I gazed up into Punc’s blue eyes. “He was going to frame you?”
His head twisted a touch even as he lowered his chin in a strange nod. “I shouldn’t have told you that, but texts he sent to Ghost on a burner phone indicate that.”
I lowered my head and whispered, “I thought something happened to you. That was what scared me before you even left last night.”
Using the tip of his index finger, he tipped my chin up. The corners of his lips quirked ever so slightly - what he had to smile I about, I had no idea. “You haven’t been around the whole club, Savannah. We’re a brotherhood, and everyone one of my brothers has my back, and I’ve got theirs.”
“Plenty of people say things like that, but what does that mean?”
His jaw shifted and he exhaled through his nose. “That’s club business, and since you aren’t my ol’ lady, I can’t share that with you.”
“Right,” I breathed.
He cocked a brow. “Do we have problems, sweetheart?”
I pressed my lips together. He wasn’t like Dad, but he wasn’t afraid of walking on the wrong side of the law, either. No matter how conflicted I might be about that, what was done was done.And deep down, I didn’t feel all that bad about him and his MC brothers dealing with Prime.
I shook my head. “No, I don’t think we have problems, honey. I was just… I didn’t expect this to rattle me so much, or for you to be gone so long.”
“I’m here now, Smythe, and everything is fine. I need to take some aspirin, and get some sleep. Turk wants me at Platinum’s in five hours. Be good if I can catch a few winks before then.”
I glanced at the microwave and saw the time read six-sixteen. “We keep the aspirin in the cabinet over the coffee maker. I didn’t sleep that well, and I’m not trying to be forward, but I’d feel better if you slept next to me. You know, just sleep. Besides, the couch is okay, but a bed is far better.”
He stared at me, then nodded. “All right, Savannah. I’ll be in there soon.”
Punc
Later that morning, Punc trudged into the office at Platinum’s and lowered himself into the beat-up chair opposite Turk. Glancing around the room, he saw Yak, Volt, and Beast were there and for once, he wished they weren’t. This didn’t require an audience.
Not as far as he was concerned.
“Before you start, I slipped last night when I called Ava my woman. I know the brothers are concerned about it. I’m not involved with her. Hell, I repeatedly tried to talk her out of dancing before she was hospitalized.”
Turk’s dark brows drew together and he frowned. “Find that hard to believe, since you referred to her as ‘sweet Ava’ four days after the attack. In my eyes, anger’s a lot like alcohol, it has a way of bringing out the truth in the heat of the moment.”
Turk was right, but he couldn’t let him know that. Savannah was determined to keep her job here, and Punc wouldn’t be the reason she got fired.
“She’s my sister’s closest friend. I’ve known Savannah since she was eleven.”
“Who’s Savannah?” Beast asked.
“Ava,” Turk said, then he glared at Punc. “Why didn’t you say anything during the auditions?”
Punc tightened his grip on the plastic arm rests. “It caught me off guard seeing her that day. I hadn’t seen her since my nephew’s birthday. Had no idea she was there until I gave her a contestant number that morning.”
He blew out a sigh, wishing for the ninety-ninth time that he’d told her she couldn’t dance at Platinum’s. If he had, maybe she wouldn’t have been beaten. Never would have been in the hospital for a week.
Another damned memory that played on a loop for him. Day after day at her bedside, not knowing if she’d recover fully. One more reason she deserved a better man than him.
“Yo! Earth to Punc, are you listening?” Yak demanded.
“Sorry. Zoned out,” he admitted.
Turk threw a pen on the desk. “Well zone-in, Puncture. This shit can’t happen again.”
He narrowed his eyes at Turk. “Again? I’ve never fraternized with the dancers.”
“You’ve flirted,” Turk said.
