Lunatic - Necessary Evils #6 - Ch. 6 (Patreon)

Chapter 6MacBy the time the meeting ended, they had several names on the board. Kendrick had handpicked each one in exchange for allowing the Elite team to choose the rest. They were all Boone’s former colleagues—assassins turned handlers—with their code names listed above their photos.Mac was dying to know the stories behind these handles. Boone was the Sin Eater, but alongside him sat the Bone Collector, the Grave Robber, the Whipping Boy, the Plague Doctor, the Resurrectionist, and the Witch Hunter. All terrible jobs tied to history, for sure, but how had each of them been assigned their names?Boone had decided to keep the tradition alive—something both Molly and Thomas would have approved of—by giving their new employees similar code names. Neera Adebayo, the school’s new public relations specialist, was known as Fuller. Mac had to look up what a fuller was. They were in charge of dirty laundry. Boone clearly fancied himself a comedian.Neera would keep the eye of the public where it needed to be—off their students—by any means necessary. Mac was glad to have her. There were several others who’d been brought in, people with jobs one might not expect in a school for assassins.A drama coach, a makeup artist, a costume designer, even a dancing instructor. All had to be thoroughly vetted before they could be brought on board. Signing on at the Watch was essentially signing your life away. There were many things that went into making sure these public figures could be seen when needed but also hide in plain sight when necessary. Things that spies and assassins just couldn’t do.“I think this is a good place to stop for the day,” Boone finally said a little after six. “Let’s pick this up again tomorrow?”Archer and Mac both nodded. Boone snagged his phone from the conference table and left them without so much as a goodbye. That was fine with Mac. He walked to where Archer still sprawled in his office chair before sitting on the table and using his legs to turn him to face him. Archer raised a brow but didn’t attempt to flee, which was a step in the right direction as far as Mac was concerned.He pulled the chair towards him, then leaned down into Archer’s space. “When are you taking me on this date, Katniss?”Mac was still reeling a bit from Archer’s flushed and rambling speech a few hours ago. It had been raw and real and so very Archer that Mac was pretty sure he’d fallen a bit in love. Or maybe he was already there and this just sealed it. Mac never liked to examine these types of things too closely. All that mattered was that Archer had let him in, even if it was just a crack. If you punched enough cracks into even the most solid surfaces, eventually they gave way.Archer flushed once again, like he was embarrassed about Mac bringing it up. “I can’t tonight, but maybe tomorrow.”“You have plans for tonight? Should I be jealous?” Mac asked, trying to keep his tone casual when he was already preemptively jealous.Archer smirked at him, like he sensed Mac’s true feelings. “Yes, I’m meeting six men in a dark, smoky room so they can give me all their money.”Mac blinked at him. “What?”Archer rolled his eyes. “I’m working. I have a poker game that starts at nine. Off the strip. High rollers.”“You promised me this morning that you would meet me tonight and that you would be…friendly. Were you lying to me, Katniss?” Mac asked, voice husky.Archer shook his head. “No. But that wasn’t a date, was it? That was a hookup. We haven’t spent more than an hour together with our clothes off since we met. I assumed I’d have time for both activities. But a date requires more planning.”Oh. Right.Mac was an idiot. One heartfelt speech and his brain slid onto the floor. Still, Archer was wrong. A date didn’t require more planning, just more time. “I’m coming with you. Watching your game can be our first date.”Archer scoffed. “No, you’re most definitely not coming.”Mac frowned. Why didn’t Archer want him to see him play poker? “Yes, I definitely am.”Archer stood, planting his hands on either side of Mac and leaning in until they were millimeters apart. “There are men out there trying to kill you. No. You’re. Not.”Mac locked his hands around Archer’s wrists, brushing their lips together. “You just said it’s six guys in a dark room. Do you think they’ll know who the fuck I am?”Archer slanted their lips together in a much longer kiss before saying, “There will be cameras. Did you forget that you have a brother who looks just like you who’s married to a famous movie star? People are going to notice.”Mac ducked Archer’s next kiss to bite along his jawline. “Is it live?”Archer sucked in a breath when Mac nuzzled that spot just under his ear, faltering a bit. “Well, no. But it will eventually be televised.”Mac ran his tongue along the shell of Archer’s ear. “And we’ll be long gone by then, safe back here in our cozy top secret military base.”“You’re so goddamn stubborn,” Archer said, even as he tilted his head to get more of Mac’s attention where he wanted it.“I know you are, but what am I?” Mac taunted, but then locked his legs around Archer, holding him tight as he pulled back to look at him. “Come on, Katniss. Let me see you how the rest of the world does.”Archer sighed. “The rest of the world sees me as a drunk who is lucky at cards.”“Does that bother you?” Mac asked.Archer frowned. “No. I could care less what the world thinks. They’re just an audience. This is a role I play so I can do my real job.”“Your real job of killing people,” Mac stated.“Does that bother you?” Archer countered.Killing indiscriminately bothered Mac. Killing the innocent infuriated him. But the men Archer killed weren’t innocent. The men the Watch would kill weren’t innocent. They were monsters.And not just monsters who preyed on the vulnerable, isolating them so they could pick them off one at a time. The men the Watch went after, the ones Mac and Archer were tasked with choosing, those men annihilated populations. Had killed and enslaved nations. Had helped others do the same.And Mac was a soldier. He’d probably killed more innocent men than Archer. It wasn’t as if the military had given him a choice. Overseas, it was kill or be killed, but in war, both sides thought they were the righteous ones, and they were both right…and both wrong. War only benefited those in power, never its people.“No, Katniss, your body count doesn’t bother me,” Mac answered. “What kind of hypocrite would I be to take a job here while condemning the people I employ?”“The usual kind,” Archer said, but not with any malice. If anything, he seemed unusually relaxed while held hostage in Mac’s unrelenting grip.That made Mac’s whole body warm. It made him want to drag Archer back to his room and do dirty things to him. Would Archer still get all squirmy and uncomfortable? Would he still let Mac take charge? “What time do we leave?”Archer sighed. “Well, now that certain other activities have been back-burnered—”“For now,” Mac interrupted. “I still plan on being inside you later. Just so we’re clear.”Archer’s gaze went all hazy. “Seven-thirty. We’ll leave at seven-thirty,” he repeated. Mac couldn’t stop himself from capturing his lips once again, letting his tongue dart inside to taste him. Archer melted against Mac, giving in just as he always did, but then pulled back, making eye contact. “We need some ground rules.”“Ground rules?” Mac parroted.“For tonight. You can’t distract me. You can’t hold eye contact for too long. You can’t make fun of the person I am when I’m out there. My life depends on it. Yours probably does, too.”Mac cupped Archer’s face. “I would never put you at risk, Katniss.”Archer gave a stilted nod. “These guys take this shit real seriously. It’s a lot of money on the line. You need to sit quietly and let them forget you’re there.”Mac grinned. “Got it. I’ll leave my air horn and foam finger at home.”Archer acted like Mac was being taken home to meet his family. Ironic since Mac had already met Thomas. Saying that, he was dying to meet the rest of the family. As someone raised alongside a sociopath, he imagined a household full of psychopaths would be a wild ride. His mother would probably lose her metaphorical shit. Though Molly already knew the Mulvaney children. They just didn’t know it.Archer rolled his eyes. “You’re an ass.”“It’s true,” Mac acknowledged. “So, what’s the etiquette during these poker games? Is there, like, a player’s spouse section, like in sports?” Mac teased.“Yes, in their homes—” Archer said, narrowing his eyes at Mac. “Did you say spouse?”Mac stopped short. He had said spouse. It just slipped out. He shrugged, not mad about it. “Yeah, I guess I did. Weird.”“Yeah, weird,” Archer echoed, eyeing him dubiously. “I’m going to go shower and get into character. Meet me in my room whenever you’re ready to go.”Mac was tempted to invite himself to the shower but felt he’d already pushed his luck too far. Just because Archer had given Mac a third act speech didn’t mean they were quite ready for invading each other’s spaces or marriage.Even in Vegas.###Mac knocked on Archer’s door at exactly seven-thirty, smoothing down his white button-down nervously. Archer snatched the door open, but then turned around without so much as a hello, leaving Mac to follow. He contented himself with leaning against the door, watching as Archer donned several black corded bracelets, an ancient looking signet ring, and a black cord with a cross on it.This was not the Archer he knew. His Archer favored worn jeans and soft fabrics. This Archer wore leather pants, heavy black biker boots, a white henley, and a long black coat. He looked like he fronted some kind of pirate rock band. But fuck, if it didn’t look good on him.When Archer came within reach again, Mac snatched him by the shirt and hauled him in, sealing their mouths together in a thorough kiss. As always, Archer stiffened, then melted against him, his fingers curling into Mac’s shirt like he needed something to keep him on his feet. Feeling Archer give in made Mac’s dick hard. Every fucking time.“Damn, Katniss. You look good enough to eat,” Mac teased against his lips.“See, none of that,” Archer said, pulling back slowly. “I don’t know how to be public me with public you yet.”Being with Archer was going to be complicated. Dating any Mulvaney would have been troublesome, but dating one who hid who he really was, even from his own family? That added a degree of difficulty Mac had been attempting to avoid his whole life. If it had been any other person in front of him, Mac would have said thanks but no thanks, but it was Archer. And he couldn’t get enough of him.“Well, we have to figure it out eventually. Right?” Mac challenged, hoping it wouldn’t be Archer who decided to bolt on him.Mac’s stomach churned when Archer hesitated, but then he nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.” He patted Mac on the chest awkwardly before turning to grab his keys. “We’re taking the Rover.”The Rover was Archer’s two-hundred thousand dollar matte black, custom Range Rover gifted to him by Thomas for his last birthday. Archer treated it with the same care and consideration one would give a newborn baby. Actually, Mac was fairly certain Archer would give far more consideration to his Rover than to any infant.“Can I drive?” Mac teased, knowing Archer would scoff.Keys hit him squarely in the chest, forcing him to scramble to catch them before they hit the ground.“Yeah, sure. Just don’t fuck it up,” Archer said on his way out the door, leaving Mac to ponder what had just happened.After a moment, he grinned, then trotted off to catch up, arriving just in time to pop the lock and open Archer’s door for him.Archer gave him a confused look. “What?” Mac asked. “It is a date.”Archer rolled his eyes, but Mac caught the smile he tried to hide.Once on the road, the headlights provided the only light in the darkened desert. The two lanes stretched out for miles before meeting up with the crossroad that would take them to the strip. For most of that ride, they were still on the base.Mac didn’t turn on the music or even try to force a conversation. Archer seemed content in the silence, and Mac was loath to break it. Still, when Archer casually placed his hand on the console between them, Mac couldn’t resist placing his hand on top, just to see what Archer would do. Relief surged through him when Archer just threaded their fingers together.Archer’s poker game was, in fact, taking place in a darkened smoke-filled room, but that room was housed in a small, seedy-looking casino that smelled like a hundred years of cigarette smoke and spilled liquor. The pungent scent of cigar smoke punched him in the face the moment they entered, but Archer didn’t seem to notice, simply pulling Mac deeper into the room.The poker table was set up in the center and there were plenty of tables and chairs for spectators, but, at the moment, people seemed content to ignore the seating, instead standing around and chatting in small clusters.Archer took them straight to the bar and ordered a whiskey neat then deferred to Mac to order his own beverage. Mac ordered the same, clinking his glass to Archer’s before taking a sip, letting the smooth amber liquid burn its way to his stomach.Mac had worried he’d be underdressed in his jeans and untucked button-down, but there was truly no need for concern. It was like a costume party at a police station. There was a man wearing goggles on his head, another with more face tattoos than a SoundCloud rapper, a woman in short shorts and a backwards baseball cap, and a man who looked like he’d just stepped out of a 1940s gangster movie.“Who are these people?” Mac asked, bemused.Archer chuckled, taking another sip of his drink. “Players. They’ve got a lot of…personality.” He pointed to a man across the room. “See that guy over there who looks like the unabomber?” Archer asked.Mac’s gaze landed on a man in a sweatshirt with the hood up and a pair of Aviators. “Yeah?”“That’s Dustin Lasky. They call him Kazinsky for obvious reasons. A master poker player, but likes to make jokes to distract people. He’s kind of a class clown, and he’s married to that lady over there.”Mac followed Archer’s gaze to a woman with snow white skin, jet black hair, and lips painted blood red. She wore a white dress with a belt and shoes the same color as her lipstick. It was like she’d stepped out of a Good Housekeeping ad from the ‘50s.“And she gets all dolled up in costume to support him?” Mac asked, somewhat impressed.“Oh, no. She’s here to play. They call her the Housewife. She might look like she spends her days cutting the crust off her sandwiches, but she’s a Yale law professor who wins way more than she loses and is ranked higher than her husband, who made twenty million last year.”“Wow,” Mac said, impressed.Archer nodded. “Yeah, she’s aggressive.”“Aggressive?”“Do you know much about poker?” Archer asked.“Not a damn thing,” Mac admitted.Archer grinned. “In poker, opens and raises are considered aggressive moves, while calls and checks are considered passive. Kate—that’s her real name—she’s really aggressive out the gate and has no fear. She’s good at convincing a table she has them beat before the cards have even been shuffled.”Mac studied the side of Archer’s face. “What about you?”Archer took another swallow of his drink. “Me? I’m what they call a loose-aggressive player.”Mac smirked at him. “Do tell.”Archer smirked. “My style confuses people. Makes it hard for them to get a read on me. I can often beat them because they can’t tell if I truly have a good hand or if I’m just bluffing.”Before Mac could comment, a woman in a fitted black pantsuit and a sparkly bustier approached, giving Archer a wide smile. “Archer, you made it.”Archer rolled his head towards the woman, giving her a wolfish grin. “I told you I would, luv. You have so little faith in me.”She gave him a knowing look. “The last time I had faith in you, you puked in my koi pond and killed my fish.”“It was one time,” Archer drawled, his tone flirtatious. “And you said you forgave me.”Mac wasn’t sure if he should be jealous or charmed by this version of Archer. Did this version of him like women? Was Archer bisexual? He wasn’t sure which bothered him more—that he didn’t know, or that Archer might be flirting with this woman right in front of him. Even if it was just acting.“Forgive, yes. Forget, never,” she said, her gaze snagging on Mac. “Who’s this delicious-looking man?”“A friend,” Archer said.“Oh,” she purred. “Does he want to be my friend?”Archer grabbed Mac’s hand and raised his arm, sliding underneath it before laying it over his shoulders like an expensive mink stole, keeping their fingers intertwined as he gave her a haughty look. “Find your own friends, love, or I might have to visit your koi pond again.”Mac hated how much he loved Archer’s territorial display. The woman gave the two of them a thorough once-over before schooling her features into an exaggerated pout. “Boo. You used to play well with others.”“I used to do a lot of things, luv,” Archer said with a wink.Like what?She sighed. “Nice meeting you, whatever your name is,” she said, then sauntered off, hips swaying in a way that even Mac found somewhat mesmerizing.“Who was that?” he asked, amused.Archer chuckled. “She owns this casino.”“Does a small casino like this do well?” Mac wondered aloud.Archer snuggled closer. “You know that koi pond I ruined?”“Yeah?”“Each one of those fish cost me almost two thousand dollars to replace.”“Jesus,” Mac muttered. “Wait. Did you really puke in her pond?”Archer nodded. “Yes, but only to cover up that I knocked over a bottle of acetone while trying to make some impromptu chloroform after a target of mine showed up at a dinner party she hosted.”“I have no words,” Mac finally admitted.“I do. Let’s have another drink.” Archer waved over the bartender and asked for the whole bottle. “Put it on my tab.”Once the bartender left, Mac said, “I thought the drinking was a rumor.”Archer gave him a sexy smile. “I’m not an alcoholic, but I’m not a fucking Quaker either. Besides, this is for the both of us. A little liquid courage for our first night out as a…whatever we are,” he said, filling Mac’s glass dangerously high before clinking them together. “Bottoms up.”Mac leaned into his space, pressing his lips against his ear. “Oh, you will be.”Archer turned to face him, running his nose along his cheek, purring, “Pace yourself, darling. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”That was what Archer had called Mac the first night they’d met in that bar. When Mac had approached him, he’d been chatting up this chubby-faced twink who definitely had designs on being Archer’s next sugar baby. It had been so clear that Archer wasn’t into it or him, that he was just going through the motions.When Mac had propositioned Archer, he’d given him a dismissive look and said, “I’ll forget you, too, darling.”Something about Archer’s dismissal had started a fire in Mac that he hadn’t been able to put out, even after he’d buried himself in Archer later that night. It was only then that he’d realized Archer had never done that before. It had been the single hottest night of Mac’s life. Still was. No matter how many times he buried himself inside Archer, it was never enough.Mac smacked a kiss on Archer’s cheek. “I like when you call me darling.”Archer gave him a slow, well-practiced smile. “Then drink up, darling.”Mac did as Archer said, the expensive liquor going down far too easy. By the time the players took their seats, Mac was pleasantly buzzed, sitting at a two-seater table where he could see Archer’s pretty face.The koi pond casino lady took the seat beside him. “You’re the first,” she said cryptically.“Excuse me?” Mac said.“You’re the first man he’s ever brought to watch a game who wasn’t related to him.”Mac’s insides went all warm, but he wasn’t sure if it was pride or the liquor. “Oh.”“Mm,” she said, noncommittal. “I’m Harlow, by the way.”“Mac.”“Nice to meet you,” she said, flagging down a server to refill her champagne, making it clear she was there for the long haul. That suited Mac just fine. She smelled much nicer than the dude wearing a bottle of cologne at the table to his right. She also had no problem narrating the game for Mac when she realized he had no idea what was happening. The better Archer played, the goofier Mac’s grin became.Though, that was probably the liquor. Mac had rounded past buzzed and was sliding directly into hammered territory. Archer, despite the game, seemed to be keeping as much of an eye on Mac as he was his opponents, which spoke volumes about his skill.Most of the game was filled with easy chiding and the occasional snide comment, but when Archer forced the SoundCloud rapper to fold on a good hand, the kid flung his cards down. “It’s easy to be aggressive when you’re playing with Daddy’s money.”Mac’s fury flared, his hands fisting on the table. As if he knew it would piss Mac off, Archer glanced up and gave him a wink before looking back at the kid and tipping his glass in a mock salute. “And tomorrow, I’ll be playing with yours.”“Fuck yeah,” Mac muttered. “You tell ‘em, baby.” Harlow chuckled beside him, drawing his attention. “I’m going to fuck him so hard later someone’s going to call the cops,” Mac said, nodding his head. “And then I’m gonna convince him to marry me.”Harlow smirked and drained her champagne in one go. “Mazel tov.”“Fuck yeah,” Mac said, draining his as well.