“The bar is as much mine as it is any of my brothers. I want to earn my keep,” she tells me as she pulls her hair out of the work shirt she just pulled over her head. “I don’t want to argue about it anymore, Bash.”
“Fine,” I mutter, but I’m not going to give up. There has to be some way to convince her to quit working at the bar. I may not find the solution today or next week, but I will find one.
Downstairs I find Lexa cuddled on the couch with Gracie, who’s reading her a book. Hawk asks me to hire her as a babysitter to give the girl some extra money, and I readily agree. Lexa likes Gracie. With Willa trying to distance herself from Lexa to make it easier for Raven, something she really doesn’t have to do since Lexa forgets all about Willa and any other person when she has Raven’s attention, Willa isn’t able to watch Lexa as much as she used to.
When Lexa sees that Raven is ready to go to work, she doesn’t attempt to plead again. She jumps up and hugs Raven tight. “You promise you will stay home with me tomorrow night?”
Raven crouches down in front of her, hugging her tight. “I swear it, Lexa. As soon as I get home from doing the books tomorrow, I’m all yours.”
Lexa pulls back enough to look at Raven’s face. After a long moment, as if the little girl is trying to look for any deception and finding none, Lexa smiles. “Will you braid my hair?”
“Of course. And you can paint my toenails.” Raven gives her another tight hug and kisses her cheek before standing. “Be good for Gracie, okay?”
“Okay.”
I pull out my wallet and hand Gracie some cash. “Order some pizza.” Lexa claps her hands happily.
“I showed you how to use the Epipen. I know she probably won’t need it, but if she does, use it and then call me.” Raven picks up her keys. She’s driving herself tonight since I have a few things to do before I can make it to the bar for the usual Friday night meeting with the Originals.
“Don’t worry, Raven.” Gracie gives her a reassuring smile. “Lexa will be fine.”
“Yeah …” She sighs then
blows Lexa a kiss. “Love you.”
“Love you too, Raven!” she calls back as Raven walks toward the front door. Before she can walk through the door, I catch her elbow and turn her to face me. She raises an eyebrow at me, but I just place a lingering kiss on her lips. When I pull back she was breathless.
“Love you,” I mutter against her lips as I steal one last kiss and then push her out the door.
Once I hear the Challenger pull out of the driveway, I drop a kiss on top of my daughter’s head and leave. I have to meet with Spider, and I’m not looking forward to it. I haven’t talked to him since he walked in on Raven and I making love. I know that Raven spent a few hours with him the Saturday before when she did Razor’s books. She even stopped by his apartment one night after work.
I don’t want to see him now, but he’s my enforcer, I have a few things that need his attention. I pull into the parking lot at Razor’s and turn off my bike. Spider’s hog is the only one left, and I can tell that he’s shutting down for the evening. I’d sent word through Raider that I’d be stopping by tonight so he’d know to have the place cleared out.
When I walk in Spider is punching something into the computer behind the front counter. He barely glances at me before turning his attention back to the screen. “I still owe you for getting the drop on me, fucker.” Just like that I know that we’re friends again. That’s the way it’s always been between me and Spider. I could probably shoot him and he’ll still forgive me.
I grin. “What hurt more, man? Your jaw or your pride?”
Spider snorts. “We both know I have a glass jaw, asshole. That’s the only reason why you aimed for it. Probably the reason your ass got away before I even knew what was going on.”
“Probably.” I nod, leaning against the counter. There’s no probably about it. I’m not stupid. Spider is the only one that equaled me in a fight, except for Jet, but he’s in prison.
“So, who’s been causing trouble?” Spider finally stops playing with the computer and grabs a bottle of water from the mini fridge.
“It isn’t anyone in the club...” I grimace “...yet. Hawk will probably go apeshit once he finds out though. I’m trying to keep it quiet as long as possible.”
“Let me guess. Frat boys?”
Felicity had come to me yesterday. She was hearing whispers on campus. The frat boys realized it was us that burned their house to the ground. They wanted revenge. Sure they could go to the cops, but there’s no way that they can prove which of us had set the fire. Instead, there’s talk of burning down something that the club treasures as much as the frat boys treasure their house. Felicity says there’s two possibilities.
The warehouse or the bar.
I couldn’t care less about the warehouse. That place is insured for twice what it’s worth, and if it goes up in flames we’ll just build it again. The bar? That’s a different story altogether. It’s insured, probably for more than it’s worth, but money won’t replace what’s lost if something happens to it. Raven’s great-grandfather had built that bar. It’s the club’s safe haven, our home away from home. No matter what’s going on in our lives outside the club, once one of us steps through those doors, nothing else matters. The bar’s sacred.
I tell Spider what Felicity said, watching as his eyes narrow dangerously. “I’ll do some recon.”
“Call me as soon as you find out something.”
Chapter 20