I glared at her, but she wasn’t deterred.
“Nice try. I pushed that giant head out of my vagina, your little scowl doesn’t scare me,” she retorted. “You need to give Wrath a little compassion, Crew. The only reason you weren’t there was because you were doing something with Moses.”
“The only reason Scrappy prospected at all was because of Wrath,” I bit out. “He’d still be alive if not for him.”
“Crew Dominic Faulkner, I did not raise a liar. Otis prospected because his big brother did. There was no other reason,” she countered. “And that night, it could have just as easily been you and you know it. Work it out. I adore Wrath, you know I do. I’ll choose you every time, baby, but I love having Wrath in my life.” She squeezed my face so hard my lips puckered. “So, fucking work it out.”
“You’re over wanting me to leave the club?”
“No,” she admitted. “I’m choosing my battles. Are you going to work it out with Wrath and Jekyll?”
I pulled away from her grip. “I’ll think about it.”
“Think hard.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist and lifted her off her feet and kissed her neck. “No wonder I love bossy women so much.”
She leaned back. “What bossy women?”
“No one, Ma,” I lied. “Just in general.”
“Put me down,” she ordered, and I set her on her feet. “Are you hungry? I’ll make you a sandwich.”
“Yeah, that’d be great, thanks.”
* * *
Rowan
Two days. It had been two days since I’d seen Scooby and I was hating every second. Tango had been my ‘watcher’ the last two nights, but still no sign of Scooby. I’d texted him a few times to check in and he’d always answered, but he’d never initiated anything, so I felt like an idiot every time I pressed send on a message. God, I missed him.
By the time the lunch rush ended, I finally had a few minutes to take Lord out and once I’d settled him back into his bed, I grabbed a muffin and headed back out to the front where I found a group of ridiculously beautiful young women standing at the podium waiting to be seated.
“They’re waiting for you,” Dusty said.
“Really? Okay.” I made my way to them and grabbed menus. “Hi. Table for… five?”
“Yes,” a tall blonde answered for the group. “You’re Rowan, right?”
“I am.”
“We’re friends of Scooby’s. I’m Violet. This is Raquel, Indigo, her bestie, Bellamy, and Sierra.”
“This is for you,” Sierra said, handing me a Starlight Express orchid.
“Thank you.”
Sierra looked like she’d been transported straight from the 1960s, floppy hat and all. She had curly blonde hair and a ring on every finger, and wore a long flowy skirt, snow boots, and a heavy coat over an embroidered blouse.
“Let me guess, Scooby sent you here as the club’s welcome wagon,” I said, suddenly hopeful that he might care enough to want me to meet the club women.
“Oh lord, no, if Scooby knew we were here, he’d blow a gasket,” Violet said, to laughs and nods around.
I frowned. “Well, you can’t all be here for the pie.”
“No, we’re here for an intervention…” Violet hedged.
“Not really an intervention, he hasn’t done anything yet,” Indigo said.