Chapter 6
After a sleepless night, I find myself downstairs early. I'm not an early person and thoroughly enjoy my sleep, but I have so much fucking shit on my mind right now, I wonder if I will ever sleep again. The bar needs a good cleaning, so that is where I find myself this morning. It's better if I keep myself busy; somehow it doesn't hurt so badly. Aw, fuck, who am I trying to kid, it hurts like hell. Sometimes, I wish it had just been a fuck and dump with Ice. It would have been so much easier in the long run.
Just as I'm wiping down the bar counter and trying not to show all the fucked up emotions I am feeling, Emma comes down the back stairs.Fuck! Just my luck. The last thing I want to deal with this morning is her, especially alone.
"Good morning, Honey," she says shyly as she approaches the bar.
Do I intimidate her?I wonder. I reply shortly, "Morning." I then continue to go about my work. If I show her any type of kindness right now, I won't be able to control the tears. And the last thing I want to do is be a crying mess in front of her. She will never see my hurt.
"Do you know where I could get a cup of coffee?"
"Coffee is in the kitchen. If you want cream or sugar you will have to find it; me and the boys drink our coffee black and strong." I know I'm being rude, but I want my message to be crystal clear:You are not welcome here. She nods and heads into the kitchen and I breathe a sigh of relief.
A few minutes later she comes back into the common area with her coffee in hand. Apparently the princess is not quite as helpless as she appears. She sits at the bar.Oh fuck. Please don't talk to me, I plead to myself.I can't carry on a conversation with her. I won't.Luckily, she drinks her coffee quietly and doesn't try to engage me in any conversation.
As if they could hear my plea, Tiny, Doc and Dbag come down. As soon as Tiny sees Emma, his eyes light up.Fucking traitor! I think I need to have a talk with our sweet, boy-next-door prospect. Surely he knows not to mess with Ice's girl.As soon as I think that, the realization hits home–“Ice’s girl” doesn’t refer to me anymore.
"Good morning, Miss Emma," Tiny says, then continues, "Have you met Dbag and Doc?"
"No, I haven't," she replies. She looks at the other two men and says, "Nice to meet you, I'm Emma."
So fucking polite.They both eye her up and down and smile. They don't say anything to her, just smile and walk away. After they step away I go back to cleaning up the bar.
Emma asks Tiny, "I was wondering—if you are not too busy, would you be able to take me to my apartment? I forgot to pick up my laptop and would really like to get it."
He nervously replies, "I'm not sure that's a good idea. Ice told us you were not to leave for any reason."
We all know that, Ice made it perfectly clear that she was not to leave. Even I heard him say that.
"Oh, Tiny, it's ok. I told Ice last night that I needed my laptop and he said fine. He knows that I was going to ask you to take me back to my apartment."
Tiny shrugs and says, "Well, if Ice okayed it, just let me take care of a couple of things and then we can go."
She gets up and I'm pleasantly surprised when she picks her cup up and takes it into the kitchen instead of leaving it for me to clean up. When I walk in behind her, I see her washing it. When she's done she turns, smiles at me, and leaves. Fifteen minutes later, she and Tiny leave the clubhouse.
Ice and some of the boys had an early meeting this morning, but now they have come back. They're all hanging at the bar, and of course, I am getting them their drinks. Just as I turn to give Ice his bourbon, he asks, "Have you seen Emma this morning?"
As much as I love him, I'm still pissed at him for doing this to me. It's obvious that he has cast me aside, but he hasn't even got the balls to tell me. Then he's all sickie sweet to me and it makes me want to punch him. Knowing that that's not an option, I reply with very little emotion, "She came down earlier and got some coffee. Then I saw her leave with Tiny."
Just as I expected, he looks pissed off at that news. The question is, however, is he pissed at me or at someone else? Well, fuck him if it's me. I may have to swallow my pride and accept this fucked up situation, but I sure as hell am not gonna walk around here all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
"Where the fuck did they go?" he yells.
Ok, so he's not pissed at me. Wishful thinking, I guess. He is fucking clueless about anything that I am feeling.
I shrug. Fuck him. He's the president of this club, let him figure out where they went. I'm not his information person. I know I could easily tell him where they went, but he is making my life a living hell right now and watching him suffer a bit actually makes me feel a little bit better.
"Ryder, get Tiny on the phone and find out where in the hell he took her and tell him to get her back here ASAP. And so help me, tell him if anything happens to her on his watch, I'll have his head, not to mention his patch."
"You got it, Ice," Ryder says and he picks up his phone to make the call. He steps away from the bar while he talks and then a few minutes later he comes back and says, "Well boss, it seems that Emma wanted her laptop. Tiny took her back to her apartment and said he was bringing her right back."
Ice turns to Spike and says, "Back them up. I have a bad feeling about this." Spike nods and immediately gets up and leaves.
Ice is acting as if Emma is in serious danger. Could that be why he is being so cautious with her? I don't know the whole story as to why she is here, but if her life is in danger, then this is where she needs to be. Maybe I was too quick to judge her. Still, that doesn't explain the sexual tension between them. We've all felt it.
After Spike leaves, Ice is on edge. He keeps staring at the door as if he is willing them to return. He paces for a while, then sits back down and has another drink. He's drinking more than normal and I begin to worry. Finally, his phone rings and from the conversation, I'm sure it's Tiny.
"You sure as hell fucked up! What part of ‘she never leaves this clubhouse’ did you not understand?!" Ice yells into the phone. He pauses and then yells again, "Tiny, if you don't fucking get her home ASAP I swear to God you'll have a lot more things to worry about than a tail." He pauses and then says, “You better believe it won't happen again. Get the fuck home as soon as you can!" He disconnects the line and begins to pace again. I don't think I have ever seen him this like this. He's always calm and collected; he never loses his shit. But if he has to wait much longer for them to get here, he definitely will.
