“At the bar.”
“More like under it,” Jack rumbled in his low voice. The big guy looked worried. I was worried now too. Mac never lost control.
I texted Molly quickly to check in with the girls and headed inside. The moment I set foot in the door, I could tell something was wrong. Bad mojo filled the clubhouse. The place was full but quiet and everyone was steering clear of the hunched-over form leaning against the bar like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.
Except our band of brothers, of course.
Whiskey and Donnie flanked Mac on either side but gave him a little space. Kyle, Nick, and Drake were all behind the bar, serving a drink now and then but mostly standing guard. Everyone was looking at Mac. He lifted his head and downed a shot then roared for another when Kyle didn’t get him a refill fast enough.
Yeah, Mac was being loud. Really fucking loud and belligerent. Hell had indeed frozen over.
“Goddamn.” I whistled under my breath before heading over.
“What’s up, guys?” I asked brightly. They all glared at me. Mac didn’t even turn around. I cleared my throat and took a spot at the bar. Whiskey slapped my back and gave me his spot. He knew I couldn’t see around him anyway. Everyone looked at me expectantly, other than Mac.
“Hey, man, you don’t look so good.”
He grunted in agreement but continued staring into space like an astronaut with a leak in his space suit. I slapped his back.
“Give it time.”
“You didn’t see the way she looked at me,” he growled.
I exchanged a look with Donnie who looked worried. Really worried. I cleared my throat again.
“Drinking won’t solve anything.”
Mac laughed. A laugh that chilled me to my core. He sounded hopeless. Miserable. He sounded empty.
“She’s into you. I can tell. She told the girls…”
Everyone turned to look at me, eyes wide. Donnie shook his head frantically. But it was too late.
“What?” Mac asked hoarsely.
“She thought she was… falling in love with you.”
He stared at me as I realized my mistake.
“That was before.” He did another shot and held his hand out for the bottle. Kyle frowned and tried to just hand him another shot, but Mac practically dove across the bar to grab the bottle by the neck. Mac poured himself another shot and cradled the bottle in his other arm. His non-drinking arm. “She thinks I’m scum. She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“She’s a good person. Too good for me.”
“No way, man. You are the best,” Donnie said quickly. The rest of us agreed. Loudly.
“She’s afraid of me.”
“I doubt that.”
Everyone looked behind me. I turned to see Lucky striding in, waving me over. Donnie followed as Whiskey slid in to make sure Mac didn’t fall on his ass.
“How bad is it?”
Lucky shook his head.
“I’m not sure yet. Angel knows… she knows that Mac loves her. I told her he did.”
“He does,” Donnie said, nodding.
“And he trusts her.”
“He does.”
Lucky took a deep breath.
“My Angel is going to tell her tonight.” He looked at us. “Everything.”
We exchanged a glance. Kirsten was putting herself at a major risk by doing that. Even though there was no body, she’d killed a man. And we’d helped her cover it up.
“Wow,” I breathed. “That’s huge.”
“We talked about it. She knows Suzanna will get it. She wants her to know the Margarellis are good guys. And Mac is too.”
“We protect our own. But if Suzanna freaks out…”
“Then nothing. There’s no evidence. And it’s not like we’d hurt her to shut her up.”
“Of course not,” Donnie said. “They might try and kidnap her or something, though.”
We all exchanged a glance.
“Maybe she can give her the Cliff’s Notes,” I offered lamely.
“No, man. This is all or nothing. If Angel doesn’t do this… I think she’s going to leave.”
“Shit.” Donnie hissed through his teeth. “It was bad?”
Lucky nodded solemnly.
“I picked her up. She looked shook. And not in a good way.”
“All right. Did you tell Dev and Jack?”
“He said it’s her call. The rest of us are implicated, but it was my Angel who…”
He looked pale just thinking about it. I was surprised he was letting her tell Suzanna what had gone down. I had to ask.
“Are you okay with this, man?”
“No. Fuck no. But Angel wouldn’t listen. She said Suzanna was a good person.”
I exchanged a look with Donnie.
“I keep hearing that. I hope it’s true.”
Donnie shook his head.
“Doesn’t matter if it’s true. It just matters if she’s a black and white kind of person.”
We both nodded.
“Because this shit is all kinds of shades of gray.”
“‘Ain’t that the truth,” I said, slapping his back. “Come on, let’s go watch Mac drink himself to sleep.”
Chapter 38
Kaylie
“Is she okay?”
“Definitely not,” I said to Molly, who had just walked in. Suzanna was staring out the window at the lake. It was so dark out here, but the moon was bright and there were lights on at our cabin at the other end.