Page 66 of Hendrix

“I know,” Bones drawled. “You got scared ‘cause you’re still hung up over something that happened fucking years ago.” He leaned forward. “You need to start being honest.”

A stab of pain jabbed my chest.

Bones knew everything about me. He was my doctor, after all. “I made it my mission to deal with everything screwing with my head over the last few years. When I was with Anna, my pride got in the way, along with my ego. I felt less than a man, and I couldn’t deal with her seeing me the same way, but now everything’s changed. I’ve got a second chance, so I gotta open up to her if I want a different result to last time.”

“Then go get your fuckin’ girl, Jameson.”

My gut tightened. “Won’t be easy, dude. I screwed up bad.”

“No shit,” he muttered. “But I know you, brother. When you want somethin’, nothing will stand in your way.”

“There’s no question I’m claiming Anna, but I dunno how I’m gonna convince her to get with the program.”

“Start with Daisy,” he advised. “God knows it’s about time you put that bitch in her place. She effectively poisoned a pregnant woman. You wanna count your blessings that Anna’s just intolerant and not allergic. It could’ve been fatal.”

The thought made my blood curdle, and my fingers itched with the need to choke the fuck outta Daisy, but not in a way she’d enjoy.

She’d effectively annihilated any respect I had for her. What we had was physical, not emotional, at least for me, but I’d always admired her quick wit and smarts. Daisy hadn’t had it easy, which may have explained why she attached herself to me. As warped as it was, fucking the prez gave her a sense of worth.

However, the more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that Bones was right. Daisy had carried out a targeted attack—a clear warning—and she’d done it despite knowing what Anna meant to me. All the other women—Daisy included—were easy pussy, an attempt for me to move on, though I was beginning to see the error of my ways, especially as those errors were coming back to bite me—and now Anna—in the ass.

Daisy’s fuck-up was something bigger, though, because she’d done the one thing I’d never forgive, something I’d recently killed a man for.

She’d hurt my woman.

And that was a big mistake.

—————

“I’ve been feeling off about Daisy for a while,” Blade admitted, leaning toward me across my desk. “But no fucker took me seriously. She’s been acting like the queen of the castle for a while, and it’s left a bad taste in my mouth. I booted Sara out last night when you were in Philly playing judge, jury, and executioner, and I did it quietly, but I think we should make an example of Daisy. The message obviously needs to get through to the other girls. Their catty bullshit is unacceptable. They don’t rule our dicks, and they don’t rule our club. End of.”

“I’ve felt it for a while too,” I agreed. “But Daisy didn’t do anything to warrant getting kicked out. Now she has, so she’s gone.” I pulled open my desk drawer and rooted around for some Tylenol. “Did you tell the boys not to touch her?”

An evil smile curved Blade’s mouth. “She’s down the cave, secured to a chair, but nobody’s fucked with her, well, not physically anyway.”

I threw three pills down my throat and took a gulp of water. “This shit’s stressin’ me out, and I’m runnin’ on five hours of sleep in three days.”

“The sitch with Anna can’t have helped,” he pointed out. “I can’t imagine the worry you felt about the baby. I still can’t get my head around the fact Daisy did that shit to her. It’s fuckin’ evil. I’m starting to wonder if easy pussy’s worth all the headaches that come with it.”

I let out a snort. “We’d have a revolt on our hands if we took away the boys’ fun. A lot of ‘em need the act of sex to function. Could you imagine how stir-crazy they’d be if they couldn’t fuck their demons outta their system?”

Blade nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right, but personally, I’m done with the club girls. I’m too old to be fucking a different hole every night. I need to look for a decent woman and settle my ass down.”

“Like Carina?” I asked knowingly.

His face blanked. “Too young for me.”

I stared at him like he’d gone loopy. “The woman’s nearly thirty years old.”

Blade’s hand went to the top of his fake leg, and he scratched his wound, something he did when he felt uncomfortable. “Carrie and Gigi deserve better than an old vet with life-altering war injuries who’s past his prime.”

“She’ll do exactly that one day, Nate. I’m speaking from experience when I tell you to be careful what you wish for. I’d hate to see you lose precious time because of hang-ups that, in the great scheme of things, don’t matter. If you like her, go for it, but if you don’t, let her go so she can find what she needs somewhere else.”

He stared me down for a few seconds before nodding sharply.

“Right,” I muttered, relieved that finally that shit was out of the way. “Shall we go deal with Breadgate?”

“It’d be laughable if it wasn’t so fuckin’ dangerous,” Blade retorted, shaking his head.

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