Page 133 of Shattered Pieces

“Not much. I was exhausted, so I thought it would’ve been easier to just pass out. Marco and Hunter stopped by in the middle of the night to get Marco’s bike too,” she huffed, sipping her coffee.

“Seriously? They woke you up?” I scowled, considering going to the warehouse and knocking them both out, but she chuckled.

“Not on purpose. I was already awake and heard Marco in the other room looking for his keys. Hunter gave me some handguns. I’m pissed at them both right now, but I trust that they’re not fucking me over. I need the guns, and there’s no way Skeet will let me have any of his.”

“You’re not wrong. I wanted to get some more for you but he shut that down fast. Hunter doesn’t want you locked up or dead, so you should be safe using his. His interest in you is still concerning though because it looks bad to Skeet. Causes more issues.”

“My only concern is staying safe from the Soldiers right now. Skeet’s a problem for another day,” she grunted, but I knew she was lying. She wanted to fix that problem right now, which wasn’t safe.

“I’ll talk to Skeet again, not that I think it will do much good. Don’t go to him alone,” I murmured, placing my hand on the back of her neck for comfort. She shuffled her chair closer and I automatically put my arm out for her to lean into me, the tingles moving across my skin like they always did when she touched me.

Her simple touches set me on fire, and I still couldn’t believe she trusted me like this after everything she’d been through.

“Caden didn’t come home last night,” she said, and I sighed.

“Skeet’s brainwashed him. They’ll realize they were wrong eventually. I’m due at the Shed at ten, but you can hang out here all day, if you want? No one should bother you, they know better than to come inside the house uninvited,” I replied seriously, but she shook her head and sat back to look at me.

“I need to be busy. I want to fight but have no idea where to do that. The gym can only occupy me for so long before I get bored.”

“You definitely worked out a lot in lockup. You’re getting biceps,” I smiled as if she didn’t have some muscle there before. She might have been skinny, but she’d been swinging arms in fights for a long damn time.

She laughed, taking a mouthful of her coffee again as we lapsed into silence.

It was nice spending my morning with her, but it was even better when Brick texted to let me know a bunch of them were handling the morning meeting and I didn’t need to show up for another few hours.

“C’mon, let’s go to the range for a while. Did you bring a gun?” I asked, relieved when she nodded. “Good. We can spend an hour or two doing that to keep you occupied, and it will get some practice in too. I’ll grab you that ointment for your tattoos too.”

Her face lit up and I melted a little. She really wasn’t hard to please once you knew her. Fancy shit didn’t really faze her, but shooting guns? Yeah, she liked that.

We took separate cars once she had the ointment in hand, just in case Skeeter decided to be a dick and call me back in, and I honestly wasn’t surprised in the slightest when we’d been there for twenty minutes before getting company.

“This is cute,” Archer scoffed as he appeared in the doorway with Myles, his eyes on Rory. She glanced over and groaned, giving them a dirty look.

“Whatever this is, don’t. I just got home, asshole.”

They didn’t appear to be angry, so it must not have been a bad visit. Not that it relaxed me.

“I don’t like you, but I can respect you for having Lexi’s back,” he grunted, light laughter leaving her.

“If you gave a shit about her, you’d visit. She’s faking it until she makes it, you know? Everyone thinks she’s so strong, but she’s trying so hard to keep it together and praying she gets out in one piece. You think you deserve her back in your bed when she’s released? Have you even answered the phone to her since she did you that favor? You’re a prick,” she snapped, and I winced.

“Time-out. We’re having a nice morning, so no fighting. Hendricks, fuck off. Surely, you have better things to do. She’s right though, you’re a prick. Go visit your girl or don’t complain when Rivera does. At least someone visits her.”

Myles smirked, tilting his head at me. “You’re one to talk. You moved in on your boss’ girl the second you could.”

“It wasn’t like that,” I argued, realizing I was walking straight into his trap. “Go start a war with the Devils or something.”

“I’m here saying thank you and you’re not sounding very grateful. I could shoot her instead, if you’d like?” Archer said dryly, flicking his eyes over her. “I really don’t see what you all like about her.”

I gave Rory a warning glance when I sensed her considering aiming the gun at him, and I decided it was definitely time to get them to leave before I ended up having to somehow cover up the murder of a crew leader in a public space.

“You said your piece, now go. Thanks for stopping by,” I replied, motioning for them to leave.

He thankfully took his gaze from her and looked at me, amusement simmering in his eyes.

“I’ll see you later, D. Make sure you teach her not to barge into my club again since Skeet never taught her manners.”

They turned to leave, and I wasn’t proud of it, but I grabbed Rory and shoved a hand over her mouth to stop her response from coming out. It would one hundred percent make them turn around and continue this argument.