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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CY

Night falls, and with it, silence throughout the entire club. I know I have a way of getting lost in what I’m doing, but this is the first time I’ve done it that has my teeth setting on edge. It’s late. Checking the time on my phone, I grit my teeth together and see that it’s nearly two in the morning.

Fuck.

I didn’t get to see Charlotte before she went to bed, and I’m sure Alanna’s asleep.

I shouldn’t have let myself lose time with them this way. After my talk with Alanna and the make-out session with her, I let her be to get some shit done. I should’ve checked on her. Made sure she ate something. Spent time with her and Charlotte both.

Shit.

Transferring security feed from my system to my phone, Hammer’s, Malice’s, and Axe’s, I leave my office. The feed is set up to notify the four of us if something were to come up detected as unusual. I designed the programming of it. It’s top-notch, and I’m constantly playing with it to make it even better. The feed is how I knew the club was silent and no one was up. No one but the prospect at the front doing night watch.

Night watch is part of them learning and becoming one of us. If they can’t do their job at manning the gate and staying sharp through the night, then they don’t deserve to be a member of this club. Those who get their cuts, earn being called a brother, they aren’t just given.

Moving through the clubhouse, I make my way to the room I knew Delilah and Charlotte were sharing. Both girls were out. At the sight of Charlotte sleeping on her stomach, her head facing my direction, her arms out to the side, her knees bent under her. It’s cute. I’d seen her nap like this a few times. She looks uncomfortable yet comfortable all at the same time.

I close the door and head for my room. I hadn’t eaten anything, and I wasn’t going to take the time to go do that. I have other plans I want to put in play. Those plans are that of taking care of other needs.

Opening the door to my room, I know instantly, without turning the lights on, my woman isn’t in the bed. The room’s empty. Where the hell could she be?

Moving deeper into the room, I open the bathroom door, not finding her there. I didn’t seen her in Charlotte’s room, so where the fuck is she?

I pull my phone out of my pocket, bring up the security feed on the screen, and search the clubhouse for her. My chest tightens at the sight of her in the kitchen. What the hell is she doing in there?

I leave the room and make my way down the stairs and to the kitchen, intent on finding out. Just outside the swinging door, I can hear her humming to herself. On the screen, I saw her mixing something in a bowl.

Slowly, not wanting to scare her, I push through and step inside. Alanna’s head jerks up, wide eyes coming to me.

“What are you doing up, Short Stuff?” I ask, crossing my arms and leaning against the counter, taking in the flour, sugar, and other ingredients.

“I was making some cookies,” she murmurs with a shrug. “I couldn’t sleep, and when I can’t sleep, I bake.”

She couldn’t sleep, and because of that, she started baking.

Moving to her, I take the spoon from her hand and slide the bowl from her. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

Alanna shakes her head and turns fully away from me. Grabbing her arm, I stop her from stepping away.

“I have to check the oven. I don’t want to burn the banana bread.”

“Banana bread?” Seriously?

I’ve never known anyone to make banana bread. Not since I was a kid, and Rebel’s mom would make it for us.

Not even Avery, who owns a cafe, makes that shit.

“Yes.” Alanna nods, her answer a bit apprehensive before she turns to the oven and opens the door.

I’m immediately hit with the mouthwatering aroma of the bread, and I wanted to eat it all myself. Alanna grabs a mitt and takes the pan out. I watch her move to the cooling rack, seeing she’d already made a fucking pie. She moves about, pulls the bread from the pan, and sets it by the pie.

“What kinda pie did you make?” The aroma from the bread covered the smell of the pie, but I couldn’t smell it before she pulled the bread out in the first place.

“It’s a pretzel pie.”

“What the fuck is a pretzel pie?”

“It’s just like pecan, but you replace the pecans with pretzels. Those who have a nut allergy can have it in its place. Davis and Willis couldn’t have anything with nuts in it, so the maids made it for them. I learned from them how to make it.”

Interesting.

I learned in my research that she came from a home that had servants. Her mother made a shit ton of money in the firm she works for, but they also came from money—lots of it. Why the shithead of a dad wanted to sell Charlotte confuses the shit out of me. They weren’t in debt of any kind. He might’ve been into a hell of a lot of shady shit, but there was no debt.

I close the distance between the two of us and pull her to me again.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?” I ask.

Alanna shrugs and diverts her gaze, not looking at me.

“Alanna, baby, why couldn’t you sleep?”

I’m not about to let her get out of answering my question.

“I just couldn’t.”

That’s not a good enough reason. There’s something that kept her from sleeping, and I want to know the answer.

Sliding a hand up her spine, into her hair, fingers tangling in the thick strands, gently forcing her to look up at me. “Why couldn’t you?”

Alanna’s lips part, eyes taking on a look of uncertainty, and my gut tells me I know the answer.

Rather than wait for her to answer, I dip down and claim her parted lips, not wasting a moment to slide my tongue inside her mouth. The moan that leaves her and the way her body relaxes into mine, I knew I was right. I left her earlier wanting something she didn’t get to have. Never actually had it, and now I’m gonna give it to her. Right here in this very room. I’ll be damned if anyone comes in here and interrupts us. I’ll shoot ’em if they do.