Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 142728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 714(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
He tilts his head in an I-really-don’t-give-a-fuck gesture. “I doubt she can still find her way up here. But keep me posted if she shows up at CB again.”
“I will. I’m sorry, Rock. I guess she thought she could approach me, because…I don’t know.”
He dismisses my apology with a quick headshake. “Not your fault.”
“I should’ve told you right away—”
He holds up one hand to stop me. “Fuck.” He shakes his head. “You know what I hate the most? I can’t even be as pissed at her as I should be. Without that stupid fucking lawsuit, I might never have found out about Teller and—”
“Yeah, it was the only silver lining of that clusterfuck.” I cock my head in a questioning way. “I guess.”
He snorts. “Silver lining. Life altering. Same difference, right?”
“Right.” I run my hands through my hair. “I told everyone to be on the lookout for Inga if she shows up again. Malik’s got her picture so he knows who to look for. Everyone else knows her and they’ve been warned not to allow her in the building for any reason. They’re supposed to call me right away if she shows up again.”
“Thanks, brother.” He shakes his head. “Sorry you had to deal with that.”
Should I even bother telling him this part? “It kinda caused my own problems. Emily saw me talking to her and assumed the worst.”
He tips his head back and stares at the ceiling for a second. “That she-devil with her shit timing.”
“Right?” I force out a laugh.
Remorse seems to cloud his eyes. “Think you’ll work it out with her?”
“Yeah, we talked.” My mouth twists with annoyance. “I should’ve been up front about where I worked in the first place.”
He raises an eyebrow, quietly asking for more details.
“I said I managed a nightclub.” I hold my hands up. “In my defense, it’s technically true.”
He chokes on a laugh. “Yeah, how’d that work out for you.”
“Not that great.” I didn’t say this to Emily, but I’d thought about it a lot. “Still, I have a feeling if I’d gone the total disclosure route in the beginning, we wouldn’t still be together.”
“If I can give you one piece of advice,” his gaze flicks over my shoulder, then back to me, “certain folks might claim honesty is the best approach if you want to bring a civilian into our world.”
By “folks,” I assume he means Wrath. Our SAA is full of opinions and not shy about sharing them. “But?”
“My advice is to disclose things on an as-needed basis.”
I scratch the side of my head. “I seem to remember that not working out for you and Hope sometimes.”
A sly smile creeps over his face. “I’d argue everything worked out fine.”
He has a point. Hope’s as loyal and ride-or-die as any of the brothers. The stuff she’s been through and the way she’s always defended the club, maybe Rock’s right. Once Emily understands we’d all die to protect each other and her, she’ll accept the MC and all that comes with it with no problem.
Right?
CHAPTER THIRTY
Dex
While I’m at the clubhouse, I decide to take advantage of one of our large garages. That’s one thing we didn’t add to the new clubhouse down in Empire—a big enough garage. Rav and the others had been too focused on making it a party spot than a functional MC clubhouse. It should’ve had enough room to service more than two or three bikes at a time. Instead, they’d been worried about having enough flat surfaces for fucking.
Murphy kept the garage neat and organized when he was road captain. I’ve taken it a bit further by adding more cabinets to store parts that we go through regularly. I’m counting how many air filters we have left when happy little chatter echoes from outside the garage. I glance toward the open doors. Hope’s standing right outside, holding Alexa’s hand. They both wave. Heidi’s daughter’s getting bigger. I swear she’s shot up two inches since I last saw her.
I set the boxes in my hands on the shelf, close and lock the door, then meet them outside.
“What’s up, First Lady?” I glance down at Alexa. “And little lady?”
“Hi!” Alexa wiggles her fingers at me.
“Heidi rope you into babysitting?” I ask Hope. “Where’s your little one?”
She glances over her shoulder at the clubhouse. “Grace is with Rock.” She swings Alexa’s hand back and forth. “Someone was restless and wanted to peek in the garage.”
“You did?” I squat to Alexa’s level. “You want to help me change some air filters?” I say in a chipper, kid-friendly tone.
Alexa giggles. “I can help.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Hope says.
“She might be a good road captain one day.” I stand and ask Hope, “How are you?”
“Good. Waiting to hear when we can go see baby Lincoln.”
An ice-cold trickle of painful memories rolls down my spine. I fucking hate hospitals. “I’m surprised the whole club isn’t in a waiting room at Empire Med.”