you into convincing your parents to accept his offer.”

Sean is the quietest of us and the slowest to anger. But when he gets pissed, the universe knows his temper matches his red hair.

“They’ve said they’ll dip into their savings until my dad finds something else. I haven’t pressed the issue, but I’ll give them the money before they take funds from what needs to support them for probably twenty years after they retire. I’m single and only have rent and my student loans as my financial commitments. I can afford to pause my retirement savings to help them. I will not let them take a penny from Uncle Corey and suffer for it. My great-uncle is well connected with several unions, including the one my dad belongs to as a welder. He’ll make it exceptionally hard for my dad to find a new job, but Papa’s good at what he does. It isn’t impossible.”

I’m not offering to help yet because I don’t want to insult her parents since they don’t even know me. I don’t know if they know of me. I don’t want to make Thea feel uncomfortable by me swooping in with my fat bank account. But helping her parents helps Thea, and there’s no limit to what I’ll do for her. My expression reassures my family that I’m on top of it.

Dillan asks the question neither Thea nor I are eager to answer. “Why’s he coming after your dad now?”

Thea looks up at me, and I see her nerves threaten to overcome her, so I answer. “Thea grew up with Corey popping in and out of her life. Her dad stopped running with Corey and his gang before Thea was born. But he could never sever his ties entirely. When Thea was a teenager, men in the biker club started paying too much attention. She didn’t date any of them because her parents wouldn’t allow it. Once she understood who they were, she didn’t want to.”

Thea dives in. I wasn’t sure how much more I should say, but at the same time, I hate she’s the one telling them something so painful.

“My parents were okay with one guy giving me a ride to and from school until I got my license. He’d protected me when two guys closer to my age tried to hand me off to a group of men. When Elijah wanted more, I said no. When I said no, he got pissed. I wound up at their clubhouse because some friends of mine heard there was a cool place to party. Thinking back on it while I told Finn earlier, it wouldn’t surprise me if a member’s son didn’t plant the idea in one of my friends’ ears. It was horrible. I had pepper spray, and I used it. Uncle Corey showed up— likely planned —and made the men stay away. He let me call my dad, who came to get me. A couple guys tried to separate us and attack him. He killed both of them. My dad and I got out of there, and Uncle Corey mostly stayed away. But he issued an edict that once I was eighteen, I was the motorcycle club’s. Neither my parents nor I were going to let them turn me into a Sweet Butt, and I had no interest in becoming a citizen wife to any of them.”

“What’s that?” Shane speaks up, but I don’t think any of us know what it means.

“Sometimes a biker will legally marry a woman. They have a normal life away from the club. Kids and everything. She has nothing to do with it and stays out of the way. The biker might have an Ol’ Lady side piece. I think Uncle Corey assumed that’s what my mom would be. There isn’t a chance on God’s green earth my father would ever cheat on my mom. My dad was jumped out to avoid any of this. A lot of good it did him.”

Gang members are jumped in— often have the shite beaten out of them as an initiation —and if they’re allowed to leave, they often get jumped out— the shite beaten out of them again.

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