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I slipped out of bed as quietly as I could so Happy could get some sleep. I wasn't even sure when he'd finally gotten in, but I knew it was late. I pulled on a sports bra and a pair of yoga pants and headed for the bedroom door. I glanced back at him and decided I should probably put a shirt on. I grabbed a t-shirt from my drawer and tiptoed out of the room.
"You ready?" I asked Harley as he ran in circles in the living room. I laughed and pointed towards the door. He bounded out of it as soon as I opened it. I grabbed his leash just in case before closing the door behind me and heading out for our morning run. I stopped at the end of the driveway and stretched my legs. They were already sore and aching from last night's bedroom activity.
I cut the run short since I'd waken up late. We were jogging back onto our street when I noticed a car that wasn't normally around. One thing I loved about Charming was being able to recognize when something was out of place. I whistled at Harley and picked up the pace. We made it back home in record time. I supported myself on the kitchen counter and took a minute to catch my breath. Harley lapped up a whole bowl of water before getting back into bed.
"Kat, where are you going?" Happy growled as I stepped out of the shower and dried my hair with a fluffy grey towel.
"Work. I wanted you to sleep but I was hoping you'd follow me over." I said with a sigh. I hated admitting that he might be right about needing an escort. He propped up on his elbows and looked at me as I dug around in my drawer for some underwear.
"Work? Where the fuck are you working?" He asked with a yawn. I stepped into my panties and looked up at him.
"Lauren and I are opening another bar just outside of town. Chibs wanted her to be closer so we hired a manager for the one in Oakland and bought a new building." I explained while getting dressed. Happy didn't look to enthusiastic.
"You said you had money, Kat." He growled as he climbed out of bed. I pulled a tan boot up to just below my knee and zipped it.
"I do, Happy. I'm only working part time, even after it opens. Are you going to follow me or do you want me to call Miles?" I asked as I pulled the second boot on. He walked out of the bathroom with a scowl and a toothbrush in his mouth. He disappeared long enough to spit the toothpaste out before storming back into the room.
"You're not fucking calling the prospect. You're mine, Kat. If you need something you ask me. If I can't do it then I'll fucking get somebody to do it." He snapped as he yanked a t-shirt over his head. I pursed my lips and tried to remember what Tara had said about picking fights and being in his world now.
I went into the bathroom and dried my hair as he finished getting dressed. I cut the hairdryer off when I noticed him standing behind me. I looked at him through the mirror and waited for him to say something.
"Just let me take care of you, Katerina." He kissed the top of my head and ran a hand over my shoulder. "Why are you suddenly okay with escorts?"
"I was running with Harley and saw a car that doesn't belong here. It was a couple of blocks up but it made me nervous. I think you have me paranoid." I said with a smile as he nodded. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"What?" He asked, leaning up against the counter and facing me. I laughed and shook my head.
"If I said I went running by myself you would have flipped out. Something tells me Harley was meant for more than cuddling and playing fetch." I said, figuring out the ulterior motive behind the type of puppy he'd gotten me.
"Get outta my head, Kat." He smiled and kissed me before standing up and heading out of the bedroom. I rolled my eyes and finished my hair and makeup before joining him in the kitchen.
"You ready?" I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head on his back as he finished his coffee. Just standing in the kitchen with him made me happy and thankful he was home. I loved the way he smelled like leather and cologne.
"You're riding with me." He said as he turned around and pulled me closer to him. He kissed me before I could object. He swirled his tongue over mine and I felt myself wanting him more. I pushed back with a hand on his chest.
"I'll ride your motorcycle. I don't have time to ride you this morning." I said with a wink. He smirked and smacked my ass before letting me go and walking towards the door. He paused after handing me a helmet. I didn't understand why he was giving me a look like he was bracing for something. As soon as we walked outside, it made sense.
"I'm going to fucking kill him!" I yelled as I bent down and looked at my front bumper. Paint was scraped and the fiberglass was cracked in the middle. I felt like hitting something as I wiggled it with my hand and it barely hung onto the rest of the car.
"He's getting it fixed, Kat. I saw it when I got home. I'll make sure it's done by the end of the week." Happy said, rubbing a hand on my lower back. I huffed and stormed over towards his bike. I could tell he was trying not to laugh and it pissed me off even more.
"Unless you want to be added to the hit list, you'll stop fucking smirking, Happy. I don't care how cute you think I sound when I'm mad." I snapped as I strapped my helmet on and climbed on behind him. He shook his head and I felt his abs move with laughter.
I gave him the address before he cranked the bike up and backed it out of the driveway. It'd been years since I'd been on a motorcycle and even then it was a dirt bike out in the desert. I tightened my grip around his waist and held my breath as he revved the engine.
"That Audi the car you were talking about?" Happy asked as he climbed off his Harley and followed me inside. I nodded and watched as his wheels started turning in his head.
"Yeah, but they could be visiting someone, I guess. What are you doing today?" I asked as I sat my bag on the glass-topped bar. He shook his head and kissed me.
"Just taking care of some shit from when I was in." I narrowed my eyes at him, aware that his words were loaded. It would have been a losing fight to ask what that 'shit' was, so I just nodded and kissed him again.
"Be careful. Your Ma wants you to call her, by the way." He nodded and waved to Lauren before heading back out to his bike. I sighed and hoped he wouldn't do something to end up back inside.
"Hey, they're delivering the pool tables today." Lauren said as she handed a clipboard over to me. I looked over the invoice and nodded.
"You left early last night." I said while we walked over to the area we'd been planning on putting the pool tables. She shrugged.
"Yeah, I started feeling sick. He didn't even get home until after two." She sighed and started walking off the measurements of the tables to see if they'd fit length wise. I'd already told her there wouldn't be enough room.
"Happy didn't either. They went off with Bobby and Juice during the reception. You realize we have four tables coming in. If they're turned that way they won't fit." I said, showing her a diagram we'd drawn up previously. She nodded and rubbed her lower back.
"Where'd they go?" I looked over at her and shook my head. She and Chibs had been arguing about her needing to know everything recently. Happy may have just gotten out, but I already knew there were things I couldn't and wouldn't want to know.
"It didn't come up last night." I said with a smirk. I was teasing her with details to get her mind off whatever happened during the reception.
"Oh? What exactly went down when he got home?" She wiggled her brow at me. I laughed and headed behind the bar to start unloading crates of liquor we'd gotten in.
"Do some work and I might tell you." I said with a wink. She rolled her eyes and opened a vodka box.
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"Juicy, are ya sure this is tha right place?" Chibs asked as Juice turned his bike off. He nodded and repeated the address of the building we were currently parked in front of. The location pissed me off further. I chewed on a toothpick between my teeth and shook my head.
"We're less than a fucking mile from the bar." I growled. I was burning up with the hoodie over my kutte, but we couldn't show colors for this type of job. This was personal.
"Brother, ya need to let Juice go up and see if he's home. He's tha only one that won't scare the neighbors." Chibs tried convincing me one last time. I glanced over at Juice and huffed. Now that his Mohawk had grown out, he just looked like a fucking kid.
"Go." I growled. Chibs nodded at him and Juice hopped off his bike and walked across the lot casually. Jax clapped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. I appreciated his support on this. Tig was pissed we'd left him behind, but we couldn't risk riding in so heavily.
I ran my thumb over the handle of the ka-bar Katerina gave me as a late Christmas present before falling asleep last night. The poetic justice of what I was planning caused a grin to creep up on my face. I was lost in my thoughts and plans of how to make this prick suffer as much as possible.
"Easy killer. That smile would scare tha devil." Chibs said as he tossed a cigarette butte down. I wiped any emotion from my face and nodded over to Juice as he hurried across the lot.
"Brother, you're not gonna like this. Neighbor said he left early this morning. She said he was acting twitchy and excited." Juice spoke quickly as he caught his breath. I narrowed my eyes at him and grabbed my helmet.
"Any chance ya know what he drives so we can look for him?" Jax asked as he flipped his kickstand up.
"A silver Audi." Juice and I spoke at the exact same time. I started the bike and peeled out of the lot.