Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33170 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“Hi, baby.” I reached for her as she approached, wrapping my arms around her and kissing her. When I pulled back, her eyes were glazed and her breathing had quickened, but there was a look on her face like I’d distracted her from something important. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t find Serelda. Have you seen her?”
I frowned. “No. I take it she’s not in her room or with the kids?” The girls Sting and Iris had brought back with them and Jerrica were adjusting well. Serelda spent a lot of time with them. It seemed to be helping all of them.
“No.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me once more. Probably because she wanted me to know she loved my kisses. She did stuff like that. It was important to her for me to know she enjoyed our intimate encounters with each other. She’d told me that several times, saying she didn’t ever want me to think she was uncomfortable with what we did. While I knew her past still haunted her -- and probably always would -- she was blossoming into a very different and more carefree woman. The transformation was nothing short of miraculous. “It’s not like her to go somewhere without telling me. Even if it’s just to a different part of the clubhouse.”
“She’s probably with Brick.” I should probably shrug it off, but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong.
“He’s good for her. You think he wants to be with her, or is he playing the protector?”
I shook my head. “Don’t know. My gut tells me he’s interested, but I’ve not talked to him about it, and he’s not mentioned anything.” I frowned. “Though, I did see him in the common room at a party a couple days ago. Doesn’t go often, but he usually parties pretty hard when he’s at one.”
Winter frowned. “You mean drinks?”
“Honey…”
I saw the moment when it dawned on her what I meant. Her frown turned to confusion. Then to something akin to rage. “I’ll fucking kill him.” She said it in a near whisper. I was pretty sure she wasn’t kidding.
“You realize he’s three times your size and a highly trained Marine. Right?”
“He has to sleep sometime. If Serelda found out…”
“She want him?”
“I don’t know. Even if she doesn’t, though, it would hurt her. Brick is one of the very few people she trusts. I get it if he’s not interested in her. I even realize that if he’s taken up the role as protector for her it’s not necessarily because there’s a romantic attachment. What I’m not sure of is if Serelda can separate her emotions from it. She may not acknowledge it, he may not realize it, but in Serelda’s mind, Brick is hers.”
“I get it. One thing at a time. Let’s find Brick. Maybe he knows where she is.”
I took out my phone and shot off a text to the VP. No response. That wasn’t like him. Maybe he was in a meeting with Sting.
“I’m going to check her room again,” Winter said. “Maybe I just missed her in passing somehow.”
“I’ll meet you in a minute. Gonna check in with Sting. Haven’t seen him in a couple of days. It’s possible he knows where Brick is.”
After kissing Winter once more, I made my way to Sting’s office. The president was at his deck, his feet propped up. Brick was passed out on the couch. The place reeked of whisky.
“What’s going on?”
Brick grumbled intelligibly while Sting just frowned at the big man.
“Someone went on a bender the last couple of days.” Sting nodded toward Brick. “Something’s got him in a real snit this time.”
“Not sure I’ve ever seen him do this to himself. What the fuck?”
“He’s been sleeping it off for about twelve hours now. When he wakes up, I’ll get answers.”
“I was looking for him to see if he’d seen Serelda, but I can see that’s not gonna work.”
“No.” He raised an eyebrow. “There a problem with Serelda?”
“Yeah. Winter can’t find her. Those two always communicate their whereabouts. Even if it’s just across the fucking room.” I exchanged a hard look with Sting. “Something’s wrong.”
“I get that.” He sighed as he picked up the phone. “Stitches, get to my office with some of that banana shit for drunks. I need my VP sober.” He slammed the phone down and grumbled something about skinning Brick alive when this was over.
“I’d like to see you try that. He only lets you beat up on him ‘cause you’re the president.”
“No shit? Well, he’ll take this too.”
“Ain’t a crime to get drunk, you know.”
“Not if it was because something went down with him and his woman.”
That got my attention. “So it’s not just me.” Sting gave me a look like I was an idiot. “I’m not stupid, brother. I figured it out all on my own.”