Baby girl, I think you got this twisted, but that’s on me. I’m sorry I upset you.
Lexie
It’s fine. I’m fine. Don’t worry about it, Bear.
Shit.I didn’t need my sister to interpret that one. She was trying to freeze me out. But she’d learn I wasn’t so easy to get rid of.
Bear
I told you to call me Gabriel. I thought letting you sleep was the right call, but I should have woken you up and said goodbye before I left.
Lexie
It’s all good. Kayla set me straight at breakfast on how things work at the clubhouse.
I groaned. I didn’t know what Kayla told her, but I was sure it wasn’t good.
Bear
I meant what I said last night. But it’s okay if you don’t believe me. I look forward to proving it to you.
I held my breath as I waited for her reply. The three dots showing she was typing blinked, then disappeared, then blinked again, until finally…
Lexie
Okay.
I let out a sigh of relief and grinned. I was back in.
Bear
I’m out of town for the next few days or I’d come to you right now and set things straight. Call Dan or one of the brothers if you need anything while I’m gone.
She didn’t respond, but I didn’t expect her to. Without the haze of jealousy, I knew she’d be fine with Dan. I believed him when he said he wasn’t interested in Lexie like that. At least, not since he was fourteen. Now I needed to handle my club business so I could handle my old lady business.
15
BEAR
Ordinarily, if I entered another MC’s territory, I would remove my cut out of respect until I had permission from their prez to wear my colors. But since Balthazar refused to answer his damn phone, I was forced to take a different approach.
I waltzed into the Diablos’ Den like I didn’t have a care in the world. It was mid-morning, so the bar was empty. If I’d come last night when I’d first arrived, the place would have been crawling with Diablos. That would have landed me with a major ass kicking and a trip to the hospital. Instead, I spent the night in a cheap hotel, biding my time until the right moment.
At 11:00 a.m., most of the brothers would be sleeping off their hangover. The bartender looked at me and sighed.
“You sure you want to be wearing that in here?” he asked, staring at my cut.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
He sighed and picked up the phone. “Your funeral.”
“How about a pint before the service?”
He shrugged and poured me a beer. “You’ll have to pay in cash.”
I chuckled and tossed a twenty on the counter.
Within ten minutes, I scored the meeting we’d been trying to get for a week. The door banged open and the room filled with men.
