Page 26 of Bullet

With anyone beside Bristol, and probably Stormy, my word would be final. “She’s a dancer,” I said. “And that’s all she’s going to be.” And she was hungry. “Shit.”

“What do you need?” Blue asked.

“I need Bristol here with me. I need to talk to the girls.” I ran my hand over my head, pushing my hair from my face. “Stormy’s hungry. Can you take her something to eat?”

“No problem.” He pulled his motorcycle keys from his pocket, shrugged on his cut, and headed toward the door. “Any requests?”

“Food. Oh, and anything with bacon for Levi.”

Blue left, and I sat on the desk. Clover and Lacey took care of the books. Like Bristol, they’d been with me a long fucking time. When the MC had changed their bylaws forbidding illegal activities from club members, I’d signed Indulgence over to them. Maybe forbidden was too strong of a word. Patches still paid for pussy on Saturday nights at the MC. Weed, whiskey, and whores.

What I had with my girls worked. No girlfriend drama. I trusted them, and they trusted me to take care of them. I validated their clients. Referral only so that I knew who to hurt if one of my girls was arrested. Jinx had been with me for a couple of years. Same with Scarlett, but her younger sister, Skye had only been with me a couple of months.

I sat on a loveseat across from the desk and braced my elbows on my knees. With the fingers of my left hand, I twisted the demon skull ring I wore on mymiddle finger. A serpent wrapped my pinky and Dad’s marine corps ring fit snug on my index. There was a reason my ring finger was bare. I was never getting married.

“This girl, Stormy,” I said to the girls. “I’ve met her before.”

Bristol chewed on her bottom lip as she sank onto the couch next to me.

I stared hard at Bristol. “That night at the warehouse, we thought cartel was moving heroin, but the cargo was girls.” I bowed my head. “Stormy was there, protecting the younger girls. She was fucking terrified.”

Lacey sucked in a sharp breath. I couldn’t look at her, knowing she’d come from a similar terror. Maybe it was fucked up that she’d gone from one pimp to another. But I didn’t claim to be virtuous. The decision was hers. If she wanted to fuck for money, I’d keep her safe.

Bristol’s arms wrapped around me.

I stood, distancing myself from her. I didn’t need her comfort. I owned the shit feeling festering in my gut. “I fucking left her there.”

“Why?” Lacey whispered. “Why didn’t you help her?”

“I couldn’t. The cops were crawling up our ass. I had to protect Blade and Rogue. Then Jazzy rode in with the Heller cavalry. It was a shit show. It wasn’t just her. There had to be close to a dozen girls in the back of a freight truck. We’d risked everything to break the hold the cartel had on us and end the fightwith the Crawlers. She was fucking collateral damage.”

Only she shouldn’t have been.

“You can’t save us all,” Lacey said.

Those fucks were going to pay for hurting her. “The guy she’s running from wants her back.” But she was mine now—my responsibility.

I could tell myself I didn’t want her in my bed, but that would make me a liar. I wasn’t going to let anyone else have her either.

“Bristol, you can’t go back to your place. I don’t want you dancing at the Landing Strip. I don’t know how connected they are. Until I do, I think we should shut down.”

“You can stay with us.” Clover and Lacey did all their work here in the spa, and they shared a house in an upper middle-class neighborhood.

“Can I stay at your place?” Bristol asked, stepping closer to me. She lifted her soft eyes to me, a slight tremble to her full, pouty lips.

“I don’t want you out there alone. I’m keeping Stormy at the MC.” I brushed my thumb across her cheek. “It’s just temporary.”

Clover closed up the laptop and slid it into her bag. “I’ll tell the girls.”

I nodded, kissed her on the forehead, and she walked out of the room with Lacey, leaving me alone with Bristol.

I sat on the chair behind the desk. “I know you got questions.”

“I guess I’m just surprised you’d keep a truck full of girls a secret from me.”

I grabbed her, positioned her in front of me, and rested my hands on her hips. “Because I wasn’t sure that we got out clean. No way was I bringing you down with me.” Not just Bristol. Clover was fucking Wrench, president of the Crawlers to get information. I’d gone undercover with the Crawlers, shot my best friend, lied to my club, and sacrificed my cut.

What the fuck was I doing tangling myself up with brown eyes?

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