“Persephone, ain’t nothin’ gonna stop not only me but the brothers from helping you, okay?” I slowly nod in response, heave a breath of air, and then let him know I’m ready to talk, but I really need to get out of this bed.
“Alright, can we move this to another area? I feel like the past twenty-four hours, all I’ve done is lie in bed. I’d at least like to pace while getting everything out in the open.” Shovel moves off the bed, then helps me to my feet, once again not giving me much room. I’m not sure if that’s for my benefit or his, but I do know I like it more than I should.
“Yeah, we’ll go to my office. You feel up to having company while doing it or just me?” Shit, I didn’t even think about him needing to tell everyone else. Even though his cut says President, I know all the men and Raven will find out just how stupid I really am.
“I’m sure you’ll just have to relay the message. May as well get it over and done with.” My fingers tangle with the tips of Shovel’s as I desperately want to face plant into his chest and hold on to the strong and steady biker. I won’t and don’t though; instead, I ask Shovel two questions. “Will you help me put my sling on that Doc left, and do you have a jacket I can wear?”
“Yeah, babe, I will. When this meeting is over, you and I are gonna have a talk too. Nothing bad, but I’m laying shit out, lettin’ you know just what’s happenin’. You get me?” I nod my head, unable to speak any words, not with the way Shovel is looking at me. If I did say anything, it would end up with me crying, and I have a feeling that will be happening sooner than later.
Seven
Shovel
I almost fucked up back there in my room, took more than I knew she was ready to give. The way her eyes glimmered with hope made me want my mouth on hers. I tamped that down, for then at least.
“You good?” I ask her once we’re in my office. The only other person in here is Razor. There’s no reason to overwhelm her with the ‘motley crew’ if we don’t have to.
“I’m okay. I guess it’s time to spill the beans.” Persephone attempts to smile but then grimaces when the movement pulls at her cut lip.
“Take your time. We’re in no hurry.” This comes from Razor. I nod in agreement.
“I knew things had changed. Moving in with Kyle after only knowing him a month was so terribly idiotic of myself. To be fair, I was drowning, not in debt, but in despair.” I can see the melancholy floating along the surface; she doesn’t delve deep, and I’m not going to ask for more than she’s willing to give.
“Take your time, babe.” I’m sitting behind my desk. She and Razor are in chairs in front of it, a setting that feels too fuckin’ formal for what she’s about to share.
“I’m fine. Anyway, we’re settling in, and Kyle doesn’t ask too much from me. He goes his way, I go mine, living life like an old married couple in more ways than one,” Persephone continues on, and if she’s telling me that fuck nugget didn’t take care of her in all the damn ways I’m hopin’ to, I’ll be glad to step up to the plate. “After months of him being short with me, not coming back to the apartment for days on end, and snide comments when he was around, I did some snooping.”
“That’s the pits, a man treating you like a doorknob, not seeing to your needs,” Razor jokes.
“Well, yeah, but it’s whatever. Clearly, that won’t be happening ever again. He left for work. It was my day off. The perk of working four ten-hour days is having Mondays off. I started in his bedroom. We never even shared a room together, like ever. There was nothing there, not even a built-in wall safe. I checked if the floorboards were loose, and behind paintings. Zilch. So, I moved on to his office. I never really needed to be in there because I had my own office area in my room. But that doesn’t matter. I’m going through his laptop. The idiot set his own name as his password. How ridiculous is that? But I’m getting sidetracked again. I promise I’m getting to the good part, well, really the bad part besides what happened a year ago, but yeah. There was nothing on his laptop. Shocking, but there were drawers filled with files. My name was on one, my parents’ on the others, but I didn’t get that far.” She takes a deep breath after her rambling, which is assume is a nervous habit.