“Put out the call. Church in the morning.” Law stands as he addresses Gator, who nods. “I’ll get with General.” He walks back to the clinic that General went to earlier, Gator on his heels.
“General? To do what? What’s going on?” She’s practically bouncing in her seat with her questions, but we continue to overlook them.
“I’ll take the bunk. Why not get you and your lot to the rooms? Take mine if you need it,” I say to Chains. He nods before going to get his woman and kids off to bed.
“Hey, you going to answer me or keep on ignoring me?” She seethes beside me, and since we’re the only two remaining, I smirk.
“But you’re so much more fun to watch when you’re annoyed.” It’s not a lie—she really is enjoyable to watch all flustered-like. “Let’s go.” I stand and tuck the chair under the table.
“Go? Go where?” she sputters as I pull her up, fighting me all the way, but I don’t let her get away. I might not show it naturally, but my grip can be made of steel when I want it to.
“To get your kid and take you to bed. Figured a few hours of sleep would be better on a bed than on a couch that’s usually used by the boys being sucked off.”
My words have the desired effect, as she all but sprints to her kid and picks him up.
I honestly have no clue where the boys get blown by a vamp, but I wouldn’t put it past them to use the couch. We ain’t the behind-closed-doors type. Sure, we usually do, but sometimes things get hot and heavy out in the open. No onesays anything unless there’s a kid present. Then we quickly shut that shit down. Other than that, we’re all adults, so who the fuck cares where you get your dick sucked as long as it’s by someone willing and doesn’t start shit for the club?
The boys who are still in the main room laugh right along with me but say nothing more. It speaks to them being tired, and I’m one of them.
With a nod for her to follow me, I head for the bunk room we use for out-of-towners. Atom brings up the rear to keep her coming but veers off to his room when I enter the bunk space.
I watch her look around and then select the bunk at the back, sliding her kid in on the lower bunk before following him. She turns her back to him, keeping him closed in by the wall while she looks out. Protective mother if I ever saw one.
I slide into a lower bunk close to the door but at an angle that I can see her. It gives the impression of privacy for her, but we both know what I’m really doing: blocking the path for her to leave. I settle in and sigh heavily to myself. This isn’t how I expected my first night back to go. Sure, I knew I’d probably crash at the clubhouse and not my house, but I thought I would at least be in my bed, maybe even have a vamp to keep me warm. Instead, I’m on freaking babysitting duty, since I don’t have a family to get home to and am the lightest sleeper in the group who’s still up.
In the morning, I’m going to remind the club that I’m due some R&R. Something that was talked about for months before I came home. This is a onetime deal—I’m not about to play babysitter for another night. Especially on a bed that sucks.
“No. Hell no. Not only no, but not in any fucking way, no,” I know I say it, since it’s my words coming out of my mouth, but not one person is listening.
“Clubhouse ain’t a place for a kid.” Law says it like it’s that obvious. Like that should make a difference in my choice. It doesn’t.
“Who gives a fuck? Kid’s grown, knows how to pull a gun and everything. You want him to be watched, keep him here. He ain’t coming to my place.” I keep saying it, but no one is hearing me.
“You got the space.” This from Casper. At least the fucker ain’t smiling like I would be if the shoe was on the other foot.
“So do half the boys here. Hell, even the prospects have space to place a woman and child.”Can no one hear me? Why do I have to keep repeating myself?
“You have the security.”
Boom. There it is. The one thing that shuts me up, and Bulldog, the VP, knows it well. His eyes stay locked on me as I stare him down. It takes a second, but I finally concede and look down with a shake of my head.
Fucking hell.
“Know it ain’t what you want to hear, but it’s what’s needed,” Law says, and I keep my head down to avoid him seeing me glare.
Last fucking time I sleep in. Figured I was in the clear since the woman hadn’t woken up either when I chanced a look at my phone in the early morning. Big mistake. Huge. Afew solid hours of sleep got me on fucking babysitting duty for the foreseeable future, since I missed out on the meeting that decided what to do with her. Since it wasn’t officially Church being called, the boys didn’t feel the need to wake me. Or so they say. Pretty sure Law said Church was in the morning, but I never got the last text alerting me of the time tillafterit happened. A few side glances at some brothers let me know they did it for a reason—thisbeing the reason.
“How long?” I all but growl. It’s the most I’ve ever been hostile toward the club, and the collective inhale from the group around me lets me know they heard and recognized it.
When no one answers right away, I look up and see them glancing at each other, uncertainty on their faces. No doubt they didn’t get to the timeline part before I walked in on them talking like a bunch of old biddies gossiping at the grocery checkout.
“It’ll take me a few days to run her, and the ones she and you took out, through the system,” Flint says as a way of making peace. I almost feel bad for the guy, since I know he’s beating himself up about missing this threat. It’s happened a few times before, and each time he’s learned a lesson, but sometimes they keep coming. He’s good, but in the tech world, sometimes the best and hardest lessons come from missing something only to learn what to look for the next time. No one faults him for the misses—he never does it on purpose or because of lack of trying. He just never looked at it from that angle till the time had already passed.
“A week.” Law makes the call and sets the standard.
Flint relaxes, probably just glad to have a few extra days to narrow things down and not have to pull all-nighters to getthe information. Not that he won’t, but now he doesn’thaveto. Two completely different things.
Unlike me. I grind my teeth and wonder if I’m due for another dental checkup. Fucking hate the dentist, but I’d rather deal with them than have a cracked tooth.
