Page 58 of Pirate

Jumper shook his head, his expression somber. “Based on what they know of him, plus his history with Sophia, our first assumption was Fletcher.”

Pirate’s teeth ground together. Fletcher! Of course, it was fucking Fletcher. The guy had told Sophia to be at her house on Sunday at seven so they could talk and she’d stood him up. Or really, she’d ignored him. It couldn’t really be called ‘standing him up’ when she’d never agreed to the meeting to begin with.

“But it’s not.”

Pirate’s head wiped towards his brother. “What do you mean? Of course, it is. Her ex shows back up, tries to meet up with her, and then this creep starts breaking into her house? Of course, it was Fletcher.”

Jumper shook his head. “Youalibi him, Pirate. While this guy,” Jumper pointed to the screen, “was breaking into her place, you were with Fletcher in the garage.”

Pirate thought frantically. “He left at three. He called someone to come and pick him up. Knowing him, he probably has a family driver on standby or something. He could have gone to her house after he left me with his fucking bike.”

“But that wasn’t until after three in the morning,” Jumper argued. “This guy was in her place around midnight.”

“What time did Sophia leave the hospital?” His fight with Carlos had been around nine-thirty.

Jumper did not look happy to answer. “He was in the guesthouse when she got home.”

Pirate slammed his hand down on the table. His coffee mug spilled over and Jumper rushed to save his laptop from getting wet. The coffee ran over the fake wood and over onto the carpeting. Pirate could care less though.

“That bastard,” he seethed through his teeth, “was inher housewhen she got home?”

And he hadn’t been there. He’d been with Steel and Bulldog, getting ready to accept his punishment for punching Carlos. If he hadn’t started that stupid fight, he’d have been with her. He’d have?—

Pirate stopped himself mid-rant. Hewouldn’thave been at Sophia’s. Because, though they’d had sex there numerous times, he’d never slept over. Theydidn’tsleep over at each other’s places. Except for last night.

He turned his head towards his closed bedroom door where Sophia still slept. Last night was the first night they’d slept next to each other since the night they’d drunkenly gotten married in San Francisco. And damn if he didn’t remember that one either.

Be nice if he could fall asleep next to her and actually remember the experience. That seemed to be too much to ask for though.

His brother touched his arm. It wasn’t until then that Pirate realized he was shaking from anger. Jumper’s bruising grip helped to ground him.

“We’ll figure this out and we’ll keep her safe. There won’t be a repeat of last time, I swear it to you.”

Pirate swallowed hard. “I didn’t realize what she meant to me at first. I was so blind and wasted so much time.”

Jumper leaned over, gripping Pirate hard behind the neck with his other hand. “Brother, she’s not dead and you can still make a future with her. We’ll figure out who this bastard is and you’ll have your time with him.” Pirate knew the true meaning behind Jumper’s cryptic statement was getting Sophia’s creeper into the hidden cellar and dishing out the club’s version of justice. “Until then, I suggest the two of you figure out what you are to each other.”

“She’s mine,” Pirate declared. “I just don’t know how much convincing will be required to get her to accept that.”

Jumper squeezed the nape of his neck a little before letting him go. His brother stood up, packing up his laptop into a backpack. “I’m going to go meet Jazz at the clinic. The two of you will have the apartment today to talk.” Then he pointed a finger in Pirate’s face. “And stay off your goddamn leg. I called Rockland for you and he was not happy. You’re going to lose your job if you’re not careful.”

Pirate had already guessed as much. There was no way he could miss so much work and not be on thin ice. “Maybe I don’t want to be a high school security guard anymore.”

Jumper raised an eyebrow. “Be that as it may, you made an obligation through the end of the school year. If you want to switch careers, you know I’m behind you but you need to do it right.”

Pirate nodded his agreement. “I know and I will.”

Jumper dipped his chin once and then whistled for Aerial. He put her harness on her that declared her to be a service dog. The brothers gave each other a chin lift and then Jumper left the apartment. Pirate heard the key scrape to know Jumper had locked the door.

Pirate sat at the table for a long minute, just trying to process the information that had been dumped on him in the past half hour. Certainly not how he expected to start his day.

Letting out a long sigh, he grabbed his crutch and headed for the kitchen to grab some paper towels to clean up the spilled coffee. He’d get the table and the dogs could get the carpet. He’d call a prospect to come collect them if they got too hyped up on caffeine.

Besides, he had to stay off his leg. What better way to do that than to spend the day in bed with Sophia?

When Sophiafinally stumbled out of his bedroom, she was a grouchy mess. Mumbling something about coffee, she walked right past where Pirate was standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. Her wild hair resembled Medusa’s snakes, she had eyeliner running down the side of her cheek, and she wore absolutely nothing underneath one of his shirts. He got a fantastic look at her goods under the hem when she went up on her toes to pull a mug down from the cabinet.

Bleary eyed, she stuffed an entire cinnamon roll into her mouth as she pressed the buttons on the espresso machine she’d added to the apartment after Jasmine had moved in. Sophia tried to pass it off that it had come from Jasmine’s old apartment, but since Sophia was the only one who used it, Pirate doubted her story. Plus, he’d been in Jasmine’s old place and he couldn’t remember seeing an espresso machine in her kitchen.

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