“So, why you only talking to me?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest and leaning back in the chair.
“Just checking in.” He leaned forward, his forearms on the desk.
I frowned. “About what? It was just a fight.” We got into plenty of those. Though I was rarely the one who started them.
“Just making sure you don’t need to talk about losing your cousin’s kid. I know you’re close with your family.”
“It’s a fucking shame,” I told him, “but no, that’s not bothering me.” Not in the way he was asking. Yeah, it still hurt not to see Brandon with his mom in the flower shop, but I wasn’t spiraling or on a rampage about it.
“Then what is?” he asked, picking up on some nuance in my tone I hadn’t even realized was there.
I was like a bug under a microscope. And I really didn’t appreciate it. “Don’t use your CIA interrogation techniques on me, Cypher,” I said with a scowl. He was my president and I’d show him the respect he was due, but that didn’t mean I had to spill my whole fucking life to him. Not before I was ready anyway.
“I’m not,” he insisted, holding his hands up in a gesture of peace. “I’m just asking. Something’s up, Pyre.” He was too damn perceptive.
“I’m fine.”
“That why you ended up kicking the shit out of some guy who touched Rae?” One corner of his mouth slowly started curling upward. “Unless that was the problem? You have a thing for Raeleen, Pyre?”
“What’s with all of you?” I snarled, thoroughly pissed off that everyone kept bringing this up. “Just because Warrant decided to get himself an old lady doesn’t mean that the rest of us will.”
“The rest of us aren’t jumping to anyone’s defense,” he pointed out. “Normally when you guys brawl, it’s a fairly contained event.”
“There were four of our brothers right there with me in that jail cell after kicking the shit out of those guys,” I shot back. “They needed to learn what no meant.”
“They did,” he agreed. “We don’t put up with that kind of shit in our town. However-”
“No. No, however,” I told him. “That’s it.”
He considered that, then nodded. “If your brothers weren’t there, you might have done permanent damage to one or more of those guys. They weren’t fighting beside you so much as preventing you from killing someone.”
He had me there. I saw red last night and was nearly feral. “Yeah, well, learn what no means.” I wasn’t willing to say that I’d been wrong. I hadn’t been.
He jerked his chin toward the door, letting me know I could go.
Standing, I stalked to the door, my already foul mood even darker now. When I was working over a problem I really hated it when others butted in and tried to help. I’d come to the solution on my own without anyone else poking their noses in. I knew my brothers were only doing it because they cared. Didn’t matter. I needed the time, and space, to figure out what I wanted to do about my semi-empty life on my own.
Who knew if pursuing this attraction I had for Rae would help with that? I wasn’t really looking for anything short-term, but I had no clue whether I was suited for long-term either.
“Pyre.”
I paused in the doorway and looked over my shoulder at Cypher. My eyebrow shot up as I silently asked what he wanted.
“You know that what’s said inside my office stays in my office? Anything we talk about in here the others will never hear about.”
Nodding, I walked out. It was his way of saying that I could talk to him about anything. Of course I knew that. We all did. Cypher had this ability to dig until he figured out exactly what it was you needed. Then he always made sure you got it. I just didn’t want him digging at me right now.
If I knew what my problem was, I’d have no issue talking with my brothers. They were assholes, but I could go to them withanything. Just like they could come to me. Most of us were too fucking stubborn to do that, but the silent offer was always there.
I sucked in a lung full of clean fresh air as I stepped outside. It was mid-July and the morning was already starting to warm up even though it was only eight. Owen had kicked us out as soon as he’d walked through the doors. He claimed to not want to deal with us anymore and we were ruining his day before it even started.
Getting on my motorcycle, I tried to outride my thoughts. Unfortunately, they were still there with me as I pulled up in front of the little house I’d bought in town.
The ranch life wasn’t really for me, so I hadn’t bought a larger place like some of the other guys. I still fully intended to get some property at some point, even if I didn’t run cows or sheep on it. But for now this little two-bedroom home was enough for me. I was hardly ever here anyway. My cousin Jay was the only family who lived here in Sentinel. The rest of my clan were over in Oregon. I’d been used to moving around thanks to the military, but it’d been nice to settle somewhere that I had some family, besides my club of course.
My house usually sat empty as I was typically either at the clubhouse or off on assignment. My declining to go on the current mission had surprised Cypher. That was probably what’d put me on his radar. Over the last couple years, I’d started going on more and more of our operations. They kept me busy. Kept my mind occupied.
Stripping as I made my way to the back of the house where my bedroom was, I replayed last night in my mind. I hadn’t missed the fact that Rae had nearly broken that fucker’s wrist. A grim smile formed as I thought about the shock on the guy’s face when she’d pulled that move. I’d been damn proud of her for that. I also wondered where she learned it.
