But that’s a decision to be made later. Right now, the focus is club safety and Mel. I want my woman to be by my side and safe. Even if it’s with the pastry maker. Maybe I need to have a chat with Bash and see how he dealt with coming to grips with his relationship. I know he struggled for the longest time, both with Arizona’s age and sharing her. If he can do it, then I know I can.
I head straight for my office and drop in my chair, sighing loudly. Pulling open my bottom drawer, I retrieve the bottle of Jack and my glass. I always keep them close by, not knowing when I’ll need it to celebrate or wallow. Today, I’m doing the latter.
I’m two glasses in when Sam steps into my office and sits in the chair across from me.
“Got another glass?” he asks, his forehead wrinkled, his eyes looking off into the distance as if he can’t focus.
I smirk and reach back into the drawer to pull out another, topping off my glass before filling his.
“What’s botherin’ ya?” I slide the drink over to him. He leans forward and grabs it, taking a big swallow.
“Fuckin’ datin’ sites are for the birds,” he snarls, and I bust out laughing so hard that I almost fall out of my chair.
“Why the hell are you on a datin’ site?”
“Because your ass told me I needed to find someone and I don’t want to wife up a club whore. Right now, that’s all the single women I know.”
I down my drink and refill my glass, holding the bottle out to him. He quickly does the same.
“Is no one respondin’ to your profile?” I mean, it would probably make me pissy too.
“Oh, the opposite. Only everyone’s barely legal. I ain’t tryin’ to be a pervy, cradle robbin’ pedophile. All they can talk about is wantin’ to ride my cock and callin’ me daddy. What the fuck has the world become?”
“At least ya’ ain’t got your woman pissed the fuck off at you and havin’ to compete, maybe share her with a fuckin’ pansy ass wannnabe chef.” I raise my eyebrow at him and take a swallow of my drink.
“We’re a real fuckin’ pair, aren’t we?” He lifts his feet, placing them on the corner of the desk as he leans back in the chair.
“You’re just still hung up on Kate. In your eyes, no one can compare to her and until you truly open your heart, you’re not gonna find anyone,” I remind him. When he does find someone, he’s gonna be such a good man to that woman. He’s honest and loyal to a fault.
“So you really goin’ to share Melissa?” He raises his eyebrow.
That’s the question. Not actually doing it, but if I can truly be okay with it. I can’t stand Jax and in order to be a throuple, I have to at least like him.
“If that’s the only way I can be with her, then hell yeah, I am.”
“You’re a better man than me. Pigs would fuckin’ fly before I’d share my woman. I don’t know how my boys do it.” He nods, his gaze falling to his hand resting on his thigh with the now empty glass.
Sam doesn’t waste any time lowering his feet and grabbing the bottle of whiskey, refilling his glass.
I tap my fingers against the wood desk. The sound is a mixture of sharp, staccato clicks on the surface.
“What’s wrong, Earl? There’s something else other than a threesome with Mel. Are the kids okay? Did something happen that I don’t know about?” he asks, his tone laced with concern. His voice changes from the broken English he’s so accustomed to more formal sounding, showing his education.
“Mel got a call yesterday after I left her at the diner. A guy. Young. Whatever the call was about had her on the floor, scared, if I’m to believe what the fry cook is tellin’ me.”
“Any clue who it was?”
“No.” I shake my head.
“Well, it can’t be Clayton. We ended him. And his father has to be in a nursing home by now and he wouldn’t sound young.”
“Yeah, but Mel doesn’t know we took care of him. She thinks he’s still alive and that we just scared him off. I wasn’t sure at the time she could handle knowin’ we killed someone for her.”
We sit there in silence, each of us gripping our glass so tightly our knuckles turn white. I just pray that Bash can come up with something to steer us in the right direction of who the fuck it was so that we can meet this head on with no surprises.
Fucking surprises! I’ve had enough of them to last me a lifetime.
Chapter ten
