Shakedown (Souls Chapel Revenants MC 8)

I had about a gazillion, but I’d research those instead of listening to Dr. Blunt explain something when it was very clear he did not want to be explaining anything.

And, honestly, I was okay with that.

As long as he took care of Bruno—Aryus—that was just fine with me.

Dr. Blunt nodded at my words and tried to stalk out of the room, but just as he hit the doorway, he nearly ran over a woman with bright violet hair.

“Sorry,” Dr. Blunt grunted as he veered around her and finished his stalk from the room.

I stared at the woman in the doorway with curiosity.

“Can I help you?” I wondered.

The woman turned her gaze to me and smiled, her lip quivering.

“Bruno’s my best friend.”

My brows rose at that. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I’ve been giving him a hard time over the last year.”

I would love to know the story.

“So I hear you’re his fiancée?” she asked quietly.

The way she said ‘fiancée’ had me grinning.

She knew it was fake. Just like I knew it was fake.

Though, it was starting to feel really un-fake like.

The feelings that were currently rioting through my system were making me nervous.

I was feeling things about the man lying in the bed beside me that I hadn’t felt about any man ever.

“Aryus is mine, yes,” I confirmed.

Six snorted. “He always hated being called by his middle name. I’ll bet it annoys him to no end to go by that for now.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Why is that?”

“It was his real father’s name. He wasn’t very happy with how Aryus left. He wanted to get rid of that name like it was the plague or something,” Six admitted, walking farther into the room.

I noticed that she looked almost hesitant as she took more and more steps into the room.

“Why are you so nervous?” I wondered. “Just come in here and sit down.” I paused. “Are you even allowed to be here? Lynn made it sound like everyone was staying away.”

Six rolled her eyes. “He’s not my daddy or my keeper. He’s my husband. I do what I want, when I want, and he just sits back and rolls with the punches. If he has to do damage control, he has to do damage control. I don’t care. But I’m not going to leave B—Aryus here without knowing he’s in good hands.” She turned her stare directly on me. “Is he in good hands?”

I showed her my hands.

Six snickered as she finished her walk around Bruno’s bed and came to a stop beside him. “He’s taking the fall for this so we can find them. I’m sure he doesn’t know that just yet, but even if he did know, he’d allow it. He’s got a special place in his heart for these kids.”

My curiosity must’ve shown on my face because she said, “Bruno was taken as a young child. Kept for almost a week at the age of six before Texas Marshalls found him in the back of a box van with seven other children around the same age. He doesn’t talk about it much. Hell, I’m not even sure he remembers much of it, but it shaped the man that he became today.”

That made my heart hurt for the little boy that he used to be.

Which was quite weird because I was feeling so strongly for someone that I’d literally just met.