Page 69 of Givin' Me Fitz!
I couldn’t fucking understand why my best friend didn’t believe me when I told him Ricky Marlow was a danger to the club. To me. To my father.
Was I missing something? Did he know something he wasn’t sharing?
Chapter Twenty-Six
Fitz
I drove the three of us to my house on East Windmill. Mr. Middleton fell asleep in the back seat before we got too far on Buffalo.
Sawyer, with his eyes closed, leaned against the headrest. “You want me to stop at the drugstore and get you something for your headache? Let me take you to the ER and get you checked out, please.”
My heart hadn’t slowed down since Spider had called me earlier to tell me Bones was missing. I met him, Derson, and Hobie at the Walmart parking lot where we found Sawyer’s truck. Mouse was able to trace their location by pinging off Mr. Middleton’s smartwatch. When we arrived at their location, Sawyer and Mr. Middleton were just stepping out of the security fence, both appearing exhausted.
I pulled into my driveway and stopped outside the garage. It was ten in the morning by the time Sawyer and Mr. Middleton answered a million questions that Officer Crane fired at them, and we were allowed to leave.
Sawyer didn’t move to get out, so I asked, “You want to go to the clubhouse?” I prayed he said no.
“I don’t want to put you in danger, but I need to be where you are. My brothers and I can keep you safe. I’m sure they’ll come looking for me and maybe Mr. Middleton, and I don’t want them to find you. If they know you mean something to me, they’ll hurt you, and I can’t let that happen.” I stared at Sawyer before I started laughing.
“What? You don’t believe me?” Sawyer raised an eyebrow, unhappy with my reaction.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh. It’s sweet that you want to protect me, but don’t you think I can handle myself when shit gets rough? I promise you, sugar, I’ve been in worse scrapes than this. I’m so damn glad nothing happened toyoubecause I’d have to kill someone, but don’t think I won’t do it if one hair on your head is harmed.”
Sawyer smirked at me. “Now, there’s no need for you to get your cute butt in a wringer. I know who did it.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek before he hopped out and opened the back door for Mr. Middleton.
I put Mr. Middleton in the second bedroom that I’d converted into my office for reasons I still didn’t understand since I had a perfectly good office to go into every day. Mr. Middleton was tucked into the couch I’d bought and sleeping soundly. I left lights on, which was stupid because the man had lost his sight so I turned them off.
I gave him a yardstick to tap his way to the bathroom because he’d forgotten his white mobility cane at home in Mesquite. It was understandable, considering he’d been tied to his bed and had survived a home invasion, which his caregiver hadn’t. One would forget things at that point, I was sure.
I walked through the house with Mr. Middleton a few times so he could get a feel for the path to the restroom, the kitchen, and the front door. Mr. Middleton told me he’d be fine getting around with the yardstick, so I trusted he knew his own mind. I fed him and Sawyer bacon and eggs, but Mr. Middleton skipped the coffee so he could take a nap.
That was when I led Sawyer to my bathroom, undressed him, and put him in a warm shower. I shed my clothes and climbed in with him. “Will you let me wash your hair?”
Sawyer chuckled. “Yeah, just look out for that bump on the back of my head. It hurts like a motherfucker.”
I kissed his neck before I nudged him under the spray to wet his hair. I pumped shampoo into my palm and gently worked it through his long locks. “How’d you get this?” My hand gently smoothed over the large lump on the back of his skull.
“I don’t exactly know. We were coming out of the store and headed to my truck when someone whacked me on the back of the head. They knocked me out and everything went to hell from there.”
My heart broke that I hadn’t been there to protect him. I gently moved him under the spray and rinsed his hair before I grabbed the conditioner and poured it into my hand to work it through his long hair.
“What do you think happened and why, sugar?” I continued to move my fingers through the silky strands. I’d told him I loved him. It was time to see if he believed it.
“I think my father owes me some answers. There’s something about Ricky Marlow that Keller never shared, and that worries me. I want to know what it is.”
I had a feeling he was right, but I couldn’t say a word. To make any accusations against his father would endus. I couldn’t have that happen when we were barely getting started.
“What time were you planning to pick your folks up, or are they going to get themselves to your place at the Cowboys’ compound?” I backed him under the spray and watched the water sluice down his head and through all that long, beautiful hair. I wanted to bury my face in his neck and my cock in his ass, but there was time for that another day.
We traded places and quickly washed ourselves. After we rinsed, I got out first and grabbed a couple of towels for us—and a third for his hair.
“My truck’s still at Walmart, so I’m going to have Tim Walton, our prospect, go pick it up and bring it here. My parents’ plane gets in at six, so I’ll go pick them up and take them to the hotel at Silver Point Casino. I need to call Miri Rey and see if her girlfriend’s mother would mind coming here to help Mr. Middleton for the time being. I’ve gotta try to figure out where they took TJ. I fucking hope the kid is still alive.”
The gorgeous man took my towel and tossed all of them into the hamper before leading me to my bedroom and closed the door. “Thank you for coming to look for me. I couldn’t remember your phone number. The only one I could remember was my parents’ landline.”
“Maybe we should get each other’s number tattooed on us somewhere.”
His gaze met mine and softened. “You don’t have any ink. You’d want to get my number tattooed on you? That’s forever—well, you could get a doctor to—”
