Page 26 of Bruiser's Reckoning

There’s no fear for my brother.

No nothing.

Right here in Bruiser’s arms, there’s no fear that something could happen. That I’ll be taken away from my life.

In this moment, same as any time Bruiser is touching me, I’m safe, and nothing else matters.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

BRUISER

“Someone needs to answer for this.”

I glance up from my coffee to find Dagger prowling in the kitchen, looking far more pissed than I’ve ever seen him.

“What’s going on?” Gwyneth asks before I get the chance, plopping down next to me with her cup of coffee.

It’s been a week of her going on and off shift, but she’d yet to go back to the gym to teach herself defense class. She hasn’t said much about her brother being put into a safe house or the situation in general. Any time I ask her about it, she shrugs and says, ‘What could she do besides let me and Dagger keep her safe?’. Her thinking on it isn’t wrong but at the same time, I don’t like it.

Gwyneth is a feisty, take-charge, on-top-of-the-world type of person, and for her to not want to be a part of her own safety means something’s going on in her head. In the time since I first met her, she’s not been one to back down, so I’m finding it a bit hard not to question her about it. I just hadn’t pushed the issue yet. I’m still learning things about her, and I’ve got a feeling that I could do that for the rest of my life and still not know her down to the core. There are so many layers to her, all of which I like and look forward to seeing more of. Everything from that sarcastic mouth to the parts of her that are most vulnerable.

“What’s going on?” Dagger growls, throwing himself into one of the kitchen chairs. They’d come off shift last night. “I’ll tell you what’s going on.” The flash of his teeth is a telling sign for my brother, and it’s not a good one. He’s pissed.

“Well, tell us,” Gwyneth urges, cupping her coffee between both hands and readjusting in the chair with her feet in it.

Dagger glares at her and looks ready to strangle her if given the chance. He points his finger in Gwyneth’s direction. “Get that friend of yours under control. Next time she tries one on with me . . .” he trails off, sneering. “Just get your friend in check.

“What did Angie do?” I ask, cocking a brow. No one has ever riled Dagger up like this.

“What didn’t she do is more like it?” Dagger sneers, “Bitch called me?—”

“Hey, don’t go calling my best friend a bitch,” Gwyneth snaps.

Dagger glowers. “Sorry, Gwenny,” he mutters, calling her the name those who are friends of hers use.

For me, that’s not the name I use. I like calling her Princess. It’s a name only I use.

“It’s okay, Dagger, now, what did Angie do?” Gwyneth sighs. “I know she can sometimes be a lot to handle.”

It’s all I can do to keep from snorting coffee out my nose at her choice of words. Angie is more than a lot. She’s wacky and a bit out there. Pretty much, she’s like Gwyneth but more open with what she blurts out.

“Damn woman called me in the middle of the night asking for a ride home ‘cause she was drunk off her ass and didn’t want to hear it from Ross,” Dagger says, shaking his head. “I get to the bar she’s at, and she’s at a pool table with a bunch of other dudes hanging around takin’ their money and pissin’ ‘em off at the same time. Anyway, when she sees me, she all but jumps me talking about how she wants to fuck me.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” I laugh.

“Stop it, Bruiser,” Gwyneth says, giggling and swats at me, eyes focused on Dagger. “Well, did you? Fuck her, that is?”

Oh shit, she did not just ask that.

I look at the ceiling. I don’t need her to know these details. Then again, she’d probably be hearing about it from Angie anyway.

“Fuck no, I didn’t,” Dagger all but shouts. “I carried her ass to her apartment, locked her inside, and put a prospect on her to make sure she didn’t leave again.”

“Okay, so I don’t see what you need fixed.” Gwyneth sets her coffee down and twirls her fingers in a circle. “What exactly do you need fixing?”

“Get back here ready to crash and find a text from her. It’s a damn picture of her naked,” he exclaims and points a finger at Gwyneth. “She’s your friend. Got mad respect for you, and she’s damn cool people, but that shit ain’t gonna fly. Fix it before I end up fixing it and hurting a damn good woman.” With that said, my brother gets up and stomps through the apartment. “I’m gonna go take a shower. We going to the clubhouse today?”

“Yeah, brother, in just a little while. We’ve got church, and then I think Avery and Willow were doing some dinner thing,” I answer, getting to my feet to get a refill.

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