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“Me, too,” he agrees, kissing me again as someone pounds on the door and he groans.

“Time to go,” Smith calls and Chance glares at the closed door before standing and throwing a shirt on. He turns back to me and smiles.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay? Be careful and don’t go anywhere.”

I smile. “Go. We’ll be fine here.”

He leans down and kisses me one last time before grabbing his keys off the dresser and slipping out of the room. Sighing, I throw the sheet off me and climb out of bed. There’s no way I’m going to get back to sleep anytime soon with this need simmering in my body. I slip on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt before grabbing my phone off the bedside table and heading downstairs. As soon as my foot hits the bottom step, my phone vibrates in my hand with a text.

Mercedes:

How’s your sister?

After Julian left the clubhouse on Saturday, I called Mercedes and asked her to come by. When she got here, I explained everything to her and after seeing Ivy, she was shocked and outraged. I’m pretty sure she would have beat Julian’s door down if I hadn’t asked her to stay out of it. She did, however, insist I take as much time as I needed off work. I’ve still been working on the page for the blog but she’s adamant we put it on the back burner for now so I can focus on Ivy. In the short time I’ve been working for Mercedes, I’ve realized how much she truly cares about the people that work for her and I honestly don’t know what I’d do if I was still working at the Times.

Me:

She’s good. Slowly getting adjusted.

“Mornin’,” Kodiak says, kicking a chair out for me and I sit down next to him as I glance down at my phone.

12:30 p.m.

“More like afternoon,” I comment and he nods.

“Yeah, you’re not gonna find a lot of morning people around here. Late nights and all that.”

I nod, leaning back in my chair. “Have you seen my sister yet?”

“She’s back in the TV room.”

I spin around, trying to figure out where the hell that might be. “Y’all have a TV room?”

“Yeah.” Kodiak laughs. “It’s on the other side of the stairs.”

He nods to a door just past the staircase.

“Thanks.”

“No problem, Darlin’. I’m off.” He shoves out of his chair and waves in a sort of mock salute before walking out of the clubhouse. It’s quiet here today and I assume most of the guys must be out working or home. As I stand up, my phone buzzes again.

Mercedes:

Good. Keep me updated.

Me:

I will. Thanks again.

I shove my phone into my back pocket and go in search of my sister, finding her lying on a couch in the “TV room”, which is actually like a small movie theatre. A massive screen covers the back wall with three rows of couches filling the room.

“What are you watching?” I ask. Before she can even answer, I recognize the movie on the screen and wrinkle my nose. “Titanic? Really, Vi?”

“Hey,” she quips, hugging her knees to her chest as I sit down next to her. “Don’t diss my favorite movie.”

“Where the hell did you find Titanic in a biker clubhouse?” I ask, imagining Smith in here with a bowl of popcorn in his lap as he watches it and I can’t help but laugh. Ivy blushes.

“I may have sweet talked Moose into getting it for me.”