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"Yep. Now you'd better get back to work or you're goin' to miss out on all the fun of Malice finding a woman."
He flips me off. "Christ, they're all at it, aren't they?"
I don't answer him. Instead, I push toward Ace's office. I knock on the door and wait.
"Come in," he shouts.
I open the door and lift my chin in greeting.
"Reap, wasn't expectin' you here today. Everythin' okay?"
"I needed to talk to you. I got a call last night," I say and watch as he raises a brow. "Preacher. He's on his way to the clubhouse. He's in a bad way and he needs his ass kicked, brother. He's asked for me, you, and Stag. I don't know what the fuck happened, bro, but it's gotta be bad if he's reachin' out to me."
Since he moved to Ireland, I've spoken to Preacher three times, and all those times were due to him needing me to answer a question about Tyson. Since then, he hasn’t asked about him. I don't know if he's getting information from one of the other brothers or if he's just not asking at all. But he's coming home today and he's in a bad way. Something I thought had been happening from the few snippets I'd heard from the brothers. He's back drinking and he's partying hard.
"Fuck. Okay, what time is he due at the clubhouse?"
"About thirty minutes. Tried callin' you, brother, but your cell's been switched off. Called the office and got no answer. Only way to get a hold of you was to come down and get you in person."
He rises to his feet. "Okay then, let's go find out what the fuck's happened."
It takes us around thirty-five minutes to get back to the clubhouse. Esme's waiting for me as I climb off my bike. "He's here," she says, her eyes filled with tears. "Oh Gray, he looks so broken."
I pull her into my arms and hold her tight. Fuck. My stomach is in knots. What the fuck? How did this happen? "He's here to get his ass kicked into gear. Has he seen Tyson?"
She shakes her head. "Eda and Tavia have him upstairs. He gave me a hug when he arrived." She turns to Ace. "Is it okay that I let him into your office? He's in a bad way and I didn't want him to be bombarded with questions."
"That's fine, Es. Trust me, it's better that you did. Come on, Reap, let's go talk with him. Es, do you know where Stag is?"
"He's waiting outside your office. I kind of told him that he'd be talking with you when you arrived." She gives him a sheepish smile. "Storm has called a few of the brothers and told them that Preacher is here. I didn't know what to say. From the way Preacher was, he didn't seem to want to see anyone. Not today at least."
"It's fine, honey. We'll sort this out. Go on upstairs and stay with Tyson." I press a kiss to her lips and watch as she moves through the clubhouse toward the stairs.
"Are you ready for this?" Ace asks.
"Doubt it, but it's goin' to have to be done."
I follow him to the office, where Stag's waiting outside. "What's goin' on?" he questions.
"We're about to find out," Ace replies as he opens the office door.
Fuck. Esme wasn't wrong, he looks fucking broken. His beard is longer than I've ever seen him have it. His face is gaunt and pale, his eyes sunk into their sockets, and he reeks of booze. There's so much fucking pain in his eyes that it's hard to look at. He glances at Ace and then at Stag, before he settles on me.
I'm shocked when he rises to his feet and pulls me into a hug. "Fuckin' good to see you, brother."
"You too, man. What the fuck is goin' on?"
He pulls back and runs a hand through his hair. "I fucked up. I'm an asshole. I met a woman, Ailbhe." (Al-Vuh)
Ace takes a breath, and I can see that he's relieved that he's not killed someone and it's women troubles. "Okay, sit down and tell me what the fuck happened. Christ, man, you fuckin' scared us. We thought you were on the run like Wrath."
A smile cracks at the corners of his mouth. "No. Ailbhe is a stripper in the club we own. She's sweet and fuckin' gorgeous. One thing led to another and we ended up fuckin'. As I said, she's sweet and too fuckin' good for me. Well, about six weeks ago, she told me she's pregnant."
I wince. "Fuck. What did you say?" I know my brother. With the shit that went down with us and Pepper lying to him, he wouldn't have taken that well.
"I called her a liar and told her to get the fuck away from me." The anger and self-loathing in his voice has me closing my eyes. Fuck. "Then a month ago, she collapsed when she was on stage and was rushed to hospital. She's pregnant alright. She's also gettin' sick all the time and isn't gettin' enough water. She's dehydrated."
"So what happened then?" Ace asks. "Did you speak with her?"
