Page 40 of Too Hot

“I can’t put them inside the club. It would be an invasion of privacy. Besides, I don’t keep any security video beyond a week.”

Rafe stopped at the front of his house, climbed the stairs, and sat in one of the chairs he kept on the front porch. “No reason to. You keep those mainly to check who is coming to the club, along with the gate codes, and in reception to make sure nothing happens out there. You’ve done everything you can. Why are you doubting yourself?”

Max’s sigh was loud. “I blame myself.”

“Of course you do. And you can bet most every Dom who’s interacted with Ward is too. But from what I saw, Emily is doing okay, and Noah is very protective of her.”

“I noticed that too.”

“And I bet if you talk to Noah, he’s blaming himself, as well.”

“He shouldn’t.”

“Neither should you.”

“So Sierra keeps telling me.”

“Listen to your wife.” Rafe grinned. “Brianna and I are going to dinner before the club. Is seven-thirty enough time to check out the room.”

“That’s fine. They haven’t done the insulation yet, just the frame. Since both of them will be at the club tonight, I’ll see if they can come early. I believe they wanted to chat with you about the insulation.”

“Works for me. I’ll see you later.” Rafe hung up and sat on his porch for a few minutes. Max took a lot on. Rafe understood Max feeling responsible, but the only one responsible for what had happened was Ward.

Surging to his feet, Rafe went inside to shower. He had a scene to plan out in his head.

* * * *

Rafe escorted Brianna from the reception area that night. “Meet you inside the club.” He’d explained to her over dinner he needed to meet with Max.

“Okay.” Brianna smiled at him before disappearing into the ladies’ room.

Rafe changed and then walked into the club. There were only a few people here. He saw Max, Zeke, and Gabriel by the curtained off area that led to the classroom and walked over to them.

“Evening,” Rafe said.

“Thanks for coming early,” Max said.

“We appreciate it,” Zeke said.

“I’ll admit I’m anxious to see how it’s coming along,” Rafe commented.

“Let’s go.” Max held the curtain back, and the men entered.

Rafe was surprised to see how much smaller the classroom area was. “Did you increase the dimensions?”

“I did,” Max said. “We don’t need a big classroom space anymore, and I’d rather we had more space than less for your work.”

Rafe nodded and examined the room.

“We used all class-A plywood as you requested,” Zeke said.

“Perfect.” Rafe ran his finger over the wood.

“I know we talked about the insulation and flooring,” Gabriel said. “But I found several types and wanted your input.”

“Mineral wool would be the best for the insulation. It’s pretty much fire proof.”

“That was on my list, so that’s what we’ll use.”

---