Page 165 of Papa's Bébé


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“The Iron Shadows are known to have ties to Drew Markovich,” Marlin said. “He is a known criminal kingpin.”

A kingpin?

What the heck did that mean?

“Is that so?” Matthieu drawled. “You know not all MC clubs are criminals, right? Some of them just like to ride their bikes and have a beer together.”

“So you’re saying they’ve never been involved in anything criminal? Because it certainly seems like they end up in a lot of dicey situations. And what about their ties to Damon Steele?”

“Who?” Matthieu asked.

“He’s known to have his hand in most criminal elements of the city. I bet he’s not happy about the influx of new players on the scene. Quillon Lochlin is his brother-in-law. Or was.”

“You cannot judge a person by the actions of another,” Matthieu said. “And I’m not sure what the point is of telling me this. I don’t even belong to the club.”

“No? They’re not trying to recruit you?”

“I don’t even live here,” Matthieu replied, without actually answering the question. “And unless you have something concrete to accuse Ink or the club of doing, I would warn you to be careful.”

Her brother glared at Matthieu. This wasn’t good. She didn’t want them to argue.

“Marlin, Matthieu has been taking care of me these last few weeks. I’ve gotten to know him well and he’s a good man. He doesn’t have anything to do with these criminals.”

Her brother grunted. “I hope not. I better go. Just wanted to check in.” He glanced around the house. “We’re still going to have a conversation about where you’re living once this shit is all over.”

“Great, I look forward to that.”

Her brother grinned as he leaned in and kissed her forehead. Then he left and Matthieu guided her to the table.

“You all right, Maya?”

“Just . . . processing.” It would take her a while to think everything through. “Does Ink have ties to criminals?”

“Some of the guys in the MC he belongs to do. But that doesn’t mean that they’re bad people. You don’t know who Quillon Lochlin is?”

No? Why would she? She shook her head.

“It’s Spike. Millie’s Spike. He was married before Millie to Damon Steele’s sister. She died.”

“Oh no. That’s so sad.” But Millie wouldn’t be mixed up in anything bad.

“How do you feel about Marlin finally stepping up and being a decent brother?” he asked. He might have been deliberately changing the topic, but she let him.

She wanted to defend Marlin, but there had been times when she’d been so angry at him. When she’d felt abandoned by him. And it was kind of hard to believe in his words.

“I want to believe in him, but it’s hard.”

“Because you’ve been let down by him in the past. Him and the rest of your family.”

Yeah. Exactly.

“I’ve never found it easy to make friends. To trust in people.”

“I understand that with your past. But Livvy and Millie are good people. So are their men.”

“When Mom got ill, I drifted away from my friends at school and they didn’t try hard to keep our relationships intact. Not that I can blame them. I was the kid whose mom had cancer. No one knew what to say to me. I was still recovering from her loss when Kathryn came along. By then, Marlin was in the police academy and had moved out. And Maisy was in her last year of school. She left soon after Kathryn moved in. She went traveling instead of going to college like Dad wanted. They had this huge fight and she took off. I cried all night. She called me a lot, but I could hear how much happier she was. I became . . . defensive and angry. Moody and I pushed everyone away.”

“And now you’re learning that not everyone will let you down.”