Page 28 of Hell On Heels
Razor spit his beer out as a roar of laughter ripped from his throat. “Damn it, warn a brother next time, Book,” he said, wiping his chin with the back of his hand.
“I remember you biting the shit out of one of the brothers when you fought for your full patch, Book,” Vicious said as he moved up next to Razor.
He waved over Wynn and ordered a couple of beers before turning his attention back to them. “You two took some good hits.”
Razor chuckled. “I think you cold-cocked me, asshole.”
“The hell I did, fucker,” Vicious snapped.
And just like that, they weren’t on the same merry-go-round anymore.
Razor pushed away from the bar, his shoulder clipping Vicious on the way past. The shove sent Vicious straight back into the bar.
It happened fast—to fast. Razor threw a punch, Vicious countered and Book stepped in to break it up and somehow ended up the one on the floor bleeding.
Bodies scattered, people stumbling back as they tried to get out of the way.
Book pushed himself up, only to drop back down as his head spun. Razor and Vicious both reached down to haul him up—only for Book to shove them off.
“I think I can manage by myself.”
When he finally stood, Book glared at both of them. “You two need to deal with your shit—away from other people. And you both need therapy,” he spat the words at them before pushing through the crowd.
Already, bruising was starting to bloom across his face.
Vicious and Razor watched him go, then almost turned to leave themselves—only to find Teller stepping into their line of sight.
He lifted his hand and rubbed his fingers together. Yep, they were being fined. Again.
The two of them split in opposite directions, equally aggravated, and equally aware they’d just put their hands on a brother over nothing by pride and bad timing.
Chapter Fourteen
She tried her best to hide the bruises with makeup. Still they showed through. Lottie could already hear the comments.Who did that to you? I hope whoever hit you got theirs. I hope you left that jerk.The worse would be seeing Razor and Hemlock, mostly Razor. She knew the way the man was about women being handled roughly. But no one had handled her in any way. The wine had been the culprit.
That was something she was struggling with. She’d never been a heavy drinker, lately it had become every night. As soon as she got home from her shift at the clinic. Whether it was six in the evening or six in the morning, she was drinking to go to sleep. Drinking when she took a bath. When she ate. Any excuse to have a glass of wine she had managed to find it.
Checking the time, Lottie saw she needed to finish getting dressed. She hadn’t done any grocery shopping in the past few weeks, and she wanted food. There was a small diner on her way to the clinic. She’d stop in and grab something to go. Maybe have a coffee while she waited.
After putting on her scrubs, Lottie walked to the door where her work shoes sat on the shoe mat and put them on. Looking around, she took her purse from the side table and headed out the door.
It took her twenty minutes to get to the pastry shop, another twenty to get waited on. Then she stood watching the clock as she waited on her to-go order. “I sure hope he got his, sweetie.” Lottie closed her eyes hearing the first of many comments she had predicted she’d hear. Nodding at the older woman walking passed her she kept her mouth shut.
Finally, with her order in hand, she headed to work. She didn’t hesitate when she arrived. She just pushed the door open and stepped inside. The sound of the door’s bell chiming, Lottie growled under her breath. She was starting to hate the dame bell.
Hemlock stood talking to Gretchen about some changes he wanted to make to how they approached patients when they came in. The receptionist didn’t have the best bedside manner. She could be rude and abrupt when dealing with some of the patients.
When the bell rang, he looked to see who was walking into the clinic. Smiling he started to greet Lottie with a friendly hello when he caught sight of her face. Excusing himself from speaking with Gretchen, he opened the door leading from the waiting room to the back. Taking her by the elbow, Hemlock led her towards one of the offices.
Lottie tried to get her arm away from him. “Hemlock, let go…”
“Don’t. Just keep walking,” he told her as he thought about who could have done this to her. From what he knew about his co-worker she wasn’t dating anyone. He’d have to give Razor a heads up. The last thing he needed was for the brother to see Lottie looking like a battered woman without notice. No matter what the man said he was half in love with Lottie.
Closing the door he turned and faced her. “Talk to me.”
“It’s nothing, Hemlock. Just an accident at the apartment,” she told him, not wanting to get into it. Technically Hemlock was her co-worker, but she knew he was trying to buy out the older doctor. If he did that, then he could act like her boss. For now, the big brother act was annoying her.
“Lottie, it’s not nothing. If you fell and hit your face or head, we should geta scan done.”
