Page 26 of Ghost
“Here I am,” I confirm.
“What can I get ya?” Meri, the bartender, asks him as she sets a fresh bottle in front of me.
“I’ll have what he’s having,” Poker replies. “And two shots of Jack.”
“Comin’ right up.”
“Why aren’t you at the clubhouse?” I ask. “Figured you’d be all over Kitty tonight.”
“She was hooking up with Screamer when I left,” he says, annoyance coloring the words. “Bitch is about to find out how good she has it with me.”
I chuckle. “Keep talking about her like that, and it’s no wonder she’s fucking him instead of you.”
“You’re one to talk,” he snaps, but there’s no heat in his tone. “You haven’t fucked a club whore in, what? Weeks?”
I don’t bother correcting him. It’s been much longer than weeks. I push that depressing thought away because it also serves as a reminder that it’s been two weeks since I was inside Ember, and thinking about that hardens my cock to a painful degree.
“Do you really think Limitless Throttle has nothing to do with the wave of drugs hitting the streets?” I ask, desperate to change the subject.
He shrugs. “Crow seems to believe it, and that’s good enough for me.”
“Yeah, I guess. But who the fuck else could it be?”
Poker snorts. “Seriously? How about anyone with a grudge against the club? Not exactly a small list.”
“No, definitely not fucking small. But we’ve taken out five low level dealers, and none of them talked,” I remind him. “The Nightmare Room is meant to provoke death-bed-like confessions, and it’s not.We’renot. What could possibly be scarier than a Soulless King torturing you in that space?”
He rests his elbows on the bar, thoughtfully staring at nothing. “We’re missing something.”
“No shit. But what?”
“If I knew, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he gripes.
“True.”
“Enough about that crap. How’s your mom doing? The new nurse is working out?”
I turn to face him, stare at him for a moment to determine if he knows more than I’ve told him. There’s nothing in his gaze but genuine curiosity.
“Mom’s okay. She seems to like the nurse, thank fuck.”
And that’s the truth. Sure, they have their moments where Mom recognizes her as the girl from my past, but mostly she only remembers tidbits from before our breakup. I don’t know which is worse… Mom planning a wedding that will never happen or her hating Ember.
“That’s good,” Poker states. “Hey, maybe you could introduce me to this nurse of hers.” He bobs his eyebrows. “As long as Kitty’s otherwise engaged, I wouldn’t mind a little tender love and care from someone else.”
My hackles rise, and I grab him by his cut, hauling him off the stool. “You fucking touch her, and I’ll kill you,” I snarl.
Poker’s eyes widen with shock, and he holds his hands up. “Whoa, brother, chill the fuck out.”
“Ember is off-limits, got it?”
“Ember, huh?” He grins. “I bet she’s fire in the sack.”
I lean forward and practically hit his nose with mine. “Are you really this stupid?” I growl, rage burning me from the inside out.
Logically, I know I’m overreacting. I have no claim on Ember and certainly no right to act like this when that’s the case. But the thought of another man, abrother, touching her makes me want to burn the world to the ground.
“Get it? Ember… fire?” he snickers.
