Page 28 of Viper

“No need to thank me for doing something you know I’m happy to do,” she assures me. “I did check on him once, and he’s out, never even stirred.”

I grin. “He’s always been a heavy sleeper. Won’t wake until it’s time to get up for school tomorrow.”

“Let’s go, woman, I’m tired and ready to head to bed,” Bullet grumbles, holding out his hand to her.

She rolls her eyes. “You know he’s doing that only so I don’t have time to find out about who this woman is that you all twitter-paited.”

“Twitter-paited?” I repeat, chuckling.

Rose smirks. “Sorry, watching too much Bambi with Macy I guess. But still, I want to know about this woman that’s caught your attention. She must be special.”

Bullet snorts. “Knowing the women he attracts, I don’t have much hope for a quiet woman,” he grumbles.

I can’t help but grin at the thought of Eden. She’s going to give Rose and Sage a run for their money, I can tell already. Bullet gives a low curse under his breath. “She’s not all that sure of me,” I tell Rose honestly. “But I am working on it. I think you’re going to like her.”

“As long as she’s good to you and that sweet boy asleep in his room, then I’m sure I will,” Rose beams. “Besides, I think we need some more fun women in our little group to keep you all on your toes.”

“Like fuck you do,” Bullet grumbles. “Get your ass in gear, woman, or you’ll be going to bed without my dick tonight.”

I shake my head and walk them out. If there is one thing that Bullet and Rose have never been, it’s shy. Or quiet. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve walked in on the two of them going at it. Though it’s nowhere near as many as their own sons, who get disgusted by it every damn time. It’s hilarious as shit. Still, at the same time, that is what I want. I want a woman in my life who wants me as much as I want her, and who isn’t afraid to show it, and damn what everyone else thinks.

I say goodnight to them both, and shoot a message to Crypt to let him know they are on their way back to the clubhouse. He texts back and says that he’ll meet them and make sure they get back okay. And that’s why I appreciate him. He’s reliable, and he’s going to make a damn good brother. So will our other two Prospects, Kaleb and Carson. Carson is on the gate, and Kaleb is bouncing at the bar tonight since it’s his turn, so they aren’t available, but they’re hard working and they’ve been around the club long enough now that they should be getting their patches soon. Crypt will get his too, but it’ll still be a little bit. Which doesn’t seem to bother him much.

I lock the door, shut out the few remaining lights, and head to my room to climb into bed. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, and I need to figure out how I’m going to fit in some time to go see Eden again. Even now, with everything going on, I want to see her and find out how her day was. And, you know, punish her for pulling that stunt she did earlier and leave me wanting her so badly.

Good thing I have a night of dreams to help me with that.

ELEVEN

EDEN

Of all nights to work late. Now I have to run to the one man I swore I wouldn’t.

“Can you believe that woman tried to attack the judge?” one of the other court reporters, Sherry Velasquez, gasps at me as we walk into the office space we use after a court session has finished. There are five other court reporters that do the cases here, but we’re all on rotation. So I have at least another hour or so before I have to head back into the next room. Sherry and two others, Hana Daugherty and Daniella Bass, are all with me on the same rotation, so they crowd around the large boardroom style table set up for us.

It’s an odd room, but it’s perfect for what we need to do, and where we can work together. We each have our own offices as well, but like to come together between cases. The room is small, so the room is all table, with the chairs scattered around, but we all spread out and set up our laptops and notes as we get to work.

Honestly, it was myself and Aliya Manning, another court reporter that’s been here a few years longer than me, that decided we all needed a space to come to decompress and unwind. The judges have their own spaces and their lives that they can go to relax and decompress, but we’re an afterthought. We’re the ones that have to sit and listen and record the horrific things that people say and do. Myself… my problem is that I’m a visual person, so a lot of the times, when I read my notes back, it’s like I can see what’s happened, or what’s been described. And I’ve struggled with making sure that I can disassociate myself, but sometimes, sitting in this room, talking with the other women, it’s a better therapy than we can ever hope.

Not to mention this space is in the lower levels and far away from where anyone can overhear us other than some other law staff. So we can be as free with our discussions as we want.

“I heard something about it,” I admit to Sherry as I set my stuff up at the end of the table closest to the door. I set an alarm on my phone to make sure that I get out of here in time to get back up for the next case. “Why did she attack him exactly?”

“She didn’t like that he sentenced her to jail for attacking a retail employee,” Sherry replies as she sits across from me. I imagine that Hana and Daniella will be here as well shortly if their cases haven’t run long. Which definitely is a norm around here. “She’s some sort of woman that thinks she’s entitled to whatever she wants I guess, and the fact that the judge didn’t agree with her, pissed her off something fierce. Knocked over her lawyer and then launched at the judge. She actually made it to the bench and the judge had to jump back to keep from getting her long acrylic nails in the face. The bailiffs tackled her, and honestly it was everything I had in me to keep from laughing at the way she screamed and tried to fight them, shouting how it wasn’t fair and she was innocent. That we were all out to get her. Judge ordered her a psych eval and had her held in the cell until they could come see her.”

“What judge?” I ask curiously.

“Krause,” Sherry grins.

I chuckle. Judge Barrett Krause is a no nonsense judge, and he’s also one of my favorites. He’s a fair judge and he’s a big supporter of families and those that can’t speak for themselves. He’s sought a lot of the time for cases, which is why he’s always so busy. There are other fantastic judges, but for me, I think it’s the fact that he’s one of the few who started out at the very bottom in life and worked up to where he is now. No connections, no family money, just plain grit. It’s given him an understanding of the everyday person, and he’s got the empathy that most other judges don’t. “And what did he do?”

Sherry laughs. “He looked over at me and asked me if I thought she hadn’t had enough to eat today and was a bit hangry.”

I chuckle. “Sounds like him. Hell, I’ve seen someone jump at some of the others and they act like they’re about to die or been attacked by a grizzly or something, then they’re messed up for the rest of the day. Krause just keeps on trucking like nothing’s happened.”

Sherry nods. “What case were you on?” she asks as she starts to set up her computer.

I roll my eyes. “Mine was a hell of a lot less exciting. It was a harassment case and a woman filing for a restraining order. I guess the guy is an ex and he doesn’t want to be an ex. It was mostly the lawyers talking, though the guy kept glaring over at the woman every five seconds, but I guess he had more self-control than your lady. I had Judge Gould, and he awarded it pretty quickly, but gave the guy a warning and that was it.” Something that I think was too damn lenient, but Judge Jeffrey Gould isn’t known for being all that harsh. While Judge Krause is liked for being fair and understanding, most criminals want Judge Gould because they’re going to get a lenient sentence nine times out of ten. I’ve only ever seen him be harsh once, and I think that was more because of the media attention on the case than actually wanting to give the guilty party a harsh sentence.

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