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“Oh.” Not that I didn’t like McKelle and the others, but these were Brett’s friends. I wouldn’t want to socialize without him. If he was behind the bar, I’d be on my own with them. “Maybe it would be better for me to come back on a night when you don’t work.”

“It might be a while then.” A muscle ticked in his jaw. “I lost my job yesterday. I don’t know what I’m going to do. The bar is about the best option I have until this shit with Natalie is over.” His gaze met mine. “I worked for her brother. Of course, he’s going to believe her.”

“Oh, no.” I sat next to him on the bed.

“I can look for work, but I can’t use him as a reference.” He growled, launched off the bed, and snagged his jeans from the floor. “It was a great fucking job. Good money. Benefits and health insurance. Good hours.”

Since he was getting dressed, I found my clothes and did the same. “You’ll find something else.”

He nodded, pulled on a T-shirt, and grabbed his cut from the chair. “I’ll work the bar until I go to court. Then I’ll have to figure something out. Courts aren’t going to be sympathetic to an out-of-work deadbeat dad that can’t pay for his kid. My other option is working with Tank, Cruz, and Kodiak.”

“Working behind the bar sounds better than carrying a gun.” I couldn’t stop a smile from twisting my lips. Maybe this wasn’t the best time for levity or to bring up Clover, but I could hear the stress in his voice, so maybe teasing him just a little would ease the tension. “I don’t think you can work with Kodiak. You don’t have a hairy chest.”

He laughed and held his hand out to me. “I’m not fucking kittens for Good Girl Studios. Your kitty is the only one I want to play with.”

I linked my fingers with his, and he led me out to the chapel. Morning sunlight coming through the stained-glass windows created a beautiful pattern of color on the floor and tables. The strong scent of freshly brewed coffee permeated the air. McKelle and one of her boyfriends—the one without the gun—were the only two people in the room.

“I need to use the restroom,” I softly spoke to Brett.

“Coffee?”

“Yes, please.” He kissed me quickly before he walked toward the bar, and I turned and headed down the corridor to the bathroom.

“Oh my god,” I said to my reflection. I looked like I’d spent the night being done dirty. And I had. Muscles I didn’t know I had protested as I sat on the toilet. I had a couple bruises on my hips, and my crotch ached in the best kind of way.

After I finished peeing, I splashed water on my face and wiped away the mascara smudges from beneath my eyes. Someone had left a hairband on the vanity. I fingered my out-of-control hair into a ponytail and then went back to the chapel with Brett.

He sat at the table with McKelle and her boyfriend. I assumed the empty seat with a steamy cup of coffee was mine. “Thank you,” I said to Brett and took a sip.

“If Romeo’s good with it, you can have my shifts.” Now that I was at the table, I remembered McKelle’s boyfriend’s name. Rather, I remembered because Rizz was sewn onto his cut. “Work at the shop is enough to keep me busy.”

“I’m hoping it’s only for a couple of weeks.”

“I gotta go.” McKelle scooted back her chair. “I didn’t want to leave until I said hi,” she said to me. “Last night was fun.” She kissed Rizz. “See you tonight.” She picked up the white roses and skull helmet I’d seen in her room. She slid it onto her head as she walked out the door.

“I’m going back to bed. Cruz got in late this morning. I guess some serious shit went down at his job. I’ve never seen him this shook. Tank is pissed, too. Cruz didn’t want to talk about it but fuck that. He’s going to talk because when he locks shit down he turns into an asshole.” He pushed away from the table and smiled at me. “See you later?”

I nodded. He disappeared down the hall, and Brett and I were alone again.

“I guess we weren’t the only ones with shitty days yesterday.” He lowered his voice. “I’ve got issues, but they aren’t with the Brunos.”

Since we were the only two people in the room, we didn’t need to whisper, but for some reason he did, and so I did, too. “Who are the Brunos?”

“Trouble with a capital T. No one talks about it because Cruz, Tank, and Kodiak are associates if you know what I mean.”

I raised a brow and leaned into Brett. “I don’t think I do.” I chuckled.

“Fucking mafia.”

“What?”

“Hellers have some history, but bottom line, the mafia trusts us in a limited capacity, strictly the legal side of things with their holdings. Cruz, Tank, and Kodiak do security at different operations around the city. Sometimes they are at the industrial yard, sometimes buildings downtown.”

“Is that something you’d consider doing?”

“Fuck no. Maybe if I didn’t have Lili. But I’m not taking those kinds of chances when I have a kid.”

The relief I felt with his words was instant. No guns and no good girls.