“Why the fuck is he wearing your fucking thong on his head?” my father says as he comes to a stop next to me.
My mother grins. “You should ask him, I’m just happy I found what I lost last week.”
“I’m out of here,” I mutter and slide my arm around Bee.
She giggles and whispers in my ear, “Your mother is screwing with them, it’s not her thong.”
“I don’t want to know, even if she’s only egging them on. Let’s go home and let this bunch of crazy get some relaxation in their own way.”
“Prez, a word, please,” Pax says as he steps in front of me.
Fuck. I was looking forward to dinner with my woman and kid. “Can’t it wait till morning? Maybe Wyatt can handle it.”
“Afraid not. Baton pulled something and we need to get in front of this shit.” Worry is etched in Pax’s face and I know I have to handle this.
Bee brushes her lips against mine. “I’ll get dinner started. Text me if you’ll be late or if I have to put it in the microwave for later.”
“Thanks, love,” I murmur, and watch her sweet ass walk out of the clubhouse with our daughter on her hip.
“My office,” I tell Pax and spin on my heels.
Pax steps inside and closes the door behind him. I’m still standing because I’m hoping to handle this quick and follow my woman but when Pax starts, I know this will take a chat with Wyatt before I hunt down Baton and kick his damn ass before locking the dumbass up in the basement.
A little over a year ago Baton saved the mayor’s daughter. The way he got her out of a bad situation involved kissing the woman in an effort to shut her up. His hands were otherwise occupied–firing his guns–to take out the kidnappers. He kissed her, she kissed him back and grabbed on, allowing him to walk right out along with her.
Ever since it happened, he’s been a lovestruck fool, and the mayor put him on a no contact list because he doesn’t want Baton near his daughter. Baton might still function but keeping him away from the woman has been hard.
“He’s stalking her again and I saw him leave after church so I put a prospect on him to see where he went. Three fucking guesses.” Pax sighs.
“Dammit.” I grab my phone and jab the screen to call Baton, he picks up on the second ring. “Get your ass back to the clubhouse. My office. Now.” I don’t wait for a response but end the call.
I rub a hand over my face and think of a way to handle this.
“Need me for anything else, Prez?” Pax questions.
“Nah, you did good to send out a prospect to follow Baton and by letting me know. Go ahead and enjoy the party, I’ll take it from here.”
“No problem, Prez,” Pax grunts and stalks out of my office.
I glance at my phone and think of a way to handle this fucking situation. Before I realize what I’m doing, my phone is against my ear and I hear my woman’s voice along with some music in the background.
“Hey. I’m making lasagna and have two batches, I can easily put one in the oven waiting for you and can heat it up whenever you’re ready.”
“Thanks. It might take a while because Baton is at it again,” I grumble. “I just ordered him to get back here and to be honest? What the fuck am I going to tell him this time because I threatened to take his cut the last time if he didn’t back off. He’s putting heat on the club, something I don’t need right now. Dammit, I thought he had himself under control.”
“He did,” Bee says and I can hear the music slowly fade in the background. “He seemed more distracted the last few days. You haven’t asked him about this yet, did you? I think there’s more to it. Like you said, you warned him and put an ultimatum on it too. He wouldn’t throw his cut away: Baton isn’t like that. Why don’t you let North be there when you talk to him? Hell, Kray too, and your father. Pull the older generation into this, but Archer?”
“Yeah.” I sigh and rub the back of my neck while I think over what she’s telling me.
“Baton respects you. He might have spiraled out of control the first few weeks when he saved her and couldn’t get her out of his head, but he has had a handle on his emotions and feelings for months. Let him talk and listen.”
“Will you be awake if I come home late?”
There’s a smile in her voice when she says, “I’ll try, and if I’m not…find a way to wake me up.”
“Count on it,” I croak.
“Looking forward to it,” she huskily replies.
Instead of the load of worry I now find myself somewhat relaxed as I place a few calls and wait for Baton to get here. Like Bee says; Baton wouldn’t give up his cut for anything. I’m going to take her advice and let him do the talking while me, his father, North, along with Kray and my own father will listen and then take action.
It’s going to take a while to deal with this, but knowing what’s waiting for me at home always makes my heart settle. My woman not only has my back, but the whole club along with it.
CHAPTER SEVEN
One week later
– BEATRICE –
“Sure,” I grumble. “Why am I not surprised?”
I stare at the coffee maker and take a deep breath. When I woke up alone this morning, I quickly found out Archer didn’t even make it home last night. I’m not surprised since he’s been busy for seven days non-stop.
Ever since the Baton issue added to his workload, he barely has time to see his daughter, let alone spend time with me. I’m not complaining; he’s a busy man with a truckload of responsibilities and I knew it the day I agreed to become his old lady.
But it’s been seven days since we had sex and barely had two days of “normal” before we fell back into a slump. No, it’s more than a slump because I’ve barely seen him for seven freaking days.
And the worst thing? No one has come to me for help when it involves working on Broken Deeds MC business. And from what I’ve heard–when I head into the clubhouse searching for Archer–Ganza is completely swamped with work.
So, not only is Archer avoiding me, everyone else is too. Yes, I’m being petty since I know he’s not avoiding me, but the day I’ve had since I opened my eyes is making me grumpy and feeling sorry for myself.
I mean, stumbling into the bathroom, hitting your toe on the threshold, crashing into the wall–face first–isn’t a ‘good morning sunshine are you ready to kick-ass today’ wake-up call. It’s more like ‘you need more coffee to survive another shitty day’. And then I stumble into the kitchen and guess what? No coffee. No. Freaking. Coffee. How is that even possible?
I hear Queenie and release a deep sigh. Screw everything to hell and back, I need coffee and I’m going to get some right now. Rushing up the stairs I quickly change Queenie, and head downstairs to give her a bottle and rush out the door. Strapping her into the car seat, I get in and drive to the nearest coffeeshop. People shoot glances at me left and right, and I shoot a glare back. What the hell is wrong with everyone today?
It’s me, I know. My mood has blown to shit and I now realize I might have dressed Queenie but I didn’t so much as brush my hair or dress in normal clothes before I went out the door. Whatever; I need coffee to function and that was lacking on this already crappy day.