Page 37 of Protectors

“Thank you, Sally. You guys didn’t have to do this,” Alana says, a soft smile on her face as she looks up at my mom.

“Of course we did. You’re family and we take care of our own. I know you have things to do today so we’re gonna join your mom in the clubhouse while these two are at work. I think we’re planning on having dinner together here tonight so we can spend time together. Is that okay?” my mom asks her, resting her hand on Alana’s shoulder.

“Of course. I can help make dinner and dessert. Though if I know my mom, she’s already got the entire meal planned out and is starting to make it at the clubhouse. She doesn’t know what it means to sleep in,” Alana says, laughing at the thought of her mom already preparing our dinner even though the day has barely started.

We all eat our breakfast before Geek and I lean over Alana to kiss her goodbye. My dad and Playboy follow me out of the house and we head to Phantom Ink while Geek heads out on his job for the day. While I know it’s a large job, no one is going to help him get it taken care of. Geek is pissed because everyone else always has two guys out on a job this large. Apparently everyone is busy and he can’t have any help this time. He doesn’t want to leave Alana and I can’t blame him as I leave the compound.

“You got a full schedule today?” my dad asks me as we head through the city toward Phantom Ink.

“I have a full schedule every single day. I’m booked out over six months and can’t take any time off without havin’ to reschedule a ton of people. Crab and Beckett are gainin’ popularity and the shop is barely slow these days. Right now, Alana is workin’ the front desk most days but I think we need to hire someone else so she can get her photography business off the ground and do what she truly loves,” I answer him as I pull in behind the tattoo shop and we get out of my truck to head inside.

“This is nice,” Playboy says, walking around and looking at everything. “Feel like givin’ me some ink while we’re in town?”

“Anytime. You know all you gotta do is ask,” I tell him as I head for my station and get things ready for my first client of the day.

My dad and Playboy walk around the shop and take in every detail as I get ready to open for the day. Beckett enters the shop with coffees in hand and hands them over to my dad and Playboy before giving me mine. I smile because he’s going to the members who are older before me and I’m more than okay with it. He’s showing respect to my dad and Colton’s. Taking my cup, I set it down and make the stencil for the client who will be here in just a few minutes. Beckett gets the computer turned on and goes through the schedule before heading to his own station and getting things ready.

Our day is filled with one client after another and my dad and Playboy don’t get bored as they talk with everyone, watch us work, and spend time with us. That’s the only reason I don’t lose my shit as one female after another make their way in and try to hit on me or get me to take their numbers. I toss them all away right in front of the girls as they stomp out of the shop. My dad and Playboy definitely got a kick out of watching me turn them all down.

Chapter Twenty

Geek

LEAVING ALANA THISmorning was the hardest thing I’ve had to do. Yesterday was a shitshow for her and all I wanted to do was remain with her and make sure nothing hurt her today. She deserves to have peace in her life and right now all the horrible shit seems to be coming at her from every fucking side. Alana can’t catch a break and that’s all Ghost and I want for her. I’ll have to talk to him when we get home tonight about taking her on a trip when this is all over with. When she no longer has to worry about Terrence randomly showing up or Liz trying to stake a claim on Ghost, we should take her away from Pine View and spend our days and nights worshiping her and giving her all the love and attention we have to give her. We can go to the beach and play in the water or lay on chairs as she takes pictures of her surroundings like I know she’d love to do. Alana has an amazing way of capturing what’s going on around her and turning it into more than a simple picture. Her images come to life and that’s from the few pictures I’ve seen as she was first starting out. I can’t imagine what she’d do today with experience and the various pieces of equipment she’s gotten over the years.

Pulling up to the job, I head for the building I’ll be installing the new security equipment in. No one’s here, but there’s a note for me with the code of the door that tells me just to get started because the owners can’t be here. They had to go out of town for an emergency. I drop my head and let it hang as I head back to the truck to gather what I need. This is a small office building and needs cameras installed on three floors in each corner, the offices, and all open areas. The only place that won’t have any kind of surveillance is inside the bathrooms. We won’t invade anyone’s privacy like that for any reason. That’s something Valor fought with this client over and he almost terminated the contract when they wouldn’t back down. In the end, they realized we’re the best and gave up the insane idea to put cameras in the bathrooms. Stupid fucks!

I look for the tools I need after pulling out the cart I’ve already loaded up the various cameras on. Half the tools I need aren’t in the truck where they usually are as I continue to search for them. After half an hour, I realize they were removed from my truck and I have no clue when since everything was here last night when I parked. No one touches our trucks for the security company because they’re parked behind a locked gate and kept in a garage that you need a code to enter. With our alarm system in place, no one would have access without all of us who work at P.B. Security being alerted to someone tampering with our system. Valor spent hours thinking through everything and installing it himself before finally getting the final approval from Vault and the rest of the club. This was all done before we were patched in and moved to Pine View.

Growling and mumbling under my breath, I pull out my phone and call Valor.

“What’s up, Geek?” he answers his phone, his tone distracted.

“Who the fuck was around my work truck? I’m here at the job, alone, and nothin’ is here. I don’t have half the fuckin’ tools and I know everythin’ was here when I parked yesterday,” I bark out, my voice hard and cold as frustration fills me to the point I can hardly see.

“No one to my knowledge. Do you have the equipment?” he returns, his voice alert now.

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