“Just toss a bag of popcorn in the microwave,” she suggested.
“I wholeheartedly believe popcorn was created by the Devil himself, and I refuse to make it, let alone eat it,” Leigh stated before joining us at the table with the tray of cheese, crackers, and fruit she put together. “Dig in. I need you to soak up some of the wine you’ve ingested. It’s too early in the day to deal with your drunk asses,” Leigh said jovially.
Lauren winked, “We’ll slow down and give you time to catch up.”
Leigh took a seat at the table and grabbed a glass of wine, “Well, in that case…” Laughter erupted around the table. It was obviously a well-practiced routine between the women.
We spent most of the day in the kitchen talking. By the time Leigh showed me to Judge’s room, I had each of the women pegged. Tiffany was the polite one, Lauren was the wild one, and Andrea was the blunt one. Their personalities seemed to complement each other well, and I found myself slightly envious of their bond. Maybe one day I would be blessed with similar friendships.
After a quick shower, I crawled into bed. Drinking wine for the better part of the day left me feeling sluggish and sleepy, until a ringing phone from somewhere in the room scared the ever-loving shit out of me.
I sat up and immediately noticed the phone on the nightstand. When I saw Copper’s name on the screen, I couldn’t answer it fast enough.
“How is he?” I said as soon as the call connected.
“He’s doing okay, Locks. He’s woken up a few times since the surgery. He seems to be the same as he was before the explosion.” Copper chuckled, “He’s pissed about his hair, though.”
“I would be pissed too if half of my head was shaved,” I said. Bronze had beautiful long hair—though, he probably wouldn’t like me calling it beautiful. “When he gets home, I can fix it for him, if he wants. I’m thinking he could totally rock the shaved on one side, long on the other look.”
“I’ll tell him,” he said softly. “He also asked me to apologize to you for him. He doesn’t remember the argument with me and demanded I tell him about it. I did, and he said, ‘You have to call her and tell her I’m sorry. Do whatever you have to do to express my profuse and sincerest apologies.’”
“All is forgiven. If he hadn’t said those nasty things about me, his condition wouldn’t have been brought to your attention until later. If him calling me a whore saved his life, I’m okay with that,” I said honestly. I knew Bronze didn’t mean it. Don’t get me wrong, his words were painful to hear, especially in front of Leigh and the other club members, but I knew he wasn’t speaking his true feelings about me.
“You’re an incredible woman, Locks,” he said.
“You’re pretty incredible yourself, Copper.”
After a few beats of silence, I added, “Enough of the sweet shit. I’m starting to feel the urge to vomit.”
His booming laughter filled my ear. When he quieted down, I asked, “Whose phone did you call? I saw your name on the screen and answered without thinking about it.”
“It’s your phone. Judge didn’t tell you?”
“No, I haven’t seen him since he took you and Bronze to the hospital.”
“He must’ve left it in the room when he was getting his stuff. I asked him to pick up a phone for you a few days ago. You would’ve gotten it sooner, but the snowstorm messed that up.”
“Copper, I can’t accept this. I’m sure it cost a fortune and—”
He cut me off, “You can and will accept it. I’ve already told you the club will take care of you, which includes your safety and that means you need to have a phone. I don’t want to hear any more about it.”
“Fine. Thank you for the phone,” I said flatly.
“You can thank me when I get back,” he said huskily.
After we ended the call, I stayed in the bed and tried to fall asleep for hours. I tossed and turned to no avail. In the early hours of the morning, I finally fell into a restless sleep filled with unpleasant dreams.
21
Bronze’s surgery was a success, and he only had to stay in the hospital for a few days. After giving it much thought, we decided it would be best for him to recover at Phoenix’s place in Croftridge. Bronze wasn’t happy about it, but he eventually agreed it was for the best.
My club had been at Boar’s place for a little over a week. It was past time to take care of our problems and get back to Devil Springs. Even though Boar insisted we were welcome to stay as long as we needed, I still felt like I was a week behind thanks to the snowstorm and Bronze’s delayed complication from the explosion. Just thinking about what could have happened to my brother because some stupid fucker bombed our clubhouse had me fuming.
Crammed into the detached garage on Boar’s property, I called Church to order. “Brothers, we’re not leaving this room until we have a plan in place. Blackwings don’t run and hide; we face our problems and end our troubles.” A chorus of grunted agreements sounded throughout the cramped space.
“Spazz, did you get anything else on Amos Brown?” I asked.
“No, Prez, not a fucking thing. Whoever wiped his identity did a damn good job. I did get some info on the new VP. He goes by Asp, but his real name is Donald Jensen. He’s thirty years old and has been with the club since his early twenties. He’s been arrested numerous times for a variety of crimes, including murder, but they’ve never been able to make anything stick. As far as family goes, parents are deceased, no wife, no children, two siblings, both are also deceased.”