“We’ll be watching all of his televised fights, but if you ever want to go to one, I’m sure I can get tickets,” I offered.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she laughed.
“Time for bed,” I said and hoisted her over my shoulder causing her to squeal in protest.
Batta laughed while Kennedy waved at her. “Night, River. See you tomorrow.”
I carried her down the hall to my rarely used room at the clubhouse. Pushing the door open, I froze at the sight before me. It was all I could do to contain my rage and back out of the room hoping River wouldn’t see.
Of course, that would have been too easy. Before I could close the door, Didi climbed off the bed and pranced her naked ass toward the door. “Where are you going, Judge? She can stay and watch.”
“Wrong, bitch. He can stay and watch me kick your skanky ass. Again! We’ll call it ‘Return of the Thunderous Cunt: The Final Smackdown’!” River screamed and started thrashing against me.
I clamped my arms around her legs and moved down the hall as she beat her fists against my back.
“Put me down! I have some fake tits to pop!”
“Not happening, lil’ ninja. Batta, can you get the trash out of my room?” I asked, though it wasn’t a question.
We all turned at the growing sound of a woman screeching. Layla had somehow gotten a sheet wrapped around Didi and was using it to slide her across the floor.
“Could one of you get the door for me?” Layla asked sweetly.
Batta jumped up to get the door while Layla continued dragging and berating Didi. “I told you myself that you were banned from the club. Did you think I was joking? Did you think the President was just fucking with you? Banned means banned, bitch. You don’t get to come here or to any of our establishments, and because you royally pissed me off, you better run the opposite direction any time you see anyone affiliated with the club anywhere. Now get gone!”
When Layla continued dragging Didi out the door, Batta took the sheet and used it as a sort of sling to carry Didi to the gate. He unceremoniously dropped her on the ground and slammed the gate shut while the rest of us watched in stunned silence. That was, until Layla and Batta came back inside. Then, everyone burst into fits of laughter. Even River.
Copper grabbed Layla around her waist and whispered something in her ear that made her blush before he buried his face in her neck.
I placed River on her feet and tilted her chin up with my thumb. “I’m sorry about her. I don’t know how she managed to get into the clubhouse, let alone my room, but I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“The only thing you need to apologize for is not letting me kick her ass again,” she said seriously.
I shook my head. “Not going to apologize for that. I wasn’t about to risk your safety. Not that I don’t think you could take her, but she’s obviously not in the best frame of mind if she thought she could show up here after being banned.”
“Blah, blah, blah. I hope you don’t think I’m going to sleep in that bed after she rubbed her hoochie hooha all over it,” she said and wrinkled her nose in disgust.
I laughed. “What if I flip the mattress and put new sheets on it? Will that work for you?”
“Throw in some Lysol and you’ve got a deal,” she returned.
Chapter Nineteen
River
I walked into a madhouse when I arrived at work. Nurses and techs were darting in and out of rooms. Phones were ringing while call lights and IV alarms sounded in the background. I quickly shoved my stuff into my locker, tossed my lunch into the fridge, and made my way into the mayhem.
“River, thank goodness you’re here. I need you to be in charge tonight,” Stacie, the day shift charge nurse, told me.
“Why? Where’s Kennedy?” I asked. It was rare that I ever worked a shift without Kennedy, though I supposed that was Kennedy’s doing.
“I have no idea. The director said she called in earlier today and that was all I needed to know.”
“I hope everything’s okay,” I said, more to myself than to Stacie.
“Yeah, me, too. Kennedy never calls in sick.”
I decided I would call and check on her when I got a chance. After getting the shift report from Stacie and making sure we had enough staff to handle the full house we had, I hit the ground running and didn’t stop for hours.