Page 36 of Scotch: Unraveled

It’s too dark to read his face and overly loud and I—shit—I don’t think I heard him properly. “Ya want what?”

“For you to get your head outta yer ass and go get that woman.” He speaks real slow. Annunciating each word as if he thinks I’m too stupid to understand.

“I—” Confused, my mouth drops open and stays open.

“Did ya tell her about the pieces? She know they like to fuck out in the open? That it’s a badge of pride for ’em?” Duke asks.

I shut my mouth. “No.”

“You warn her when she ain’t tryin’ to process everything she’s seein’ that Lords parties are almost anything goes, but she don’t have to participate in anything she’s not comfortable with?” Boss continues.

“No.” I grit my teeth and slam back the last of my drink, then use the back of my hand to wipe my mouth. No, what I did was run my mouth like an arsehole and tell her I’d fuck her on the bar top. It felt like a slap in the face, like she was judging me because I don’t judge the brothers who don’t take it into private. Like I’m somehow wrong. What else was I supposed to do? Frankie is everything to me.

“Did ya send Ronnie away when she dropped to blow ya in front of yer woman?” Duke asks. “Because it sure as fuck didn’t look like it.”

This time I don’t bother to answer at all. I was shocked that Ronnie would be so brazen and the way Frankie reacted, she didn’t give me the chance to do anything but stand there and look dumb.

“Brother,” Boss says. “You got a second chance with this woman. Don’t blow it. Elise loves her. Says she’s total old lady material.”

Okay. “Listen—”

“No,youlisten. Don’t know if you remember, but Elise freaked the fuck out when she saw the pieces.”

I shake my head. “No. I was taking care of business. We didn’t meet until you were opening the club.”

“Right. Then you missed some fireworks, brother. I neglected to tell her how the parties go. She wasn’t used to that shit. But she got used to it, just like your woman will if you give her the chance.”

All this is getting us nowhere. I should’ve never brought her to the party. Why did I think she’d be okay with it? She’s a daycare teacher for Christ’s sake. Nothing more to be said. I stand from the stool ready to call this night a bust and start over tomorrow. “I think she’s just too… good for the life.”

Wrong thing to say. Both Duke and Boss take defensive stances in front of me, blocking me in. “Ya sayin’ Doc ain’t good?” Duke asks. “I’d think long and hard about how yer gonna answer.”

“Brother, you gonna talk shit about my wife?” Boss says at almost the same time.

“Fuck, no… wasn’t saying yar women ain’t good, I meant goody two-shoes. That’s the phrase my ma used.”

“Ain’t no woman worth takin’ on as an old lady who ain’t a little goody two-shoes in the beginnin’. She wasn’t, she’d already be a piece up here fuckin’ the brothers. You gotta ease ’em into the life,” Duke says.

“Don’t remember ya easing Caity into anything.”

“It took her a year of comin’ here before she started gettin’ used to how things work. That’s when she finally opened to bein’ my old lady. She and I’d been dancin’ around our attraction that whole time.” Duke lifts his glass to the prospect for another drink. “Look, I ain’t tellin’ ya who to put in yer bed. I’m just sayin’ you got a woman who clearly loves yer stupid ass, and she loves those babies better than their own ma. Like shewastheir ma—takin’ on all that responsibility while you were gone. Don’t love her back, yer call. But if she’s the one, then brother, you better get yer ass down the mountain and bring that woman home.”

Then they both turn to leave me standing knee-deep in my own misery. The realization of what a stupid fuck I’ve been hits hard. I scrub my hands over my face and take in several slow breaths. Christ, I screwed this all up.

Phone in hand, I dial Frankie while leaving the club. Predictably, she doesn’t answer. “Woman, pick up. I was a major arse and I’m sorry. We need to talk.”

I jog for home to get my truck because we might have to stop and get the lassies. Dutchy opens the gate for me to speed through. It takes ten minutes to reach Frankie’s apartment complex. I forget which number is hers because she always brings the babes home to me and have to scroll through old texts to find it.

Her car’s not parked out front. I throw the truck in park and hop out to run up to her door. And I stand there for several minutes like a damn fool, knocking on a door that no one’s going to answer. If she’s not home, then she’s with Brighton.

Back in the truck, I hightail it over to Brighton’s neighborhood. And I notice a problem right away. The lights are on in the living room, but the front door is wide open, though Frankie’s car is in the drive, so I know she has to be here. They would’ve had to have seen my headlights turn into the driveway and yet no Brighton in the doorway waiting to bitch at me. Something isn’t right. I reach over to pull my pistol from the glovebox before exiting the cab.

Arms outstretched, the barrel pointing low, I slowly move up the paved walk to the front of the house. Still no one shows to bitch at me. No noise but the television coming from inside. “Frankie?” I call inside. I’m getting a bad feeling. “Ya alright in there?” My gut clenches. Fuck if I don’t wanna go in there but I know I have to. “Get the lasses,mo leannan. I was an arse for sure, but I’m bringing ya home.”

Nothing.

When I reach the open door, I know she’s not going to yell at me because she’s notfuckinghere.The front room is turned. Furniture flipped over. Broken glass. And I see at least one spot of blood on the carpet.

“Frankie!” I call out, again. “Frankie, it’s me. If yar here, please, Jesus, answer.” No answer comes. I run through the house, checking every room, using my shirt to open doors to not leave any prints. My wee ones are gone. Brighton is gone. Frankie is fucking gone. My chest grows tight. It feels like a fist wrapped around my heart trying to pull it out of my body.

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