Page 48 of Bristol

Bristol’s eyes open a little more, but barely. My poor girl is struggling to stay awake. I glance at my watch. Five thirty in the morning. No fucking wonder.

I wrap my arm around her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

“Is our room available?” She asks in the sleepiest voice I’ve ever heard.

I laugh softly at her. “Yeah. No one’s in any of the main rooms. Why, you want to crash here tonight?”

She nods and turns toward the hall.

“Okay, baby. Let’s go to bed.”

Crawling into my bed at the clubhouse is comfortable with Bristol curled into my side. It reminds me of her first few days here and trying not to act like a horn-dog when she was going through so much. She’s still going through so much, but she’s handling life a little better these days. She acts so normal some days that I almost forget where she came from and all the bullshit she’s been through.

She’s asleep within two minutes while I lie there, staring at the ceiling and listening to the faint sounds of laughter and music. I still didn’t get to talk to Reaper, but we have a private meeting later before church.

I close my eyes and focus on the sound of Bristol’s breathing, letting it relax me as I drift off to sleep.

“Bash!” A hushed whisper of my name wakes me from a dead sleep. With Bristol still curled into my side, I lift my head up. It takes a second for my eyes to adjust and focus on the figure standing in the doorway. Reaper.

I slowly crawl out from beside Bristol and Reaper closes the door, giving me a minute to get myself gathered. I slip into the bathroom and open one of the backup toothbrushes and brush my teeth. I run a wet washcloth over my face before tiptoeing out of the room, careful not to wake Bristol. I close the door softly and head into the bar area.

The smell of coffee lingers in the air, a far cry from the smell of alcohol last night. Reaper and Joey are sitting at the bar, both sipping coffees.

“What time is it?” I ask, stretching my arms over my head.

I walk behind the bar and pour myself a cup of coffee.

“Almost noon,” Joey says.

“Too late to still be asleep,” Reaper grins.

I flip him off and stand in front of them, leaning my arms on the bar.

“Okay. So which one of you is going to tell me what exactly happened to the tech guy?”

Reaper’s smile spreads wide across his face.

“Just had a little fun with him, is all, Prez.”

Joey levels him with a glare.

Reaper puts his hands up in recession. “Okay, okay. I cut off all of his fingers, fed him a couple, then Sebastian here bandaged his hands so he wouldn’t bleed out and he’s currently being held in an undisclosed location until I decide to go visit him again. I wanted to give him some time to think about all of the things that he has been withholding from me in the duration of our acquaintanceship.”

Joey shakes his head and presses his fingers to either side of his forehead. He lets his hand fall and there is amusement evident on his face. He laughs, a full-on, gut-busting laugh then grabs a cigarette and lights it. Reaper and I both smirk, waiting for him to respond.

“You got any more information?”

“I’ve got a call in to Slider. He’s supposed to get back with me in the next few days and let me know what he’s found out. There’s more going on here than just that sick pervert that had Bristol. It’s a whole underground ring of these people sharing disgusting shit. Slider’s trying to gain access but it’s hard. Their community is tight-knit and unless Slider shares something with them, they won’t let him in. He was working on some things the other day, but I don’t know if he’s been successful or not.”

“What the fuck is wrong with people, bruh?” Joey asks, his nose crinkled in disgust.

Reaper shrugs. “I don’t know. A lot. We don’t have enough time to cover all of the ways that people are fucked up.”

“Big George is itching to get his hands on Patrick. You’re going to have a hard time keeping him out of the action. It can be done, but he won’t like it.”

“He can be involved. That’s fine. But I get the last laugh. No one else.”

“He’ll take that, I’m sure.”

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