By the end of the day, she was about to head upstairs when she caught sight of Kasey. Her best friend didn’t give her space though. Kasey pulled her into her arms, and she dropped her head down onto her arm.
“It’s okay. I’ve only just heard, and I made Chip stay home. I’m so sorry. I should have been here sooner.”
She held onto her friend like a lifeline, not realizing that was exactly what she needed. Holly and Mary were nice and were friends, but they weren’t Kasey. Her neighbor had become her rock for so long, it even surprised her how good it felt to finally have her here.
Taking her hand, she led the other woman to Pie’s room. She didn’t know if he’d be pissed about this, but right now she didn’t wish to feel like a bug under a microscope.
Closing the door, she didn’t sit on the bed as the last thing she wanted was to make Kasey uncomfortable. Sitting on the floor, she crossed her legs and smiled at her friend.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. You know. I’m more than fine. Nothing really happened. Not when Pie came. How much do you know?”
“Your face, Lindsey. He hit you.”
“Pie didn’t.”
“No, that asshole.”
“He did.”
“Chip told me everything. What Pie walked into and how he reacted. The fact your boss is dead.”
“Yeah, he’s dead.” She stared down at her hands, feeling her tears start to well once again. It was crazy to think this way or to be like this. She didn’t know what the hell to do with herself.
“Why do you look sad?” Kasey asked.
“It’s my boss. What if people come asking about him? I don’t want Pie to get in trouble.”
Kasey took her hands in hers. “Then we’ll deal with it, Lindsey. We’ll always deal with it. You know. The club is here for you. Pie is here for you. I’m here. No one is going to let you deal with this alone.”
“It’s not about me, Kasey. It’s about him. About Pie. I don’t want him to end up in jail because of me.” She pulled her hands away, covered her face, and began to sob. She couldn’t control it. The tears just fell.
“It’s okay.” Kasey pulled her into her arms, and she went. Resting her head on Kasey’s lap, she kept on crying, hoping that she’d get a grip already. This was the most she’d cried in a long time.
Kasey pulled her hair back and began to hum.
The sound soothed her.
Closing her eyes, her body went lax, and against her wishes, she fell asleep.
Chapter Six
Pie entered his bedroom, exhausted and just wanting to fall into bed. However, Holly and Mary had also told him that Lindsey hadn’t eaten all day. First, he needed to get her to eat, and then he would sleep.
He’d spent the entire day with Diaz looking through Richard’s old apartment and house. They had the key, and Diaz had one of his crew stop his security as they snooped. Richard was a very clean man. No drugs, no booze, nothing. Just lots and lots of condoms. Diaz had located some homemade movies, so he was going through them while he’d come home. The money he’d paid Diaz was out of his own earnings with the club, so Duke didn’t mind him dealing with Diaz over this problem.
It wasn’t club-related.
Pie just wanted to know everything.
The way Richard handled the entire situation. Paying the guards to leave, turning off security, something didn’t sit right with him, and now he wanted to know what his deal was.
Seeing Kasey on the floor, he was about to speak when she pressed a finger to her lips and pointed down. Moving around the bed, he saw Lindsey curled up on her lap, passed out, and he nodded.
She didn’t get much sleep last night.
The guilt and fear had kept her awake. Sitting on the floor, he watched her sleep, feeling this overwhelming need to protect her, to love her. Lindsey was brassy, taking life as it came at her, but right now, she looked like a shell of her former self. Even Mary and Holly had warned him that she wasn’t being herself, and he hated that.
“How has she been?”
“She’s been sleeping for a few minutes now,” Kasey said.
When Lindsey made a sound of distress in her sleep, Kasey started to him.
It tore at his heart to see her like this, knowing what he saw. She’d been begging Richard to stop. The scream she gave wouldn’t get out of his head. It’s what he heard as he kept on hitting the bastard. To make the sound stop, he’d snapped the fucker’s neck.
“Do you know?”
“Yes, I know. I’m a nurse and I shouldn’t agree with what you did, but … seeing her. Knowing what he was going to do. I’m pleased you did.”