Page 26 of Living Without

Looking at the man, Mason again ran over what he knew of Gypsy, hoping like hell he’d made the right choice for this particular project. He owed Melissa, and the need was dire.Can’t get it wrong, he thought.No choice but to get it right.

Gypsy had been in the Rebels for years and ran one of their local businesses, Marie’s. A restaurant with a thriving bar, as well as a fledgling musical venue side of things. The music had been Gypsy’s idea and proven to be lucrative for the club. However, his business acumen wasn’t the reason Mason had selected him for this project. Those reasons were much farther in Gypsy’s past.

Douglas Tatum had been a cop, once, working under a crooked chief in a Chicago suburb. Tatum hated the look-the-other-way mentality required by the dishonesty and hadn’t liked having his hands tied when it came to setting wrongs to right. He’d eventually had enough of both and resigned his position.

Without much of a plan, he had set about a one-man campaign of retribution against the crooked cops. Over time, Tatum had managed the impossible, finding a way to work both within and outside the law to bring the corruption to a halt. It had taken years, but eventually, Tatum had been satisfied with his efforts. That was when Mason snapped him up, easing him into the life gradually, wanting him to see that while not everything the Rebels did was a Robin Hood act, there was room for honor and rightness in the club.

Now, Gypsy was his go-to guy when there was an injustice that needed investigating, because once he sank his teeth into a problem, he didn’t let go until it was solved. Exactly what Iss needed.

“Brother, you got a passport?” Gypsy’s head jerked back, but he nodded, silent even as his eyes brightened. He was interested.That’s good, Mason thought,since I’m about to throw him to the wolves.“Who can handle Marie’s if I need you to take a run?”

Tipping his head to one side, Gypsy reached up and rubbed across his jaw. “Tequila’s done it for me before. DeeDee can step in, too.” He mentioned another full-patch member, as well as a woman who’d been with the Rebels nearly since the club was chartered. Both were good choices for a temporary replacement. “They’ve each done a few days here and there as I needed. What’s up, Prez?”

“You think between them they could handle a few weeks?” Might as well set the expectations early, in case it took that long.

“Probably,” Gypsy said immediately, tipping his head to the other side. “Where am I headed?”

“Australia.”

* * * *

MELISSA

Walking from the room, where I’d asked to have some privacy while I talked to Mason, my heart pounded in my chest. The Hawks men had shown me the photo of Nary. My teeth ground together just thinking of it. She had a swollen redness to her cheekbone, a cut to her lips, and wore a silk nighty. The man who stood behind her had an evil look in his eyes and a smirk on his face. He had one hand on her bare breast, the other cupping her sex. Bile had threatened to come up. Nary was living a nightmare my mother had, in a roundabout way. And even though I didn’t know Nary, I knew my decision was right. Hell, even before I’d seen the photo, to when Julian called me, I knew I couldn’t turn my back on her. Nary meant a lot to everyone there. So I was glad Mason had come through for me. Though, I knew he would. Not only because he was a good man when it came down to it, but because he knew I hated any of that sort of shit, like he did. Women being treated badly, hurt my heart, and burned my belly. I was brought up with a mum who took beating after beating to protect me from my father. She was alsotakenwhen she hadn’t wanted it.

Before Myron, Mason’s tech guy, came into his crew, Mason had found me. My name had got out, even over to America. I was a computer whiz, but also a thief who could steal anything from anywhere. It was my only way to make easy money while I’d finished schooling. Davis Mason had used my skills once and said I could either take his money or call in a debt anytime I wanted.

My debt was called in.

Looking up as I entered the main room, I schooled my features and said, “He’s gonna get his man onto it, so he can buy her. Then he’s sending one of his crew here to make the exchange.”

“Shit, Talon. You sure we wanna owe Rebel Wayfarers?” Dallas asked. Before the call, I’d been introduced to them all, and Dallas was the one who’d got my panties in a twist right off the bat. I wasn’t sure yet if it was a good or bad twist. He’d also been the only one to know who Mason and his club were. Had heard about them from his time in the army.

“We’re doing it,” Saxon bit out. Poor Saxon would do anything to find his woman. The feral glint in his eyes told me that.

“I agree,” Julian piped in. “If my girl trusts these men, we can trust her judgement.”

My heart flew. Julian had always had my back. God how I’d missed him being my neighbour. Not that I lived in the same place and hadn’t for a long time. Back in the day, Julian had a knack to always make me smile, laugh, and enjoy life. I was so happy for him when he’d found Matthew and got rid of his poisonous parents from his life. Because if he hadn’t, I would have done something eventually. I had the means to. Hell, some days I wished I hadn’t listened to him when he’d asked me to leave it alone. Didn’t matter though; he was finally happy and living the life he should have always been.

“If they can find her faster, then we chance owing Mason,” Talon said. He stood in the middle of the room with his arms crossed over his chest, a vibe from his tense body, which said no one should question him.

“When does his guy arrive?” Stoke asked. He was the father to Nary and I could see the sorrow behind his eyes. Vengeance was also there burning bright in not only his eyes, but most of those around me.

“In a couple of days. I’ve never met him, but he’s cool if he’s a part of Rebels. He’ll probably get here before Mason’s tech guy can get the information for Mason to make the call.”

“How we gonna pull off an American guy buying Nary and then makin’ out he’s somehow magically gonna get her back to the US without her fighting him?” Dodge questioned.

“She’d do it willingly if the guy pretended to threaten her family,” Griz suggested.

“When Mason sets the deal or if his guy… Do you know his name?” Killer asked me.

“Mason said it was Gypsy.”

“Get either of them to tell Baxter he’ll have his mate make up a fake passport.”

A phone rang and we all looked to Dodge. He pulled it out the back of his jeans pocket and answered, “Yo. What? Fucking hell.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and said to Talon, “Two of our strip joints are on fire.”

“Decoy, something to keep us busy,” Saxon clipped.

---