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“I’m not fucking ecstatic about it, Prez, but I get it,” he said and plopped into the chair opposite my desk. Enough said, I thought. It's not like Taz was hurting for pussy.
“I invited her to come by tomorrow if she’s interested in a job.”
“Ah, so basically find you as soon as she shows up on the cameras?”
“Something like that,” I grinned.
Chapter 7
Bridget Ivy
I bolted upright in bed; the sheets tangled around my legs, and my breaths were erratic. When I touched my cheeks, I felt the wetness of my tears. In my dream, something greyed the scenery out, but I knew I was in the French Quarter, running, frantic, as I tried to get to my destination. But I couldn’t get there, no matter how fast I ran. The sense of loss was overwhelming.
Shannon and I may not have been overly close at the end, but I loved her with an intensity that broke my heart repeatedly. I’d find myself during the day, forgetting she was gone, and the realization that I’d never get to talk to her again would bring the grief to the surface, almost paralyzing me. Maybe I needed to forget this revenge scenario I dreamed up, go to grief counseling, and get back to work. That was the sensible thing to do; the mature and grounded thing, but I was feeling neither.
Once I freed myself from the tangled bedding, I went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face several times. It felt refreshing. The dark circles under my eyes were prominent, and I looked like hell. When I’d fallen asleep, my hair was still in the bun and now was a tangled mess.
My mind ran across Loki and Taz as I walked to the chair by the window. The curtains were open a couple of inches and I stared out into the road beyond the parking lot. At this hour, nothing was stirring. I plopped into the chair, putting my legs up under my body and leaned into the old fabric, closing my eyes. I knew I would not show up at Ragnarök tomorrow. An in with the Valhalla Heathens could be good for me. But Loki deserved to wait. A man like that was used to getting what he wanted when he wanted it. Fuck that! If Taz had been the only club member I’d interacted with perhaps, I would have let him get a little closer so I could ask some questions. The way he played with my hair and flirted with me told me he wouldn’t bat an eye if I suggested something. Would I offer my body for information? Sitting alone in the dark in a motel room that had seen better days, I think the answer was yes. What had I become? A shadow of myself forever lost like Shannon was? I knew what Rob and my friends in Houston would say, and it wasn’t pretty. They’d be so stunned by my way of thinking right now. The girl who worked hard to find the truth. This was finding the truth, but I didn’t want to expose it to the light of day anymore. I wanted to scratch its eyes out and stab it over and over with a knife until it bled out on the floor. I was mad with rage and only bottled it up enough to function. To traverse a world that no longer made any goddamn sense. Love of the man I wanted to marry, my passion for my work, the very essence to move forward with my life were all gone. Was this a terminal condition? Would I find peace after the person or persons responsible for giving Shannon those drugs be enough to set me free? I hoped so, but hope was a threadbare quilt, dirty and dusty, and twisted and torn from disuse and no one caring anymore.
Later that night, when I showed up for my shift at Crescent City, I gave my two weeks’ notice. Maybe I was making a huge mistake seeking the predator; there were most definitely safer ways to work on my goal, but in this moment I walked into the whirlwind that Loki, Prez of the Valhalla Heathen MC was offering me, on the tarnished silver fucking platter from the vices they were so proud to boast. The old Bridget was dead and felt nothing. Ivy was ready to play the dangerous game and didn’t give a shit how it turned out for her long term.
Chapter 8
Loki
In my office at Ragnarök, I stood throwing darts at the board. The activity always helped me focus my mind. Our intel confirmed a few of the members of the Rogue Boys had made it out of town. We had eyes everywhere, and it wouldn’t be long before we apprehended the gang members. But I felt restless. The Valhalla Heathens had a reputation for being ruthless and having any mistakes was simply bad for business. Plus, I hated not having control. We hadn’t carved out a successful gun running business by being soft on our enemies.
PiotrAndrysiak, my best friend during my years in Norway at Prep School, would come to town in a few weeks and I needed things wrapped up with these stupid Rogue Boys.
My office door was open and Bones peaked in. “Hey Prez, Ivy is waiting for you downstairs. She’s at the Bifrost bar.”
“It’s about fucking time,” I said to myself.
I took the elevator to the main floor of the club and found Ivy standing and leaning her elbow on the oak bar that gleamed in the lighting. Her eyes seemed to be unfocused as she surveyed the space behind her. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a red t-shirt, her hair tied in a messy bun again. The first thing I was going to do when I took her to bed was get that hair untied and fanned out on my pillows.
“So, what’s the occasion, Ivy?” I drawled, crossing my hands over my chest.
“Pardon me?” she asked, puzzled.
“It’s been a while since I told you to come by,” I said, wondering why I had to spell it out to her.
“I had to give notice at my last job. It’s important to me to finish something properly once I’ve committed,” she said smoothly.
“Really? Maybe you can tell me more about that later. For now, what makes you think the job offer is still open to you? It’s not like you let me know you needed time,” I challenged.
“Well, Loki. I can call you Loki, right? We both know you're not actually upset with me,” she smiled.
“How can you be so sure?”
She moved away from the bar and walked over to me, getting into my personal space, reaching her hand toward me slowly and tucking my hair behind my ear. Her smile was a little wicked, “ah precious, you're just happy to see me and we both know it.”
My hands were on her cheeks in an instant, and there was no mistaking the sharp intake of breath from her surprise. I wanted to laugh at how easy it was to rile this woman who apparently wanted to play tough with me. Ah sweetheart, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.
My thumb glided along her lower lip and I leaned into her, my face so close I could feel her breath on my face. “You sure you want to play?”
She blinked at me several times, swallowing audibly. I closed the distance between us and kissed her lips. She didn’t respond, but that was fine. We had plenty of time to see if the tigress would show her claws. I moved away and turned, “you coming or not?”
Ivy said nothing as she followed me deeper into the club. I led her to Malcolm’s office just down the hall from the kitchens. Bones had grown up with Malcolm, and he did an excellent job running Ragnarök for us. We wanted him in the Valhalla Heathens, but he said he'd rather be a friend to the club. We all knew it was to satisfy his mother, who lived with him and his wife and kids.
