Page 12 of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

Blood needs to know I talked with Liv. The problem being, he still hasn’t said more than a handful of words to me. Goddamn, that man is stubborn. I ran out on the woman I’ve loved my whole life to help avenge the death of his father, no questions asked. That saying, a best friend will help you bury the body… And he can’t cut me some slack? I would never hurt Liv. Never cheat on her. On the contrary, I want to give her the best life she can possibly have.

I walk out of my room at the Brimstone Lords clubhouse and down the two doors to Blood’s. Knock one: no answer. Knock two: harder, no answer. Knock three: with my fist, no answer. I’m not stupid enough to call out to him because he’d ignore me out of spite. But after three knocks and he still doesn’t answer, I go looking for him elsewhere. When I step into the main common room off the hallway that leads to the member’s bedrooms, I see Hero slapping the ass of a piece to get her moving out the door. A piece he’d obviously bedded the night before and from the barely-dressed, disheveled look of her, this morning. And when I say her ass, I mean she hardly has her miniscule denim skirt pulled back down over her firm, rounded cheeks. No underwear, girls like her rarely wear any. His handprint shines bright pink against her peachy skin.

Fuck, that used to be me.

Night after night, I’d snap my fingers and some piece would be on me, riding my dick. I wouldn’t go back to that for anything. All empty pussy. I came harder last night from my own hand with Livvy’s voice in my ear than I ever did from any of them. Liv’s tight, wet heat is all a man like me needs for the rest of my life.Jesus, I need to find her—I need to get laid. What I mean is, I need to find herandI need to get laid. And the only way to do that is to sic Blood on her trail.

Lucky, Blood hasn’t left for the day. He walks out from the kitchen sipping on a mug of something steaming, most likely coffee, when he looks up from the drink he’s about to take and stops short as his eyes find me, and he quickly pivots to go back into the kitchen.

“Stop,” I call out. His back is to me, but he stops, waiting for me to speak. “I talked to Liv last night.” That gets his attention.

He turns back to me. “Go on.”

“She called me. I assume from a burner phone, since she left hers behind. She’s okay, man. But she’s confused. All that Houdini shit messed her up.”

“She left you. Why would she call you?” He might have a scowl as he answers, but at least we’ve started a dialogue.

“She didn’t leaveme, Blood. She left Kentucky. She leftthe club. Liv loves me, just like I love her. I wish you’d get over your shit. Fuck, you’re my best fucking friend, man. You know it’s real between me and Liv. You saw how I took care of her. I just can’t understand why you’re still so bent.”

“You’re fuckingmysister.”

“Yeah,” I shoot back. “Because I love her. I want heras my wife. Part of that includes fucking her.”

“Shit… I don’t know why it threw me.” Blood scrubs his hand over his face as he sighs, long and resigned.

“Well, you think you can get over it? Because I picked up a few details from our conversation last night. They aren’t much to go off, but if anyone can work from this starting point, it’s you, brother.”

He takes another sip of his coffee. “Whatcha got?”

“Well, she told me that she thinks I’d love it, where she is. Which means it has to be by water.”

“Water,” he repeats. “Got it.”

“And she works for a man named Smitty at a gas station. She has to be in a small town because she said everyone knows everyone. And she has a yard.”

“Okay. So water. Smitty. Gas station. Yard. Small town. Anything else?”

“Not yet. But I’ll keep working her.”

Blood shoots a curt nod. “Let me get my map out and see what I can come up with.” And he walks past me in the direction of the bedrooms. He stops at the mouth of the hallway. “Treat her well, brother. That’s all I ask.” On that little ditty, he moves again down the hallway.

Ten months. Afterten months, he gives it. Liv and I have his blessing. Now I just have to get my woman back so we can start actually living our life together. The information I gave him, well, it’s not much to go on. But if anyone can find a direction to focus on, it’s Blood. He’s worked with less.

“Did Blood just give you the go-ahead to fuck his sister?” Hero asks. I’d forgotten he was in the room with us.

“Yeah, in a relationship. You might want to try it someday.”

“Fuck, not you too. What I want to try right now is some of Blood’s coffee. You?”

“Yeah.”

We both head for the kitchen. Hero grabs the pot while I fish two mugs from the cupboard above the sink and set them down on the counter. He pours one for me and one for himself. Then I pull the jug of milk from the refrigerator and pour a glug into my cup.

“Milk?” I offer. He takes the plastic jug from my hand and pours two glugs. Liquid splashes over the side of his mug.

“You know,” he says, sipping on his drink, “Houdini’s been quiet for some time. I don’t like it.”

Just hearing that mother fucker’s name makes me cringe. “Fuck, I know. And Liv being out there all alone. I don’t like it one bit. But you know, you tracked Elise, brother. You should be in Blood’s room plotting with him. You got good instincts.”

He smiles. “Right. I’m on it.”

I watch him leave the kitchen, while sipping on my coffee. We’re going to find her.

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