Page 9

A fter my little chat with Raven, I’m just too beat to ride home. I make my way upstairs to my room, unlock the door, and stop dead in my tracks. A very naked Tequila is spreadeagled on my bed.

“Hello, big boy, at last, come and play with me, sugar,” she invites me in her husky voice. I sigh. This is not what I need. The club sluts are getting a little brazen, and Tequila couldn’t take my kind of kink. I’m definitely not in a vanilla mood today.

“Not today, sweets. Go and play with the other brothers. Got stuff to do, sleep to catch up on.” She throws me a pleading look, but I just hold open the door. “Get out, Tequila. Come on, move,” I tell her in a more stern tone.

“Don’t be like that, Vegas. I haven’t sucked your cock in ages. I just want a taste, to relieve your stress,” she pushes.

“I won’t repeat myself. Get out! Now!” I growl at her, stand up straighter, and let my Dom out. Hand on my hip, my eyes shutter from all emotions. “I’ll give you five seconds to get the fuck out of my room. You’ll regret crossing me, Tequila. You’re a slut, and one I don’t want in my bed. Your pussy isn’t magic, just club pussy. Now, get the fuck out!” I watch her scramble off the bed, grab her clothes, and storm off into the hall.

“You are such a dick, Vegas,” she screeched.

“Yup,” I shout after her, “and don’t you forget it!” Smirking to myself, I close the door. Mission accomplished. I’m not keen on club bunnies at the best of times, refusing to put my dick where everyone else’s has been. Tequila has made the rounds of the brothers for years now. I wonder if she was here when Stone was in charge? The years have not been kind to her. Peroxide blonde bleached hair, wrinkles around the eyes, and wrinkly, large, pored hands show her age, and no boob job can fix that. She wears skirts narrower than my belt and to say her tops are almost nonexistent is putting it mildly. She looks and sounds . . . lived in.

I don’t discriminate against age, but I do have standards. If all that isn’t reason enough to stay clear, she’s Rusty’s go-to. That’s a red flag for me and no way in the world would I hit that. I’ve been a bit of a man whore in the past. I’ve used club bunnies and got my strange from the bar in town. But since I have specific tastes, it went nowhere. One night is all they get from me, and I make that perfectly clear from the outset. The only time I make an exception is if I have a mutual agreement with a sub, and that only happens at Violets. Hasn’t happened for a long time now, must be a year or so. I got my dick wet with strange in the meantime but feel the urge to get to Violets soon. My needs are building, and I need some release. That might chase Ashley’s face out of my mind. I sigh, sit down at my desk, and start on the hospital visitation schedule for Flakey. I pick up my phone and dial Ferret.

“Hi, Ferret. Raven asked me to do a schedule for Flakey’s hospital visits. Could you let me have the staff shift patterns for the next week, so I can work around them?”

“Sure, Vegas, anything else you need?”

“No, thanks brother, that is all. I’ll email you a copy when I’m done, so you know who’s at the hospital and how long for.”

“That’s cool. Don’t rush, just shoot it over when you’re done. No worries,” Ferret replies and ends the call.

It takes me a couple of hours to do the schedule after getting the information from Ferret. I send it back and ask him to send it to everyone. God loves a good, long group message on a smart phone. I decide to get a couple of hours’ sleep and relieve Raven. Not a lot else to do on a Sunday. Most who have families are home with them, Sunday lunch and all that. Not my thing. The shop is closed on Sundays, so no work to do there. I yawn and stretch out on my bed, setting my alarm for in two hours’ time.

I groan when the alarm sounds. It feels as though I only dropped off minutes ago. I go to the bathroom, relieve myself and sit my ass on the edge of the bed. I find the group message from Ferret, true to his word and efficient as always. Ferret’s a great brother. Things he can do with a computer are unreal. He’s a real wizard in his field and there aren’t a lot of things he can’t hack into or know a backdoor too. He also does all our security checks, makes sure our conceal and carry permits are up to date and runs the security business with Slender and Pennywise. Lightning Security is making a name for itself in the industry. I can’t help but smirk.

We’ll all turn law-abiding folks yet . I chuckle at the thought. Yes, we’re running our businesses legit, but angels we are not. We get our hands dirty if need be.

After grabbing some food, I’m on my way to the hospital. My phone vibrates in my jeans, making me pull over. I have a missed call from Pennywise.

“Hey, what’s on fire?” I ask as I return his call.

“Nothing’s on fire, bro. Keep your hair on. Just wanted to know if you fancied a few beers tonight, thought about going to Stormy’s, check out what’s going on. I don’t like what came up in church too much.” Pen sounds uneasy, and I can’t blame him.

“Sure, Pen, what time? I’m on my way to see Flakey. Meet you after that?” I offer.

“Sounds good. Make it eight?”

“Sure, see you at eight at the bar.” I hang up and am back on my way. I might even have time to catch up with Raven about what Flakey had to say.

As I open the door, Nurse Chloe is just leaving. She’s obviously on a late shift. She gives me a slightly evil grin as she walks out. Do I want to know? I think I’ll pass. That woman has devious written all over herself. Raven is sitting on a chair, trying hard not to laugh. Flakey looks pissed and grumbles under his breath something about evil women and where she can stick her bedside manner. I try not to snort.

“Hey, my man, Flakester, how’s it hanging?” I ask with a grin. Raven bursts out laughing

“Apparently not much longer if he doesn’t behave himself. She feels he may need something more than soap, or rather something less sausage with his eggs.” Raven is coughing and hardly able to breathe with his laughter, as he waves his hand to zipper area, showing just what the excellent nurse had meant, by making the universal sign for scissors with his hands.

“Oh, Flakester, will you ever learn?” I mock sigh at him. “Do I need to give you some more flirting lessons?” I bat my eyes at him.

“Fuck off, asshole. If you were a true mate, you’d tie her up and keep her away from me. That evil witch!” We both look up as Raven bolts upright in his chair.

“You can’t tie medical staff up for dealing with your sorry ass,” he gripes. I shoot him an inquiring look.

“Go home, Raven, and get some sleep. I’ve got this. I’m keeping our little boo boo man company. Pen and I are meeting for a beer later. So go home, rest, and do your Prez shit. Take it easy, man,” I tell him calmly. He works too hard and today has been rough. “I’ve done the schedule, and Ferret has sent it out. Flakey is covered. If you need anything, just let me know, okay?” I sincerely hope he takes my offer.

“Okay, I can see when I’m not wanted,” Raven jokes. “Flakey, behave and stop propositioning the nurses. It won’t improve the bed baths.” Someone comes in with Flakey’s meal, so I walk out with Raven.

“I’ll be back when you’ve eaten, bro. Just grabbing a coffee at the cafeteria,” I throw over my shoulder.

“Did he say anything?” I ask Raven as I close Flakey’s door, and Raven sighs.

“Let’s take a walk, get some java first,” he says. We make our way outside, coffee take-out cups in hand, and find a quiet spot.

“He mentioned Karen not pulling her weight. She makes out like she’s the bigwig, but Flakey does all the running and some of the office work, too. He said it made him more tired than usual, but the doctors aren’t sure what’s up yet. He’s waiting for more tests tomorrow.” He looks at me, rubbing the back of his neck, tense with a concerned look in his eyes. “I can’t help it, Vegas, but I have a bad feeling about this.” I nod in Raven’s direction. Something is not right here.

“Pennywise and I are going to pay Stormy’s and Karen a visit tonight. We’ll have a few beers and watch what is going on. Speak discreetly to some regulars.” I offer.

“Thanks, that would be great. When can you get hold of Neil? We really need another bar man,” Raven states.

“I can call him tonight and feel him out. Just have to get Ferret to do an in-depth security check on him, and I reckon he’ll be able to hit the deck running, so to speak.”

“Thanks, Vegas, I appreciate it.” He looks beat. If the circles under his eyes get any worse, he’ll pass for a panda.

“We’ve got this, Raven. Go home and rest, get some sleep. Anything urgent and we’ll call you. But you know we can handle this. So, take your own advice and get gone,” I tell him jokingly. It earns me a stern look, a nod, and a back slap for a goodbye. Raven turns on his heel and walks to his bike. I wait until he’s pulled out into the traffic, then make my way back up to annoy Flakey.