Page 114 of The Trust We Broke
Taco rounds out the rest of the group, slamming the door shut as he steps inside. “Someone needs to go talk to Babyface after this. He’s shitting a brick at the gatehouse because he tried to photo ID King.”
Karlie and some of the club girls arrive. Given it’s mid-morning, they are glammed up to the nines. Thick red lipstick, low-cut T-shirts. and short skirts. They hang their thick puffy coats on the hooks by the door.
I’m makeup free, have stitches in my forehead, and am relatively certain that my hair is a mess. But I’m confident as I face them, secure in my fledgling relationship with Zach.
“Wraith, you wanted us to make breakfast for some visitors,” Karlie says.
Catfish points to the closed doors of church. “National president and some of his men.”
Karlie grins. “Any of them single?”
“Knowing the New Jersey crew, unlikely,” Jackal says. “But you’re still making breakfast.”
Karlie runs her hand over Jackal’s shoulder. “Spoilsport.”
“Where’s Isla?” Catfish asks.
“Oh,” Karlie says. “You don’t know the gossip, do you?”
Catfish mimics her stance: The excited clap. The pout. “No. Because I don’t give a shit about it.”
Karlie swats his arm. “Asshole. She’s thinking of stopping hanging out here.”
I’m desperate to know more, but I don’t say anything. I just pour another cup of coffee for Taco.
“Aren’t you going to ask me why?” Karlie asks.
Catfish shakes his head. “No. Because, again, that would imply I gave a shit.”
“Urgh,” Karlie groans. “Her nana died, and she was fed up with waiting for one of you. So, she got a job as a receptionist at a veterinary clinic and is going to fix up her nana’s house, since it was left to her.”
Jackal raises an eyebrow. “The girl struggled to lift a finger to help around here. How does she think she’s gonna renovate her house?”
Karlie shrugs. “I don’t know. But she said she was gonna turn her life around and that it starts with that house. She’s not made a definite decision, yet, but I think you can see it when someone has fallen out with the life.” With that, she leaves for the kitchenwith some of the other girls, but not before I see them pointing and whispering about me.
I feel like showing them the red stripes from Grudge’s belt across my ass that burn deliciously as I walk. They can point all they want, because nothing they can do will scare me off.
The doors to church open, and Grudge waves the men in before curling his finger to me.
We meet in the middle of the bar, where he bends down, grabs both my ass cheeks, and squeezes over the belt marks while he kisses me. My clit immediately aches as I suck in a breath at the burn.
“Fuck,” he mutters against my lips, swallowing my gasp. “Can’t fucking think straight in there because I keep thinking about last night.”
“It’s very hot watching you be all business-like.”
He squeezes my cheeks, watching me intently as I hiss. “Yeah?”
I nod as he releases me. “Guess you can’t sneak away for a quickie in a storage cupboard or something, can you?” But I smile while I say it, knowing full well he can’t.
He glances over his shoulder. “Wish I could. But I need you to come in with me.”
“You do?”
He takes my hand and leads me to church. “Yeah.” But just before we reach the door, he puts his lips close to my ear. “But rain check on the storage cupboard.”
Grudge pulls the chair from behind his desk and puts it next to his at the table. It takes a moment for introductions to be made, and while most people roll with Wren’s appearance and pronouns, I notice Catfish glancing at them through the corner of his eye.
Wren’s pretty. And their thick dark hair is something I’ve wanted my entire life, instead of the curls I was born with.
