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Gripping the handle of the front door, I shove the thoughts of Bristol back down, pull the door, and step over the threshold. As I do this, I’m met with cheers and shouts from my brothers, welcoming me home. I grin at them and move forward to embrace them all. Damn, it’s good to be home. I’ve got to sayI did miss being with my brothers and having the camaraderie that we all share.
“Damn glad to have you back home,” Diablo says, laughing, that shit-eating grin of his in place.
“Glad to be home.”
“Come on, let’s get you settled in,” he says, slapping my back while Harvester, Ghost, and Thanatos all greet me.
Reaper and Angel step up to me, their women on their arms.
Reaper drops his hold around Ivy and steps toward me. “You get tired of being on the road finally and decided to come home?” He chuckles.
“It was time to come home,” I state, shrugging. “Missed all the cooking the ol’ ladies do around here. Diner food just doesn’t cut it.”
“It’s a good thing we made your favorite then,” Ivy remarks, giggling and snuggling into Prez once again.
“Beef brisket?” The very thought of it already has my mouth watering.
“You got it,” Stella pipes in. “We also made pasta salad, the one with the pepper jack cheese, jalapeños, and cut-up salami mixed in. It’s our way of saying we’re glad you’re home.”
“Thank fuck, you women,” I say, faking a dire face of need. “I don’t know what I’d do without you all.”
“Maybe you won’t take off for months on end again, just remember that,” Ivy snorts.
“I’ll see what I can do.” Chuckling, I turn my attention to Reaper. “I’m gonna head to my room, set my shit down, and be back out here.”
“Take your time, brother,” Reaper says, giving me a chin lift.
Nodding, I step pass them and start toward my room, only to have my steps faltered at the sight of Bristol. She’s standing there, eyes on me, watching me wearily.
What the fuck is she doing here?
“The ol’ ladies asked her to come to the clubhouse,” Diablo says quietly from my side. I didn’t even realize he’d caught up with me. “She’s better with each day that passes. Even moved into her own place again and is back to working.”
“Good,” I grunt and make my way to my room, shaking off the sight of Bristol here at the clubhouse. “Glad she’s back to working at the pub and back on her feet.” With her working there, I don’t have to worry about my need for her and her refusal.
“Didn’t say she was working at the pub,” Diablo says as we approach my room.
“Where’s she working then?” I ask before I can stop myself. I’m trying not to care about her, but it’s not easy. Seeing her was like ripping the Band-Aid right off.
“From what I hear, she’s working at some office in town for a hot shot lawyer,” he answers.
I open my door and step inside, curious as to what lawyer he’s talking about. There are only so many that are in our area. One of those law firms is on retainer with us. The others I don’t know too much about.
“Guess that’s cool.” I try not to let this get to me. “Did anyone look into the firm she’s now working at?”
“You know Styxx and Scythe did.” Diablo keeps his voice calm and cool, as he always does. No one has ever known him to be otherwise. That is unless you get on his bad side. Only then do you feel his wrath, and that’s not something anyone wants to deal with, not even us, his brothers.
Fuck that.
“What did they find out?” Again, I ask the damn question though it’s none of my business.
“Clean as a whistle. Hot shot that he is doesn’t have any type of record. Well, I should say on the illegal factor. He’s a playboy,though, and loves the women. On the front of society papers with a different woman on his arm each time.”
This is something I definitely don’t want to hear. The very thought of her on the arm of any man pisses me off. In the time I’ve known her, I never saw her with a man. Then again, we kept our friendship at the bar, so I never asked her about her love life. I didn’t want to fucking know anything about it.
“Right.” I grunt and toss my bag next to my bed. “Let’s get back out there. I’m ready to drink and get shit-faced, then find someone to fuck.” Someone not Bristol. She’s off limits. No matter what.
Bristol might be over what happened to her, and she’s moved on. She also made it clear as fuck about where I stand. I also know that if it were any other way and she didn’t turn me away when she did, we’d still be where we are because I know she’d never be able to handle the shit of my past. My demons made me who I am. I just need to stop thinking about the woman who I’ve dreamed about, who has haunted me as she has for so long, and move the fuck on.
