Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
brISTOL
I can’t believe him. How could he come up with something so foolish as faking deaths . . . his and mine. I refuse to let him do this. I won’t do it.
Quickly I take a shower, scrubbing harshly at my skin .
. . totally infuriated with what he claims he wants us to do.
No flipping way it is happening. Last night, he spent the entire night inside me, forcing me to admit that I belong to him.
Now, he came up with something so idiotic as this.
I don’t care if his family is full of weirdos who think they can demand something from anyone.
Just because they’re from a royal line and think their shit doesn’t stink doesn’t mean the bed of roses they sleep in doesn’t have the same smell as any other slimeball.
I won’t let the insufferable male ego Beast seems to have do something so asinine as this. It’s not about to happen. I don’t care if I have to tattle on him to Reaper and Angel. They’ll make sure he doesn’t do this.
Sure, I don’t want to fake our deaths and disappear after I’ve finally gotten my sister in my life.
But that’s not the reason for this. I don’t want to leave a life where I’m finally getting everything I ever wanted.
A family. Beast. Happiness. Not just contentment.
I was holding something far more precious to me than just that.
I was holding my future, and I refuse to allow Beast to throw what we have now away.
Finishing my shower, I turn the water off and step out, only to come to a stop at the sight of Beast standing there leaning against the counter, holding my towel up for me.
“I locked the door to keep you out,” I mutter, stepping toward him to take the big fluffy towel.
“A lock won’t keep me away from you, Butterfingers. You should know that by now,” he states with that matter-of-fact tone in his voice.
“Whatever.”
Turning away from him, I wrap the towel around my body and stomp back into the bedroom, trying to ignore him.
It’s not an easy feat by any means. Beast is one of those men you can’t get by without noticing.
It’s one of the things that’s always drawn me to him.
That and the fact he makes me laugh. Still, I’m not going to let him get away with this without giving him the cold shoulder.
“I’ll talk to Reaper and the others.”
Those words coming from his mouth cause me to pause in my attempt to freeze him out.
“What did you say?” I ask, slowly turning to face Beast.
“I’m gonna talk to the club, figure something else out,” he answers, knowing eyes boring into me. “You’re right, and I shouldn’t have asked you to do something like this.”
My breath catches in my chest, and I tighten my grip on the front of the towel, holding it secure while his words sink in. I watch him closely while he closes the short distance between us.
Beast’s hands curl around either side of my waist, pulling me in close at the same time, dipping his head lower to rest his forehead against mine.
“You mean more to me than anything or one could ever mean in my life, Bristol. I lose you, baby, they might as well put a bullet in me ‘cause I wouldn’t be able to breathe without you. I love you too damn much to classify it as actual love. It doesn’t even begin to describe what exactly I feel for you. ”
“You love me?” My vision becomes blurry, making it difficult to see past the unshed tears.
“More than you’ll ever know, Butterfingers.” Those lips of his brush mine with each word. Not quite in a kiss, but enough that I want nothing more.
“I feel the same.” Breath hitching, I lean in, dropping my hand from the towel that I tucked around my body to clench at either side of his shoulders, holding onto him to keep my knees from collapsing beneath me.
“I know.” Beast scoops me into his arms and carries me back over to the bed, lays me down, and comes over me, claiming my mouth with his.
The towel is pulled away from my body, and he takes his time to explore every inch of me, driving me wild like we hadn’t just spent the night and morning having sex. It’s beautiful, breathtaking, more than a little intoxicating. Without his touch, I’d never be the same, and I know it.
After yet another shower, this time spent with Beast in the cubical with me. His cock slipping inside me while holding me up with my back pressed to the tile wall, we finally get dressed and head to the clubhouse.
The moment we pull into the clubhouse, my stomach tightens at the sight of the amount of police cars and tactical vehicles in the parking area.
To make matters worse, my mother, Ronnie, and Cordell are standing toward the back.
A smug look on my mother’s face doesn’t sit well with me.
The only thing keeping me from losing it is that Beast seems calm while he parks and shuts the bike off.
“Come on, baby, let’s go find out what the hell’s going on here,” he says, tapping my leg. “I see my brother’s car is already here, so we don’t have to call him to deal with whatever the fuck we’re about to walk into.”
“I don’t have a good feeling about this.” A sense of despair eats at my stomach, knowing it’s because of me this is happening.
“Bristol, it’s going to be okay, baby, I promise.”
I nod, wanting more than anything to believe him, but it scares me that anything at all would be happening like this, as it were.
Getting off the back of the bike, I don’t have to wait long for him to follow suit, and he wraps his arm around my shoulders.
Together, we ignore the presence of those in the parking lot and head into the clubhouse.
If Beast’s arm wasn’t already around me, I might have stumbled at the tension filling the room.
Guilt threatens to consume me, but I don’t allow it. If I do, then I’ll never be able to forgive myself. Right now, I need to stay strong, not just for me but for those here that I see as family.
Sitting on a few of the couches on the other side of the room, across from where all the tables are situated, the ol’ ladies surround my sister.
Ivy and Sutton, on either side of her, holding her hands.
I want to go to them, but I stay next to Beast, needing his support more at the moment.
At least until I know exactly what’s happening.
“Beast.” The cop from the other night nods as he steps forward.
“Bryant,” Beast grunts, his displeasure filling his deep baritone. Moving past the officer, Beast stops next to Reaper, Angel, Diablo, and a few others, as well as my boss, and asks, “What’s going on here?”
“They got a warrant to search the place for Giselle.” Reaper grunts and jerks his chin in the direction of my sister. “We told them we had nothing to hide. It’s a good thing her attorney was here this morning with her. It helped speed things along.”
“That’s good,” I mumble and look at Everett with a small smile, then back to the others. “Why are all the police still here?”
“It wasn’t just her they were searching for,” Diablo answered, his lip curling in disgust.
“What?” That feeling in my stomach worsens as I wait for someone to explain.
“I’ve got this under control,” Everett remarks, shaking his head. “It was reported you were being held and not in the right state of mind. That you needed to be given to your mother for your protection. It’s bullshit, and the officers here just needed to speak with you before leaving.”
“I’m going to kill her,” I mutter to myself.
“Darlin’, I’d keep things like that to myself if I were you.” Angel snorts. “Don’t need to give the men in blue a reason to take you in.”
“This is not cool,” I snap huffingly, letting my anger get the best of me. Turning toward the nearest officer, I step out of Beast’s grasp, hands planted on my waist, and give him my best glare.
“Oh no,” Giselle gasps loudly.
I ignore her as I focus on the police officers.
I recognize him from my time working at Keeper’s Pub.
He’s a nice guy with a wife who I know he’d bring with him.
She’s nice and always filled with laughter.
I just don’t remember their names right now.
“Do I look like I’m not in the right head space?
” I don’t give him a chance to answer as I keep going.
“To answer that, yes, I am. I’m perfectly fine, and so is my sister.
” I point in her direction. “You all need to get your facts straight rather than storming in here the way you have and disrupting these people’s day the way you have.
The reason you’re all here is because my mother is a self-absorbed bitch who needs her head examined.
She refuses to allow it to sink into her pea-brained head that I’m not going to bend to her will or do as she demands.
I’m well over eighteen and have been on my own since the same age.
I do not need this, and neither does Giselle. ”
“Ma’am, we’re just trying to get everything taken care of,” the officer says, his lips twitching in amusement.
“We’ve already spoken with your sister and her lawyer.
Got the paperwork for the restraining order.
We just needed to speak to you. Reaper assured us you would be in sometime soon.
Everyone here has vouched for you, as well as your boss here.
” Jerking his chin up, he outright grins.
“Those of us here know this club. We might not see eye to eye with them all the damn time, but we know they’re protective and will do what it takes to help those who need it.
We also know you from working at the Keeper’s Pub.
So, we also know you and know that shit with the woman outside is bullshit.
I’d suggest getting a restraining order against her. ”
“Already done,” Everett mutters, holding a paper outward. “It’s against all three of those idiots outside.”
“Well, then, that’s good to know.” The officer takes the paper from him, scans over it, and hands it back. “We’ll get out of here, but if I were you, I’d get Giselle away from here. Especially considering the information you’ve divulged.”
I suck in a breath, not liking the meaning behind that, but I know deep down he’s right. No matter how much I want to keep my sister close, she needs to disappear, at least for a little while.
Beast pulls me back in his arms and turns me so I can bury my face in his chest. I want nothing more than to go back to this morning when we were still in bed, and it was just the two of us.
What will happen next?
To make it easier on the club, we need to find somewhere to send my sister. Then, figure out what’s going on with the people Beast wanted to fake our deaths to hide from.
Is it even possible for us to find peace and not worry about what will happen next?