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Meaning they were here, too, probably out back in the office, making my job somewhat irrelevant.
Though, I wasn’t mad about it.
I was thankful for the distraction from my thoughts because they were getting pretty fucking brutal, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be able to fake a smile and pretend like the world wasn’t crashing down around me.
Especially given I still hadn’t properly slept yet and was running on the little bit of shut-eye I had gotten here and there over the past couple of days—that day, it had been the hour I slept on a couch at the clubhouse while Bishop was in church.
“Here you go,” Missy placed the beer in front of me and shifted her attention to my left. “Hey there, what can I get you?”
“I’ll have what she’s having.” That voice. I’d been playing it over and over in my mind all weekend, the sound of it making every muscle in my body tighten like it was preparing for an attack. Missy turned to me with a raised eyebrow as if expecting me to greet this person she didn’t recognize. With one shake of my head, her demeanor suddenly changed.
“Sir, I’m going to have to get you to take a seat somewhere else,” she tried, with one hand on her hip and the other strategically placed on the bar, thumb on top, fingers underneath, most likely wrapped around a gun.
He paid her no attention, continuing to focus on me to get my attention. “Shay, isn’t it?”
“Sir,” Missy warned again.
But then he turned his attention to Kadey sitting on the other side of me. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said with a smile, leaning around me. “Could you tell your frie—”
I spun, slamming my hand on the bar and leaning with him so he couldn’t see past me. “You don’t speak to her,” I snapped, finally meeting those dark, emotionless eyes, more sunken and bloodshot than I remembered.
I reached back and pressed my hand against Kadey’s shoulder, gently pushing her away. “Kadey, go and find Hawk,” I murmured, trying to direct the order toward her without taking my eyes off him.
The thud of her feet hitting the floor untwisted at least one knot in my stomach, although there were still several more that needed working through before I would feel everyone around me was safe.
Missy watched Kadey go, her body still and stoic while her eyes followed her daughter until she was out of sight, hopefully going straight to Bishop’s office for help.
“Cute kid,” the asshole commented, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “She’s going to be stunning in a few yea—”
“Can I help you?” I cut in before he could finish a sentence that I was sure would have Missy going full mama bear and putting a bullet through his head within seconds. And that was only if I didn’t get to him first with my hands around his throat.
He grinned, flashing me a set of perfect teeth and tugging on his lapels. “Actually, I came to offer you an apology.” I leaned back, trying to put some space between the two of us and glancing at Missy out of the corner of my eye. The look we shared made this asshole absolutely cackle with joy. “Ladies. Ladies. Don’t be so nervous. Look, I’m man enough to admit when I’ve made a mistake, which is why I’ve come to rectify that with a peace offering.”
I didn’t trust him.
The overzealous energy was uncomfortable, to say the least, and would have put me on edge instantly, even if he hadn’t threatened to kill me just a few days ago.
“Vince.”
Bishop’s deep rumble practically shook the building, and with Vince’s attention finally diverted, I quickly slipped off the barstool and backed away, only making it a few steps before my back hit something hard.
A body.
Bishop’s body.
There was no mistaking his height and build. But it was his smell that had begun to torment me in the most delicious way possible since I’d been living in his house. It was well-worn leather and a hint of tobacco, which I suspected was from a secret cigar stash given how the rich, sweet scent lingered for just a moment, unlike the suffocating smell of cigarettes.
I moved to get out of his way so he could deal with the situation in front of us, but instead, his hand fell to my hip, his finger hooking through a loophole on my jeans. I was about to turn and question him, but instead, his lips brushed close to my ear, and my entire body stilled.
“You need to follow my lead,” he murmured, his breath tickling across my skin. “Don’t freak out.”
Don’t freak out?
What the hell does that even mean?
“Such a cute couple,” Vince gushed, clapping his hands together. “You know, when my dad said you’d come by and let him know you’d settled down, I was skeptical. But now that I see it with my own eyes, I’d glad I came down here to give you this.”
Couple? Settled down? What the hell?
