Page 18 of Wrath

“Afraid not.” I let out a long, defeated breath, then told them, “But in his defense, I didn’t ask him to stay.”

“You shouldn’t have to ask him!” Susana snapped. “The jerk should’ve realized that he was lucky to even be there.”

“It’s not his fault... We had an understanding.”

“Well, your understanding was stupid,” Darby interjected. “He should’ve stayed, and more than that, he should’ve wanted to stay.”

“Yeah, that would’ve been great, but it’s not how the cards fell.” I shrugged. “But I’m okay with that...like seriously okay. I had an incredible night with him, and that was that. No hard feelings.”

“How can you be so cool about this?” Darby’s eyes narrowed. “It didn’t happen to me, and I still want to cut his balls off.”

“Nothinghappenedto me. At least, nothing I didn’t ask for. And if I want something more from him, I’ll ask for that, too. Now, let’s just leave it at that.”

“If you say so.”

“I do.” I glanced up at the clock, and when I saw the time, I grimaced. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I’ve gotta grab a bite and get back to work.”

“Okay, but you gotta promise that you’re gonna come up next week. There’s a big party, and Casey and Lexie are going to come and go with us.”

“Umm, I don’t know. I’m not really in the mood for a party.”

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Don’t make me come there and get you.”

“I said I’ll think about it. Now, I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you later in the week.”

“Okay.” Worry filled Darby’s eyes as she said, “Hey... are you sure you’re okay about everything?”

“Yes!” I gave her a big, reassuring smile. “I’m more than okay.Everything is great. I promise.”

“I just wanted to be sure. Now, go get your lunch, and I’ll see you soon.”

Before I could argue, she gave me a cheesy grin and ended the call. I thought back over our conversation, and I couldn’t help but smile. I was very lucky to have such wonderful friends.

And it was a good thing I had them.

I would be needing them in the days to come—more than I ever had before.

CHAPTER7

Wrath

I’d had plans for the day.

They weren’t anything major—just things to keep me busy. I was going to spend a few hours working with Stitch, and then I planned to head over to the construction site to finish putting the final touches on the drywall.

But those plans got shot to hell when Cotton called church. Questions arose, and five hours later, I found myself sitting bitch in the backseat of one of Bruton’s SUVs.

It was the last thing I expected to happen.

But when the brothers of Satan’s Fury have questions, they get answers. And we wanted to know about Bruton’s dealings with his last supplier. How long they’d worked together and why they’d had a falling out. There were questions that Cotton nor Bones could answer, so Bruton was called in to fill in the blanks. None of us trusted him enough to bring him into our conference room, so Cotton instructed him to meet us at the bar.

Bruton taught history at my old high school, and while I’d never actually had him, I’d seen him in the halls wearing his Poindexter vest and freshly pressed khakis. I’d heard the stories about him. He was known for being strict. If he set a rule, he expected you to follow it or there’d be hell to pay, and the kids took him seriously. Hell, they were scared shitless of him—which I never understood.

Back then, he just seemed like your everyday teacher, but as he walked into our clubhouse and sat down at our bar, he seemed like anything but a simple schoolteacher. He was oozing with arrogance, and from the way Bones talked, he had every right to be.

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