Page 41 of Edge

“That’d be my guess. She probably knows Irene will fire her once she has a replacement, and she won’t be able to come and go as she pleases if she has to get a job somewhere else.”

“I bet you’re right. I’ll mention it to Irene tomorrow morning,” I said and changed the subject. I needed to get my mind off work if I wanted to get any sleep that night.

In all honesty, I would’ve loved for Edge to spend the night, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him. Even though it didn’t take too long to drive from Croftridge to Cedar Valley, we both had to be up early for work, and I couldn’t rationalize asking him to drive out to my place just so I could sleep.

Later that night, as I stared at the ceiling while lying in bed, I regretted not asking him to come over.

12

EDGE

As soon as I got off the phone with Evie, I called Byte and asked him to save the surveillance footage from the incident at Irene’s diner.

“Oh, man,” he laughed. “This is great. You can tell the dude has no idea he’s about to get his ass kicked. I’ll send it to you.”

I watched the video, but I didn’t find it as funny as he did. Something about it bothered me. I wasn’t sure if it was what happened between the unknown man and Walter, or if it was the fact that it happened when Evie was there, but whatever it was, I decidedly didn’t like it.

Even though she wouldn’t say it, I knew the incident bothered Evie, and rightfully so. Given her past experiences with her father and brother, it was understandable for her to be upset when an angry man showed up at her workplace. I waited for her to ask me to come over and found myself disappointed when she didn’t. Still, I sensed she needed me and wanted to be there to comfort her, even if she didn’t ask. I wanted her to feel safe.

After giving it some thought, I called Byte for the second time that evening. “What time are we leaving?” he asked after accepting my call.

I laughed, not at all surprised that he knew why I was calling. “I’d like to be there when they open,” I said.

“That’s what I thought you’d say. Is this an open invitation?”

“Yeah. Whoever wants to join us is welcome to.” I wasn’t sure how Evie would react if half the club showed up for breakfast at the diner, but I hoped she’d appreciate the show of support. If for some reason the guy returned to the diner, he’d have more than Walter and Buck to contend with.

“What are you doing here?”Evie asked when I walked into the diner the next morning.

“We came to have breakfast,” I said and stepped to the side so the rest of my brothers could enter. Phoenix, Badger, Carbon, Shaker, Ranger, Diesel, Flint, Dice, and Ink joined Byte and me for our early morning excursion.

She smiled shyly and placed a kiss on my cheek. “I think I know why you’re here,” she whispered.

“We all need to eat breakfast,” I replied innocently.

“Mmm-hmm.” Turning her attention to the group, she motioned toward two large tables. “Right this way.”

When she started to push one table toward the other, everyone chimed in to stop her, including me. At the various sounds of protest, she lifted her hands and stepped back.

“We got this,” I told her and kissed her cheek.

“I can move a table.”

“I know you can, but as long as one of us is around, you don’t have to.”

“Thank you,” she smiled. “Is everyone having coffee?”

Everyone nodded, except for Phoenix and Badger. Phoenix gestured to the two of them. “We’ll have water.”

“For fuck’s sake, you can have coffee,” Badger grumbled.

“My wife asked me to be supportive. This is me doing that,” he said.

“I have an ulcer,” Badger explained. “Patch gave me a list of things I shouldn’t have, and coffee is one of them.”

Evie smiled. “Got it. Nine coffees and two waters coming up.”

We took our time eating breakfast, hanging around a lot longer than we normally would. We wanted to be there long enough for people to notice our presence, even if it was just our bikes in the parking lot as they passed by. After a few hours, the troublemaker hadn’t reappeared, and it seemed to be business as usual.

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