McCoy (Golden Glades Henchmen MC 3)

"You need to eat," McCoy demanded, pushing the plate back toward me again.

"This sounds like a lot," Huck said, waving an arm out. "But we have a lot of connections. It won't take as long as it seems like."

"What am I supposed to do, though?" I asked. "I can't just... do nothing."

"Hate to break it to you, kid, but you're going to need to go back to work," Huck informed me.

"What? No. How can I do that? What if they saw me come here last night?"

"We won't send you back alone. I think Sass and Harm wouldn't mind getting their nails done. Ayanna too," Huck said, throwing out names that meant very little to me, but I figured they must be the names of someone's wives or girlfriends. "And we will keep one of ours nearby in case anything goes south. By the time you finish your shift, we should have some sort of angle to go on."

"And if you don't?"

"If we don't, we will figure something else out," Huck said, shrugging, but refusing to elaborate.

After that, everyone filed out to do whatever task they'd been assigned, leaving just McCoy, me, and the parrot alone in the kitchen.

"Eat. You got some sleep. That will go a long way to making you feel more human. But you need to eat. This is going to be a long day or day and a half. You need your strength to get through it."

He wasn't wrong.

So I went ahead and choked down the eggs, washing them down with the coffee.

"You're not alone in this anymore," McCoy said as he went for another cup of coffee.

"Why would you guys want to help me?"

"I won't lie. It's not completely out of the goodness of our hearts. Clearly, someone wants us dead. We need to figure out who that is before they manage to make it happen," he said, tone very matter-of-fact. "You are the only link we have right now to whoever these fucks are. So, we will help you and your sister because by doing that, we are getting something we need too."

"It doesn't bother you that I shot you?"

"Wasn't the first time I've been shot. Most likely won't be the last. But at least you felt like shit about it," he added with something that hinted at a smile on his lips.

"I really do," I confirmed. "Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't feel great. But it will ease up day by day. What time do you need to get to work by?"

"Ten," I told him, looking around for a clock.

"You got an hour. Huck is likely getting Harm to call in the babysitter. She will probably be the first one in the salon. Can't miss her. Blue hair. After that, Sass will come in. Pretty, curvy, with short blonde hair. And if we can work it out, Ayanna is curvy too, Black, and will likely have some obnoxiously bright color on. That's her thing."

"Okay," I agreed, nodding. "And if something goes wrong?"

"One of the girls will call on whoever is close by. But just in case," he said, grabbing a piece of paper, jotting down his number, and passing it to me.

"Thank you. And what about... you know... after work?"

"When I know more, I will let you know more," he told me.

"Okay," I agreed, getting to my feet. "Thank you," I added.

"Don't mention it. Your bag is on the floor by my bedroom door," he told me. "You probably want to get moving if you're going to have time to stop home to change."

"Right," I agreed, feeling a little off-kilter at the idea that life was just going to go on as normal, even after I'd put a bullet in some outlaw biker's arm.

But on as normal it went.

I was paranoid that someone might jump out at me in my apartment, but there was no one as I rushed home to change into my work uniform, feed my cat, and Belle's bunny that I'd brought over the night before, locking him in my bathroom so Franklin, my cat, didn't bother him.

But no one did.

And as far as I could tell as I drove to work, no one followed me either.

I sat down to work on clients, and no shadowy, scary men appeared in the doorway.

But within half an hour, a pretty blue-haired woman did, giving me a wink as she sat down to wait for someone to have a free table.

Then it was the blonde, Saskia.

And, finally, a gorgeous woman in an electric blue maxi dress. Ayanna.

I heard nothing from anyone as I tried to halfway focus on work. Or as I left work and made my way home, my stomach twisting, wondering if I'd been wrong to count on them.

"Don't scream," a calm, soothing voice demanded as I made my way into my apartment.

A gasp caught in my throat as I turned.