Page 78 of Ice
I rubbed my face, and winced. The bastard caught me on the cheekbone with that fucking sucker punch.
“Yeah, well, it’s not like I had a chance to make it clear it was just a bit of fun. I did get stabbed and left for dead, I dunno, maybe you remember that?”
“Oh, here he goes again. I got stabbed wah wah wah, I mean, who hasn’t?” I flipped Has off again.
“My point is, I forgot she fucking existed, Pres. How the hell am I supposed to remember every girl I fuck?”
I could hear Has muttering under his breath, but I stayed focused on Reacher. I was scared I was about to get kicked from the club, and everything I’d done, everything I’d hidden… it was all to prevent exactly that. It was my home, the only place I’d ever felt like myself in.
He was rubbing his fingers over his eyebrow studs, staying silent for way too many painful moments.
“Am I gonna need to put you two in fucking therapy? We can’t keep having you come to blows like this. You’re brothers, and I know we all shoot our mouths off sometimes, but, fuck me, can you just try to get on like you’re not both immense dickheads?”
Has was laughing, but I was still worried.
“Am I being kicked out, Pres?”
Lissa
IrantoIce’sroom,fully planning to grab my things and get the hell out while I could. Reacher might not have physically thrown me out yet, but he’d been very clear. Any more drama and I’m gone, but who knew that drama would come from another fucking woman?
“Gahhhh!” I picked up Ice’s mug and threw it at the kitchen cupboards, seeing shards fly in all directions as it shattered, splashing the remnants of cold liquid everywhere.
“Wow, nice shot.” I turned to see Reacher’s old lady standing in the doorway. She stepped inside and shoved the door shut behind her, muting the sound of Reacher yelling somewhere down the hall.
“Don’t worry. I’m just getting my stuff.” At least I still had a home for a little longer, even if I didn’t have any way of getting there without spending money I didn’t have on a taxi.
Alicia took my arm and led me to the sofa, nudging me into a seat.
“Tell me what happened.”
Was I still crying? Yes, and how the hell had I not run out of tears yet?
“He has a girlfriend, or at least, things are more serious than he led me to believe when he said he’d slept with one other woman recently. My god. Am I the other woman? Am I the bitch who’s wrecking a relationship?” I really had hit rock bottom, and there was nowhere left to go.
Alicia was shaking her head.
“Don’t make any assumptions, babe. Honestly, I’ve never known him to bring a woman back here, so I’m sure it’s a misunderstanding. I’ve never seen her before.”
That didn’t mean he wasn’t serious with her, it just meant that he’d kept his personal life away from the clubhouse, which I could understand to a degree, because otherwise everyone knew everyone’s business.
“I really thought he loved me, Alicia. He even said the words.”
She nodded. “He said it to Reacher too, and he was blown away. He put the phone down and just stared at me like he’d just had a big shock. I was worried it was bad news about Stitch, but when he told me what Ice had said, I was just as surprised. I haven’t known him very long, because he was stabbed not long after I… uh… joined the family.”
I’d noticed the reference to Stitch, the second one I’d heard with some kind of suggestion that he was ill.
“Is Stitch okay? I haven’t met him yet, but Ice was worried about him.”
She looked uncomfortable, glancing around the room.
“Why don’t I get Tommy to bring up a couple of coffees for us?”
“Will I be here long enough to drink it?”
It was only when our drinks had been delivered that she sat beside me and took a breath.
“You have to understand, what’s going on with any member of this club isn’t really my business or yours. They’re very secretive, especially around me. I mean, they voted against me being Reacher’s old lady, so they hardly confide in me, but he does. He needs someone to talk to, especially with Stitch being away. They’re like this double act, this kind of, I don’t know… they’re so in sync with each other, and what they want for the club, and this distance is hurting them both.”
