Sex & Mayhem 04 No Matter What
Read Sex & Mayhem 04 No Matter What Online
Authors: K.A. Merikan
Tags: #Romance, #love, #internet, #Gay, #ptsd, #doctor, #international, #abuse, #angst, #biker
a Sex & Mayhem novel
No Matter What
K.A. Merikan
chest. ---
Ghost.
Not a
member of the Coffin Nails MC. Not a doctor anymore. Not gay.
Luca.
Bent, not
broken. Will not let go of Ghost. No matter what.
Ghost finds out the
hard way that people you meet online aren’t always who they seem to
be. When he met ‘Zara’ five years ago, they became inseparable.
She’s been with him through the rough and the smooth. He’s been
there for her when her abusive boyfriend had her in tears.
She is The One, and
despite all his friends considering him crazy, Ghost is about to
propose.
But ‘Zara’ turns out to
be Luca, and Luca is most definitely a guy. Yet Luca is the same
person with big dark eyes, so desperate to be saved that Ghost
can’t help but fall head first.
Luca’s so-called
boyfriend is not
just
abusive. He is a Sicilian drug lord, a
man dangerous and ruthless. If Ghost is to ever save the person who
wreaked havoc on his heart, he has to make a deal with the Coffin
Nails MC. But being a member is a destiny he’s always tried to
avoid. And when a life of violence becomes too much to bear, he
might be the one needing Luca to catch him when he falls.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
Themes:
Outlaw motorcycle club,
criminal activity, hurt/comfort, abuse, catfishing, independence,
sexual orientation issues, mafia, PTSD
Genre:
M/M erotic romance,
suspense, drama
Length:
~100,000 words standalone
novel
WARNING
: Adult content. Explicit
gay sex, strong language, violence, potentially triggering sexual
abuse scenes. Reader discretion advised.
This is a work of
fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living,
dead, or undead, events, places or names is purely
coincidental.
No part of this book
may be reproduced or transferred in any form or by any means,
without the written permission of the publisher. Uploading and
distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means
without a permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by
law.
Text copyright © 2015
K.A. Merikan
All Rights Reserved
http://KAMerikan.com
Cover design by
Natasha Snow
1
“I bet she’s
got a wooden leg,” chuckled Tooth, poking Ghost’s ribs.
“Or she’s twice
the weight of a baby elephant,” added Milk, staring at the fancy
Japanese restaurant across the street.
Ghost groaned,
so nervous his palms were all sweaty. “I don’t care if she’s fat,
or has acne, or whatever. I’m going to marry this girl.”
Tooth rolled
his eyes and adjusted Ghost’s suit jacket. “How can you be so sure
it’s even a
girl
? Could be an older lady for all you know.
You only saw her eyes on webcam for like, what? Four seconds?”
Milk scowled.
“Grandmas don’t play computer games.”
“Well, they do
have a lot of time on their hands.” Tooth shrugged and leaned
against his bike, menacing as always in his cut and leather pants,
long hair in a wild disarray around his handsome face. Even the
beard, carefully groomed on a daily basis, seemed a bit shabby
after the nine-hour ride from Detroit to New York City.
Ghost took a
deep breath, trying to ignore their teasing. He’d known Zara for
five years now, and she was
The One
. She’d been with him
when he lost his medical licence, and she’d been with him when he
got shot in Syria. It didn’t matter that she lived across the
Atlantic. He was in love, and he’d make their relationship
tangible, move it to the real world. The carefully chosen ring
burned in Ghost’s pocket with the intensity of his anxiety. This
was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. Zara was in New York
City for only two days. It was her first time in the US, and Ghost
was not about to miss his chance to finally touch her dark hair,
brush his fingers over caramel-tinted skin. It was as if all the
signs on heaven and earth were nudging him to finally make her
his.
“You’re just
jealous,” Ghost said, and as soon as the light on the crossing
turned to green, he started walking toward the restaurant with
cramps in his stomach.
“Hey, we’re
just trying to give you realistic expectations. You’ve known her
for what, five years? And she never agreed to properly video chat?”
asked Milk, trailing along with a silly grin.
“And you said
she already has a boyfriend,” added Tooth, for the tenth time that
day.
Ghost huffed.
Zara had one sonovabitch of a boyfriend, who hit her, and used her,
and who she was only with because the guy helped her support her
ill parents. Zara didn’t need that dick. Ghost would provide for
her. Somehow. He’d work it out.
Ghost stopped
in front of the restaurant and turned to his friends. He actually
hoped Zara wouldn’t see Milk, because the guy’s blond hair was
disgusting and greasy today, and Ghost wanted to make a good
impression. He’d gotten a grooming session from Tooth’s boyfriend
the day before. A close shave, a bit of a cut to the hair that was
getting unruly, good cologne, and he’d even let Lucky tidy up his
eyebrows. Sure, Zara’d seen him on a webcam, but this first
real-life meeting had to leave her wowed.
Ghost pulled
out his cell phone and showed them the photo he had set as his
wallpaper. “Her boyfriend doesn’t let her video chat. I don’t want
her to get in trouble. She’s a babe, and I don’t care how she’s
changed since this photo was taken.”
If
she had. In his
heart, Ghost sure hoped she hadn’t. She looked like an extremely
sexy tomboy with her shoulder-length black hair, big brown eyes,
and slim wrists sticking out from under the rolled-up sleeves of a
plaid shirt.
“I sure hope
for your sake that she looks at least a bit like that, but if she
doesn’t, at least you won’t be hung up on her anymore.” Milk
shrugged as they walked up to the entrance. He peeked inside, into
the white lobby decorated with tall potted plants.
Ghost’s heart
was beating so fast he was afraid it would jump out of his chest
any second now. Zara was nowhere to be found. His friends could
have been right. Maybe she looked nothing like her photo. But Ghost
had sent her a bracelet from Syria, a beautiful thing made out of
onyx and leather, with a silver clasp, and she said she always wore
it. She told him onyx was her favorite rock, and that she didn’t
like her jewelery too fancy, so he went with something he thought
would suit her style. He’d picked an onyx engagement ring to match
the bracelet, and the unusual choice reflected their
relationship.
All Ghost
needed to do was have a look around the restaurant and spot the
girl with the bracelet he’d sent to the address of Zara’s best
friend, in case the boyfriend got wind of something going on behind
his back. And then, he’d propose, no matter what hell broke loose.
He’d taken Tooth and Milk as backup, because the abusive fucker
would probably be with her.
“Let’s go in,”
Ghost said.
Milk moaned.
“This place looks fancy, I bet it’s expensive. I don’t have that
kind of money with another kid on the way.”
Ghost rolled
his eyes. “Shut up, I’m paying.”
“Oh, in that
case…” Milk was the first one to rush up the few stairs to the
restaurant.
“Hey, Milk!”
Tooth exhaled, folding his arms across his chest. “Let’s just wait
here for now, huh? We don’t want to scare the lady.”
Milk scowled
and chewed on his lip. “Fine.”
Tooth raised
his eyebrows and gestured at the door, which reflected the bright
sunlight. “Go on, or you’re gonna sweat through that shirt.”
Ghost took a
deep breath. He’d actually hoped they’d go in with him, but then
again, having two members of the Coffin Nails motorcycle club by
his side, in their patched leather vest finery, might not be the
first impression Ghost wanted to make. With his pale skin, and hair
so blond it was almost white, he stood out enough.
Ghost walked up
the stairs, imagining the way Zara would look in a wedding dress.
If she chose white, it would look amazing against her olive-tinted
skin.
If the
restaurant was anything to go by, Zara’s boyfriend was loaded to
come here for a casual lunch. It was by no means a traditional
Japanese interior, but some of the elements, such as a series of
wooden panels on one side, evoked the image of a house with movable
walls. The ceiling was pitch-black, and along with the reddish
brown of some of the artwork, it was the dominant color in the
modern yet oddly cozy space.
Ghost sat down
at a small empty table next to a divider inspired by a bamboo
forest. The tube-like sticks stood tall, like a big modern
sculpture, lacquered with shiny black varnish. It parted the large
room into two smaller spaces, but it would also allow Ghost to
discretely spy on the other patrons through the gaps in the bamboo.
It was the weird time between lunch and dinner, and so there
weren’t that many people. Ghost was growing frantic as he sought
the familiar face.
His eyes
briefly paused on the handsome features of a young man sitting in a
booth with two middle-aged businessmen, but he quickly followed a
twinkle of high-pitched laughs. There was a group of young women
chatting over sushi by the window, but as far as he could see, none
of them looked anything like Zara. She could have dyed her hair
though, that changed a person a lot.
Or she could
have lied about being in New York in the first place
, whispered
a tiny voice in Ghost’s heart. This whole trip would have been for
nothing. The new jeans, the suit jacket that was so not him yet his
mom insisted on, all for nothing. He ordered a ridiculously
expensive juice to pass the time, and fished out his phone. Zara’s
boyfriend was so possessive they couldn’t even chat in a normal way
and had to communicate by an app for the sci-fi game they both
played online. It was where they met as well, so the game evoked
tons of fond memories. He logged on, and clicked the avatar of her
character, the beautiful mercenary with a talent for computers.
‘Hey, you still
in that restaurant?’
She replied
within a minute, ‘Yeah, I’m bored out of my mind, LOL. What are U
up to?’
Ghost caught
himself wanting to tell her about the amazing juice he was having,
but instead of uncovering his cards, he needed to get some info out
of her about what was on her table. Maybe that would help him
figure out where she was. He only got here because she’d given him
the link to the restaurant’s menu. ‘I’ve got a free moment. I’m
hungry, show me what you’re having at the fancy place.’
He eyed the
other side of the divider with his heart in his throat. Why was
everyone playing with their phones instead of having real-life
conversations? It would make his life so much easier if people
would just chat to the other person at their table. He eyed the
girls but none of them angled their phone for a perfect photo. The
handsome guy chose exactly this moment to, no doubt, instagram his
lunch, but Ghost didn’t see anything else. Would he need to stroll
through the room and compare plates?
