It infuriated me that his words still got to me. My breathing had become ragged, forced and unsteady, my fists clenched, knuckles white and throbbing, and when I couldn’t stand it a moment longer, I grabbed the bottle of tequila and threw it, shattering the glass against the wall.
“What the ever-loving fuck?”
Danny whipped around and looked down at the broken bottle, then quickly turned his attention over to me. “Just trying to knock back the demons.”
“Don’t worry about it....I’ve got it.”
Without another word, he grabbed a new bottle off the shelf and placed it in front of me, then went over and grabbed a broom. Guilt washed over me as I watched him sweep up the broken glass. “Fuck.”
“Don’t worry about it, brother. We all have bad days.” Danny glanced over his shoulder as he asked, “Something you wanna talk about?”
“Does it look like I wanna talk about it?”
I shouldn’t have taken my frustration out on our prospect, but he was there and that’s how the cards happened to fall. I didn’t apologize. I simply opened the bottle of liquor and brought it to my mouth, tilting it back for a long pull. I then stood and left the room. My actions didn’t do much for the guilt I was feeling. In fact, it only made it worse. I walked into my room, slammed the door, and dropped down on the bed. I closed my eyes and quickly passed out, finally putting an end to a shitty day.
The next morning, I awoke to sun blaring right in my eyes. I quickly grabbed a pillow and threw it over my head, shielding my eyes from the light. I wanted to lie there and block out the day, but a knock on my door let me know I didn’t have that luxury. Without removing the pillow, I shouted, “Yeah?”
My door opened, followed by Rafe announcing, “We got church.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
“Then move your ass. We’re gonna be late.”
I yanked the pillow off my face as I grumbled, “I’m coming, damn.”
“What’s wrong, punkin’?” Rafe teased with a chuckle. “Didn’t get enough sleep last night?”
“Eat a dick, Rafe.” I pulled myself out of bed and groaned as I headed into the bathroom. “Why are you in such a good fucking mood anyway?”
“Why are you in such a bad one?”
I didn’t answer. Instead, I splashed some water on my face and brushed my teeth. After running my hand through my hair, I stepped out of the bathroom and said, “Let’s go.”
“Damn, brother. You’re looking a little rough this morning.”
“Good of you to notice.” I shoved on my boots and headed for the door. “Let’s move. I don’t wanna be late.”
When we got to the conference room, Viper and the others were already there. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, and I was thankful no one seemed to notice when Rafe and I sat down. My head was pounding, and I was in dire need of coffee. I didn’t have much to say during church. I just sat back and listened as Viper and Axel discussed going back to us doing shifts at Stilettos. We’d done them before when Stark was fucking with the club. I was surprised they were going to implement them again, but I didn’t say shit about it. Hawk, on the other hand, had questions. Concern filled his eyes as he asked, “There are always brothers at the club. Why do you suddenly feel the need to go back to the shifts?”
“Just covering all our bases,” Viper answered.
“We’re already covering our bases,” Hawk argued. “We always have. I’m asking if there’s something we should be concerned about.”
“Not at this time.”
“Is there a potential for concern?” Hawk pushed.
“There’s always a potential for concern, brother.”
“So, you aren’t going to tell us what’s going on?” Hawk barked.
“Nothing to tell, Hawk. When or if there is something, I will let you all know.”
Hawk nodded, putting an end to their heated discussion. Viper then brought up our meet with Flint. We would be getting a larger take for the month, so we’d be taking more of our prospects along to ensure the run went off without a hitch—again, something I already knew from my conversation with Viper. Once church was dismissed, I went to grab myself a cup of coffee. My pounding headache had me thinking back to the reason why I’d reached for the bottle in the first place. As I thought back to my latest encounter with Frankie, I got an uneasy feeling. I couldn’t understand why the memory troubled me like it did, and then it hit me. The fucking spare. I’d told her to get it changed, but when I pulled up in her driveway, I remembered seeing that it was still on her car. I was so eager to get rid of her wallet, I’d forgotten to ask her about it.