Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
I took the juice from the fridge and poured us each a glass. As I placed it on the table, I couldn’t help but notice that Luna was staring at Lawson with a mystified expression on her face. I walked over and placed my hand on her back. “Is everything okay?”
“Grim’s got booboos.”
“Those are tattoos, not booboos, sweetheart.”
“Nuh-uh.” She pointed to his lower back. “Dat’s a booboo, and there’s another on his front.”
“Oh?”
I turned to take a look and was surprised to see that Luna was right. There was a gnarly scar on his back and another on his chest, both of which were hidden in the mix of all his tattoos. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed them before, especially last night. I stepped over to him and placed the tips of my fingers on the rough ridges of his scar.
“It’s nothing, babe.”
“It doesn’t feel like nothing.”
“It happened a long time ago. Nothing to worry about.” He gave Luna a wink. “Takes more than some little booboo to get me down.”
“That’s cause you got muscles.”
“That’s right,” Lawson chuckled. “Now, are you girls hungry or what?”
“I’m hungry.”
“Then, let’s fix you a plate.”
He took a couple of slices of cooled bacon and put them on a plate. My heart swelled as I watched Lawson interact with Luna. His tattoos and scars were all but forgotten as she watched him fill her plate with pancakes. As soon as he finished with hers, he got to work on ours.
Once everything was ready, we gathered around the table and started eating. I considered using the opportunity to tell him about what happened when I went to pick up Luna but decided against it. I wanted to enjoy the moment.
That would be a decision I would soon regret.
Grim
“We have a lead on the situation with Kings.” The room fell silent as Creed continued, “They had a big run-in with the Saints last night and lost over half their crew.”
“No shit?” Memphis asked, sounding relieved.
“Looks like we won’t have to worry about those assholes anymore.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“One of them tangled up with the wrong chick, and it bit them in the ass. The Saints nearly wiped them all out.”
“That fuck-up couldn’t have come at a better time.”
I wasn’t all that worried about the Kings. They could’ve caused us some trouble, but nothing we couldn’t handle. But we already had enough on our plate and didn’t need any more bullshit. Clearly feeling the same, Prez shook his head and grumbled, “Ain’t that the fucking truth."
“Any more talk from Delgado?”
“There’s been some chatter here and there, but it’s slowly dying out,” Shep answered.
Prez looked reassured as he said, “That’s good. Maybe this thing with him will just pass us by.”
“I don’t know, Prez.” I shook my head. “I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t have a good feeling about this guy.”
“Then, we will remain diligent, and if anything comes up, we will be ready.”
“While we are being diligent and all that...” Ghost winced. “We ran into some trouble at the Vault last night.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“A couple of assholes tried to swipe Cherry’s bag of goods last night.” There was no missing the apprehension in his voice as he went on to explain, “It was her fault. She wasn’t being careful, and they snatched that shit. She tried to stop them, and they roughed her up a bit.”
I straightened my back and cocked my chin as I snarled, “Why am I just hearing about this?”
“’Cause we took care of it,” Ghost answered quickly. “Goose and I got the goods back and beat the fuck out of those guys. Told them they were banned and to never try and step foot in there again.”
“And Cherry?”
“She’s okay. Just a little shaken.”
“Not what I meant.” I tried to hold back my anger as I asked, “What did you do to make sure that shit didn’t happen again?”
“I told her to be careful.”
“That’s not enough. These girls clearly need better training. I’ll go by there and set it up with Star and Nikki. A couple of us need to be there to make sure they get it done right this time.”
“I’ll go,” Rusty volunteered. “I’ve got a shift tonight. I can either go in early or stay late. Whatever works best.”
“Me, too,” Memphis offered. “I’ll be there all night.”
“I’ll call and set it up.”
“Keep us updated on how things play out,” Prez ordered. “I don’t want this thing getting out of hand.”
“Agreed.”
We talked a few moments longer, and then Prez slammed the gavel on the table, dismissing church. The guys quickly started to disperse, and I decided to use the opportunity to have a word with Memphis. I followed him out into the hall and down to the bar. When I finally made my way up to him, I said, “Hey, brother. You got a minute>”