Trinity
Trinity got back to the penthouse and let herself in, finding Ashley asleep on the sofa, the television playing softly in the background. “So much for the night owl,” she whispered to herself. She tiptoed off to Bella’s nursery to find her niece sleeping soundly on her tummy, her adorable little tushy in the air and her feet crossed under it. She was the cutest kid in the world. Since moving in with Ace, Trinity had found herself fantasizing about having his baby. Helping him to raise Bella was incredible but she wondered what it would be like to have a baby of her own—not that she could imagine loving a child more than she already loved Bella.
She kissed the baby’s little head and quietly shut the door to the nursery, on her way back out of the room. Trinity walked back down to the family room and woke Ashley. She wanted to send the babysitter on her way and then take a nice hot shower before bed. She planned on being sound asleep by the time Ace got home, that way she wouldn’t have to talk about feelings or love anymore tonight. She wasn’t kidding when she told Ace that she needed a break, but the hurt in his eyes nearly did her in. Hurting him was the very last thing that she wanted to do. Well, that and losing him. If she lost him, it would break her heart. But, wasn’t that what she was chancing by not admitting out loud how she felt about him?
She just needed a little time to think. Trinity needed to clear her mind of all of the day’s events and a hot shower and bed sounded like the perfect way to do just that. Then, she’d figure out how to proceed with admitting to Ace that she had fallen for him too. She wasn’t brave, but she wanted to be. Trinity wanted to shout from the rooftops how she felt about her big, badass biker, but she was a chicken.
She shook Ashley, and the girl didn’t stir. Not only was she not a night owl; she was also a very heavy sleeper. “Ashley,” Trinity loudly whispered. “It’s time to wake up.”
“No, Ma,” Ashley slurred. “I’m tired.” Trinity giggled and Ashley’s eyes popped open.
“Well, hey there, sleepyhead,” Trinity teased. “You fell asleep.”
“Oh, sorry. It must be really late. What time is it?” Trinity checked her cell phone and rolled her eyes.
“Um, it’s ten-thirty,” she said, holding the phone out for Ashley to see, just in case she didn’t believe her. Trinity knew that Ashley wasn’t her biggest fan.
“Wow—I must have just been exhausted. It’s been quite a week.” Ashley sat up and looked around. “Where is Mr. Wild?” she asked.
Of course she would notice his absence. “Ace stayed out with a few of his friends, to catch up and have a few drinks. He’ll be home soon,” Trinity said.
Ashley stood and placed her hand on Trinity’s arm. “I’m sure he will be,” she said. Ashley sounded half condescending and half like she pitied Trinity.
“How much do we owe you for tonight?” Trinity asked. She was ready for Ashley to leave.
“Oh, Mr. Wild has already paid me for the evening,” Ashley said. She gathered her belongings and walked to the front entry. “I hope everything works out for you, Trinity,” she breathed. Trinity wanted to demand to know what she meant by that, but she was tired, and honestly, she didn’t care.
“Have a safe trip home, Ashley,” Trinity said. “Thanks for sitting for us,” she said, emphasizing the word, “us”. Ashely scowled and turned to let herself out.
“Thank God she’s gone,” Trinity breathed to herself. She walked back to the master and started the water for the shower. She was going to wash away her crazy day and then, she was going to slip into bed and sleep for as long as possible—or at least until Bella woke for her feeding.
* * *
After a quick shower, Trinity found one of Ace’s clean t-shirts to slip on and she crawled into bed, suddenly feeling exhausted. She had just about drifted off when she heard the security system beep. “Front door open,” the alarm warned. Shit, it was going to wake Bella but that was her fault for arming it before she went to bed. She knew that Ace was going to be home soon, but she still armed the alarm and now, Arabella would be awake, dashing Trinity’s hopes of getting any sleep.
“Shit,” she grumbled, throwing the covers off her body to pad down to the kitchen. She was hoping to unarm the alarm before it called the local authorities. Trinity wondered why Ace hadn’t already done that—he was usually good about not triggering the alarm in the first place. Maybe he had more than a few beers while catching up with his club members. That would explain why he hadn’t silenced the annoying alarm yet.
Trinity peeked into Bella’s room to find her sleeping through the loud buzzing noise and breathed a sigh of relief. She might still be able to get some sleep after she reamed Ace out for being so careless first. She walked down to the kitchen and punched in the security code to stop the incessant alarm. The house phone rang and she was about to answer it when she caught some movement out of the corner of her eye.
“Ace,” she breathed. “You triggered the alarm. I just need to tell the alarm company not to send out the cops and then you and I are going to have a little chat about coming home drunk and triggering the alarm system.” She picked up the ringing phone and turned to find a man standing in her kitchen and he most definitely wasn’t Ace. “Who are you?” she asked. “And why are you in my kitchen.”
“Ma’am are you all right?” a woman’s voice asked.
“No,” Trinity breathed into the phone.
“I’m sending a unit to your location now. Just try to stay on the phone with me,” the woman said. The man pulled a gun from his oversized sweatshirt and pointed it at Trinity.
“Hang up the phone,” he ordered.
“Okay,” she said, holding the phone from her face, both hands in the air. “I’m hanging up the phone now—just put the gun down,” she ordered. Trinity hoped like hell that the woman on the other end of the call could hear that her intruder had a gun. She put the phone back on the receiver and held up both of her hands as if trying to show him that she was following his orders.
“Who are you?” she asked.
“Name’s Rooster. I’m looking for Charity,” he breathed.
“She’s not here. I’m her sister Trinity,” she said, hoping to garner a little trust so that he’d lose the gun.
“Where is she? I need to talk to her,” he slurred. Shit—he was drunk or high and pointing a gun at her.