Page 55 of Creed

Then the silverware drawer happened. Was she trying to fuck with my head or was she as nervous and embarrassed as she seemed? Jesus, I saw a lot but not enough. Looks were one thing, I knew rich gorgeous girls in my life, but none of them were like Morgan. I liked normal women. The girl next door types, not drop dead gorgeous superstars. But dammit, Morgan might have been a superstar, but she was also the girl next door.

Then fucking Irons walked in and I saw the way he looked at her. It might have been understandable, she was gorgeous, but some kind of protective instinct kicked in and I was ready to beat his ass. Irons of all people. The man wouldn’t harm a woman, but something inside me hated him for lookingat her that way. He was probably the nicest and most respectful man I ever knew, and he wasn’t even the type for casual sex. Did she like the way he looked at her? What if she liked it? Maybe she hated it and that was why she let me command her to get dressed. The Morgan I was getting to know wouldn’t take orders so easily.

My door flew open, and I jumped, quickly into action to click out of the image on my computer screen. When I looked up I saw Axton standing in my doorway with a confused look on his face.

“What the hell was that?” He asked as he pointed at my computer.

“Nothing, are they ready?” I quickly stood from my chair and walked around my desk.

“Nothing? You read over top secret documents on that computer but never jumped that fast when someone walked in on you. What the hell were you doing?” He stepped out of my way then followed me toward the briefing room.

“Nothing.”

“Okay. I guess it was nothing just like the way you greeted Irons this morning?” He continued to follow me. “He said Morgan looked pretty damn flushed and was sitting on your kitchen counter half dressed.”

“I was just coming inside from my morning swim and making coffee. Nothing happened, now cut that shit out. We don’t need rumors starting around here. Felicity was already shitty to her the morning after she arrived. Morgan doesn’t need to face any jealousy from the girls.”

“Irons said he thought you were about to break his neck for looking. I mean, you can’t really blame the guy.” He stopped behind me before I opened the briefing room door.

“New rule, nobody is to enter my house before 0800.” I opened the door and stepped inside.

Two hours later, I was out of the debriefing and headed to a meeting with the Originals. When I walked in I didn’t make eye contact with any of them. I knew what they were thinking. There was no doubt Irons ran his mouth to all of them about Morgan. When I did look at them after taking a seat they were all just staring at me like I had something for them

“What?”

Axton cleared his throat. “Any updates about Miss Rossi’s situation?”

I nodded. “My sources in the Fallen Angel’s MC are telling me that Sniper has flown the coop. From what I understand he didn’t take the news of Mrs. Doyle’s death very well and tore up the clubhouse before he disappeared. His VP has a few guys out looking for him, but I don’t think it’ll be long before he turns up. The state police were able to get a few in for questioning about the drugs Shane mentioned but they were tight lipped.”

Axton nodded like he knew what I was thinking. “He will show up at the services. Maybe to watch from afar, but if he has balls he will try to make his way in and that’ll be our chance to arrange a meeting.”

I leaned back in my chair. “We need to discuss the services. The Fallen Angel’s MC has agreed to attend, and our operatives are to blend in with them. I want eight agents in four vehicles watching from the street. I will disguise myself asher private security to stay close, but I want eyes everywhere. I want agents posted at every entrance and exit, and that’s the same for the wake at the VFW hall. I sent Gunter to visit Callie’s mother, and she provided a list of all family members. I want ID’s checked at the VFW hall to record every person attending. The Fallen Angels have also agreed to have their men clear the cemetery and block the cemetery gates from the media. I don’t want anymore stress put on Morgan. This is hard enough for her without worrying about the Rejects and the paparazzi. The VFW auxiliary is providing the meal, but I sent a check with Gunter to cover all expenses. Does anyone have any questions?”

Granger spoke up. “Any word on the little girl and how she’s holding up?”

I spoke in a sigh. “The state won’t let anyone near her until after everything is filed with the courts. I have Falcon and Emery watching over the foster home and she hasn’t left the house. They placed her a distance away, up north, and I think that was a good decision. Once the death certificates are filed the attorney will file for custody and Addie can come home.”

All of them tilted their heads and asked the same damn thing. “Home?”

Here we go… “As far as I’m concerned, Creed’s Lake is their temporary home. At least until the Rejects are handled and Morgan can purchase a secure place of her own. When she does, I’d like to personally hire her security team. Even with the Reject’s taken care of, I doubt the media will settle for a while and of course the creeps that seek her out.”

Granger spoke up. “The child could be placed with Morgan soon. Will she be going back to school or will she join the homeschooling program? I can’t imagine she needs the attention that comes with Morgan right away. We shouldprobably start considering our options as far as security as soon as possible. School might be out for the summer, but I’m sure we will have to run our security by the Superintendent of schools.”

I ran my hand down my beard as his totally legitimate question soaked in. “She needs to do as many normal things as possible right now and going back to attend school with the children she knows would be best, but yeah, I guess you have a legitimate concern. I need to speak with Morgan. She will be adopting Addie and will start that process once they’re settled in their own home. I’m sure there will be some scrutiny during that process, so she needs good legal representation.” I looked at Irons. “Do a thorough screening on Brett Darling. If he’s not up to par I’ll find the best choice for her, if she’s open to it.” I needed to make sure Addie had the best of everything. We couldn’t take any risks of losing her again. “Please have Stephanie visit Morgan and figure out what all Addie may need. I doubt any of her clothing from the trailer are worth a damn, and I’d like Addie to feel at home. Morgan will be ordering furniture and will need to know what to order and of course the process of delivery.”

Granger nodded. “She always planned to give Morgan some guidance.”

I brought up Stephanie a lot because she was the best fucking mom and wife on the planet. Not only had she helped build Creed’s Lake, she was supportive and would be a great influence for Morgan. She acted as our community intake specialist. She didn’t work with prospects, just their spouses and children. She also worked with Bolton on rare occasions when one of our operatives were either killed in action or injured on a mission. Bolton provided therapy while Stephanie provided all other support to the families.

We continued the meeting, but when it ended I had one more order of business. I cleaned off my desk and put everything away then shut down my computer. After telling everyone I was going to be out for the day, I went up to the community center to track down Felicity. She was found sitting on a bar stool watching the girls rehearse on stage. As soon as I approached her eyes lit up and she patted the seat next to her. I nodded to the prospect behind the bar to bring me a beer.

“Its not like you to come up from the dungeon so early.” She put her hand on my thigh, but I removed it.

“Yeah, you and I need to have a little talk about what you said to Miss Rossi yesterday morning.”

She put her hand back on my leg. “You know how protective I am of you, Creed.”

I removed her hand again as my beer was sat down on the bar. “You don’t do intakes. I saw everything as it happened on camera, and you are never to try and scare anyone off. Not only is my relationship status none of your business, you don’t get to make up rules. Stephanie does the intakes, and you are only supposed to go over what the community has to offer to prospects.”

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