Page 44 of Bullet
“Anonymous call, my ass. This has William all over it,” Wrath grunts.
“Always two steps ahead,” Colt says lightly.
“Look, you guys are safe from them coming back tonight, but this won’t actually end until he’s taken care of,” the lawyer tells us.
“Thanks, man. I appreciate you coming out here on such short notice,” Reaper tells him.
The lawyer smirks as he stands, buttoning his suit jacket. “That’s why you pay me. I’ll see you guys later.”
No one makes a sound until the lawyer’s out of the clubhouse.
“What do we do now?” Pinky asks.
Reaper sighs, exhaustion getting to him. He looks over at Trigger. “Have you found out anything about the girl yet?”
As soon as I got her number, I handed the burner phone over to Trigger, and he’s been texting her on my behalf ever since. Something I wish I could have told Harlee earlier, but the less she knows, the better.
He shakes his head. “Not yet. I’m working on it.”
“We don’t have much time. We have to go on a run soon, which means we’re going to be shorthanded around here. We can’t afford for him to hit while some of us are away,” Reaper says.
“Sounds like it’s time for you to ask her on a date,” Colt says.
It’s just the idea of going out with her makes me feel nauseous. I don’t want to go out with her. I don’t want to play games with her. This is fucked up. It needs to be done, though.
“I’ll start hinting at a date,” Trigger says.
“Geez kid, do you have to look like somebody killed your dog? You can’t really be that upset about having to take a pretty girl out,” Pinky says.
I bite my tongue. He wouldn’t want to be going out with another woman if he were in my shoes.
“All right, it’s late. Everyone, get out of here. We’ll reconvene tomorrow,” Reaper says.
As most of the brothers exit the room, I stay in my seat thinking about what comes next.
Today was a particularly rough day at therapy. We really dug into the things that used to make me happy and how I can have them again. I realized that a lot of what made me happy was my mom. She was my best friend. I feel like I took that for granted all those years.
Now she’s gone, and I am floundering.
The therapist did have some suggestions to get me back on track. I have a list of homework to complete before our next session, but I don’t know how Bullet is going to feel about it. Not when the first item is hanging out with my friends again.
Needing an escape, I ended up here at Tara’s bookstore. I could have gone to the tattoo shop, but that wouldn’t have given me the escape I needed. I’ll still cover for Claire when she gives birth, but the bookstore has more to keep my hands busy. It helps me from dwelling on the issues in my head.
I’m carrying a box into the back when the door opens. It’s the girl Bullet was hitting on.
My stomach drops. I hustle into the back and find Tara.
“I can’t. I know I should be the bigger person. He is allowed to be with whoever he wants, but I can’t. Please don’t make me,” I tell her.
She glances into the main area and sighs. “You do know it probably isn’t what you think it is, right?”
“Maybe, but I have feelings for him that aren’t going to go away. I can’t go out there and be nice to her knowing she might get what I’ve always wanted. It might be petty, but I can’t.”
She nods. “Stay back here. I’ll handle it.” She leaves me in the backroom as she heads out to greet the woman.
My heart hurts as I slide down the wall. I hate feeling like this. I wish there weren’t so many obstacles in our way. If we were in another life, it wouldn’t be an issue for him to approach me and ask me on a date. No one would be able to tell him no because that’s not how the real world works. Instead, I’m an MC legacy who fell for a member. It means my father gets the final say, and right now he isn’t going to say yes to anything except another glass of scotch.
I miss him. He was my hero.
