Page 51 of Link (Dragon Riders MC 1)
“Bowser, I appreciate the concern. But the two of us are working on it. She’s not deeply aware of what we do, but she is aware that we tread in the gray while she treads fully over on the side of white. We’ve had a few discussions about it here and there.”
“Here and there?”
I nodded. “Yes. Here and there. I don’t want to overwhelm her with the topic or make her feel as if she has to be loyal to some dark side now that she’s moving in. Things like this take one step at a time.”
“And you think you can pull that out of her? A loyalty to us so our own families sleep easier at night?”
I grinned. “You planning on making a family anytime soon?”
His face fell flat. “You know what I mean, Link.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I do. And I get it. I promise you; I get the worry. But think of it this way: when Joanna figured out what was happening with her sister, she didn’t go to the police. Did she?”
He paused. “No. She didn’t.”
“And after we rescued her and I took her back to my place, she didn’t call the police, did she?”
“No, she didn’t.”
“In fact, after all of that, she still agreed to move in with me. She still agreed to put her sister’s life in our hands for protection.”
He grinned. “You think she’s already got loyalty to us.”
“I’d put my fucking life on it.”
I mean, things weren’t perfect. I knew there would be things both of us would struggle with. But so long as we kept our work lives outside the front door in the beginning, that was as good of a start as anyone needed.
“Oh, Bowser. Before you go.”
He paused at my office door. “What’s up?”
“Since I’m going to be indisposed for the first week or so of watching over Hope, it’s your job as my V.P. to step up to the plate. I’m assuming you’ll be taking the bulk of the shifts to make sure she’s safe at the clubhouse?”
He nodded. “You got it.”
“Promise me you won’t let her out of your sight. Not for anything, if you can help it.”
He looked me dead in my eyes. “You have my word, Link. Ash has already volunteered to take the bulk of the day shifts or to sub in if something happens to one of the guys. And I’m already preparing to take the bulk of the night shifts, since those are going to be hard to fill anyway. Given the situation we’re working with.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate that. And I’ll let Joanna know what our plan is tonight.”
“Hey, Link?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Yeah, Bowser?”
“I promise to make sure nothing happens to that girl. I know you’ve got just as much riding on her safety as her own damn sister does. She’s safe, and I’ll guarantee it.”
I smiled. “That kind of statement calls for a drink.”
I motioned for Bowser to sit back down and he clapped his hands together. He rubbed them as he sat on the edge of the chair while I pulled out two glasses and some of the luscious liquor I still had stashed away. I poured us each three fingers because God only knew we needed as much of it as we could get. Things were about to ramp up in a very serious way, and we wouldn’t have many times to sit and breathe like this.
“So, want to hear the plans I’ve been turning around in my head?” he asked.
I growled, taking my first sip. “Hit me with it.”
Bowser took a long pull. “Damn, this stuff is good.”
“Right?”
He swirled the liquor around in the glass. “So, I figure the core group of us can take shifts watching Hope while the prospects and the rest of the guys take turns helping to run the bar. Obviously, not what you do back here. But opening and closing. Cleaning. Staffing. Schedules. Shit of that nature. So, the bars don’t stop turning even though we’ve taken on this job.”
I nodded. “I can get behind that. Sounds like a good plan.”
“And I figure everything can work in an eight-hour shift. So, things still feel normal even though we’re about to take on the Golden Jags face first.”
“You mean fist first.”
“No, what I really mean is bullet first. But I figured I’d edit myself.”
I barked with laughter. “Fair enough.”
“But that does bring about the question of just exactly how we’re going to run those assholes out of town.”
He threw back the rest of his drink. “It’ll take some planning. It’s not something we’ll figure out right now.”
I followed his motions, swallowing the last of the burn down. “We could brainstorm, though.”
He set his empty glass on the edge of my desk. “We could make another go at the girls at the motel.”
