“Mind telling me what was bugging you this afternoon?”
She traces her fingers along my desk to avoid my gaze when she admits, “I’ve been struggling with myself. I think I need a distraction.”
I nod, understanding completely. Queenie, the house, everything around us demands her attention and she never fucking complains or asks for anything but I notice how it swallows her whole, leaving nothing for herself. She used to do a lot of volunteer work before we got together.
She also did some computer stuff for the MC her parents are a part of, and she did ask me if I needed her skills within Broken Deeds MC. With all the changes going on at the time and Bee pregnant I turned her down. So, I do understand she misses something with her having different activities before we were together compared to now.
“Do you want to volunteer again?” I question.
She shakes her head. “I bought a new laptop today.”
Her eyes fucking twinkle and I am such a damn idiot to suggest volunteering instead of bringing up the talent she inherited from her mother.
“A stuffy standard one?” I tease, knowing from Ganza he rarely buys one off the rack and always wants to build his own.
The grin she gives me lights up her whole face. “Nope. My mother asked Class to build her one and wanted me to pick it up for her before I came by to see them. I did pick it up, but she let me buy it for myself and ordered a new one for her.”
“That works,” I muse when my eyes slide to the file on my desk. A thought hits me. “Want to help me with something?”
If I thought the smile lit up her face a moment ago, I was wrong. The prospect of helping me is the kind of gratification that’s bright as fuck and hits me straight in the damn chest.
“Yes! I’d love to make myself useful.”
My hands are now surrounding her face as I keep her in place to slam my lips over hers. Fucking hell, it’s been way too long. She greedily opens for me and when our tongues meet it’s as if electricity is set loose in my veins, hotwiring my dick along with it.
There’s a crackling sound and Bee instantly pulls back. A deep sigh rips from her throat when she picks up the baby monitor from my desk. “Sorry…I have to–”
“I’m coming with you, we’ll talk things through when we’re home once we have Queenie back to sleep, okay?” I grab the file from my desk and follow Bee out of my office.
The main room in the clubhouse is crowded. Wyatt is behind the bar, a hangaround is leaning over, tits on show, in an effort to grab his attention. It won’t work, though. Wyatt is the odd one around here. He might flirt but he never touches the women who offer themselves freely. He’s either a saint or is saving himself for the right girl, who knows? But it’s his business.
Cora steps in front of me. “Hey Archer. Did you…you know…what we discussed.”
She tries to make it fucking seem as if we have a damn secret. I might be president and am very aware of the stray pussy wanting some dick and the free dicks around here wanting them around, but I ain’t one of them. There’s only ever been Bee and I hate insinuations or women wanting to mess with something good; something I’ll never allow.
I’ve had enough of that today, and it’s for this reason I snap, “I went by Zuri’s house at your request to check up on her. We talked for about twenty minutes and when I left she seemed better.” I lean in and growl underneath my breath, “I set her straight and I’m giving you the same warning: don’t mess with my life. You won’t like it if I get pissed. Understood?”
Cora tips her nose into the air. “I didn’t do anything wrong, Archer.”
Her gaze goes to Bee, and the way she voiced the sentence just now? It insinuates I did shit. Fucking bitch.
“First warning, Cora. And you know what that means.”
She swallows hard and nods, scurrying her spandex-ass out of my sight. I place my hand on Bee’s lower back and guide her out. Once the fresh air hits my lungs, I feel the anger fade.
“I think she fell back to sleep,” Bee says as we almost reach our house.
One thing I’ve always loved about our strong bond is the fact my woman never doubts me. Bitches like to stir trouble but Bee knows I would never stray. Even if the last few months have been hard with the new baby, keeping the tattoo shop up and running, new cases thrown into the club’s lap, and old cases giving me heartburn.
No sex for months and yet we’re still solid. And I know I’m to blame since I’m always busy, and yet this woman doesn’t complain. Fuck. I’m an idiot. Closing the door behind us, she instantly goes up to check on our daughter. I throw the file on the table and rub a hand over the back of my neck. Movement catches my attention and I watch how Bee slowly descends the stairs.
“Sleeping like the queen she is.” The corner of her mouth twitches. “Did you want something to drink? A snack?”
“Let’s go over this first.” I point at the file and let my hand slide to the couch to indicate for her to take a seat.
Sitting down in the chair across from her, I start to explain, “Cora wanted me to swing by Zuri’s. I’ve explained it to you, right?”
Sadness overtakes her gorgeous face. “Galen was killed right before we got together. Zuri was his old lady, you’re taking care of her because it’s the right thing to do.”
“She came on to me today.” A sigh rips from me and I rub my fingers in my eyes, feeling very damn tired. “I set her straight and she started to cry and apologize. Putting the blame on loneliness.”
I glance up to see Bee nod in understanding. Fuck. Like I said, this woman blindly trusts me as I trust her, no matter how we rush through life and seemed to have skipped a few months of intimacy while we handled the dragging responsibilities of living.
“When I returned to the clubhouse, I grabbed the file of the case Galen was working on before he was killed. There hasn’t been anything new added to it and those cases are still unsolved. Are you able to run a few checks in the system? See if any cases like the ones mentioned in the file have popped up the last couple of months?”
I point at the file again and Bee leans forward to take it. “Sure, I’ll read through everything tomorrow and will let you know what I find.”
“I know it’s not connected with Galen’s murder,” I start, but Bee cuts me off.
“A mugger killed him, right? And you picking up this file after visiting Zuri…you want closure for Galen since it was his case?” she questions while glancing over the papers in her hand as she muses, “Sven was with him that night.”
“He was. Good thing too since he shot the mugger.” I release a deep breath. “You’re right, I grabbed the file to try and get some closure. Galen never got to wrap it up and over time I haven’t been able to either.”
Sadness hits me remembering as if Galen died yesterday. Sven–a cop and an acquaintance–called me back then. He explained how Galen wanted to meet because he wanted to go over some details. He said they were walking out of the bar and when they passed the alley the homeless man wanted their money, held them at gunpoint. Galen lunged forward and the man fired, killing him point blank. Sven returned fire, killing the homeless man.
Without looking up Bee asks, “Sven still around?”