“No, he will not,” Cassie said sharply.
Daisy pouted. “My momma is soooooo mean.”
“Doubt that.” Judge put the little girl on her feet. “Always gotta listen to your momma. She knows best.”
“She don’t know poop.”
“I’m sure she knows poop.” Judge did his best to strangle his laugh and not encourage Daisy’s behavior.
Cassie sighed. “Okay, then. I need to get her upstairs. Is this going to take long?”
Probably not as long as he’d like. “Get done whatcha gotta get done. I can wait.”
“She needs a bath and a story before she falls asleep.”
Judge would love Cassie to give him that bath and read him a story, too. Not the same kind of story she was going to read to Daisy. “Got time.”
Cassie’s mouth opened, then she shut it and pursed her lips. Color rose into her cheeks as he stared at that mouth. The one that had sucked him hard not even two days ago.
“It’s going to be at least an hour, if not more. If you only have something quick to say...”
“Do whatcha gotta do, Cass. I’ll wait. Or I can come back if you’ll let me back in.”
Her hesitation didn’t give him a lot of confidence she’d let him back in.
“Tell you what, gonna run to Pete’s and grab a beer. Be back in about an hour and a half to make sure she’s settled in for the night. This way we’re undisturbed.”
Daisy stomped her foot. “But I want Judge to read me my story!”
Judge glanced down at the little hellion in pink sneakers. “Not tonight, kid. Next time maybe, if your momma says it’s okay.”
Cassie’s lips parted and her brow furrowed.
“Know how to read, you know,” he teased her.
She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Go get a beer. Don’t pound so hard when you come back.”
“Don’t know how to pound any other way, baby,” he whispered close to her ear.
Her cheeks exploded in color as he pulled away.
With a grin, he left.
Stella grinned at Judge as he settled on a stool at the bar. “Cassie isn’t working tonight.”
“Know it. Didn’t come here for her.”
“What did you come here for?”
He shook his head. “A fuckin’ beer. Last time I checked this was a fuckin’ bar, right?”
Stella laughed and moved away, grabbing a pint glass and filling it at the tap.
The newest patched member, who normally bartended, was nowhere to be seen. “Dodge still down for the count?”
Trip came around the left side of the bar to stand behind it. “Fell into some pussy. Figured I’d help Stel tonight and give him that. The man works fuckin’ hard. A few nights off in a row to let him finish celebratin’ ain’t gonna hurt.”
“Must be some pussy,” Judge muttered.
“Mmm hmm.” Stella slid the full glass in front of him.
He met Trip’s ol’ lady’s eyes. “Coulda offered Cass an extra shift. She could use the money.”
“I did,” Stella answered him. “She turned it down.”
Judge frowned. “Why?”
“She didn’t tell you?” Stella asked.
“Why the fuck would she tell me?”
“Oh, I don’t know... Maybe because someone saw her sneaking out of your apartment early Sunday morning?”
His frown deepened. “Who?”
“Does it matter?”
Fuck no, it didn’t. Not really.
But, shit, that meant the word already spread if Trip and Stella knew. The club was full of gossips who couldn’t keep their fucking mouth shut. Just like in high school.
Stella leaned over the bar toward him. “Don’t scare away my newest employee, Judge. We need her and she’s good at her job.”
“She needs this fuckin’ job, she ain’t gonna scare easy.”
“How’s he gonna scare her away? With his big dick?” Trip wrapped an arm around his ol’ lady.
“Oh, you have a big dick?” Stella wiggled her eyebrows at Judge, then bumped her shoulder into Trip’s. “Is it too late to switch ol’ lady cuts?”
“Woman, my dick might not be as big as the Jolly Green Giant’s here, but I got a golden fuckin’ tongue.” He stuck it out and wiggled it.
Stella elbowed the club prez in the gut and he dropped his arm from around her. “So, what are we talking here, Judge? A one-night thing?”
“Why you care?” Trip asked her.
Stella shrugged. “Just want to know if I need to be prepared for a scorned, broken-hearted employee.”
“What we did had nothin’ to do with hearts.”
Trip grinned.
“Done talkin’ about that shit. Ain’t no one’s biz. Need to talk to you about something else, prez.”
Trip’s grin flipped upside down. “Need to set up a meet?”
Judge took a long sip of his beer. “Not yet. Wanted to talk to you about it first. Give you a head’s up.”
Stella straightened. “I’ll go wipe down some tables.”
“Stel,” Judge stopped her. “Don’t care if you hear this.”
“Is it club business?” she asked.
“Yeah. But might need your help convincin’ your ol’ man.”
Stella’s blue eyes narrowed. “Convince him to do what?”
“Not likin’ this,” Trip grumbled.
“Yeah, well. Not likin’ what happened to Autumn. We fucked up. And it’s been eatin’ at me. I fucked up as your brother sittin’ at the table to your left. Didn’t want to take the Sergeant at Arms spot, knew how dirty it could be. Ignored my gut instinct, anyway. Became my job to protect the club’s property, but fucked up. Autumn got snagged on my watch.”
“She wasn’t the club’s property, Judge,” Stella reminded him.
“The fuck she wasn’t. Sig claimed her the second he brought her back to the farm. We all knew it. Just wasn’t official.”
“Did our best,” Trip said softly.
Judge knew Trip didn’t believe that, and he shouldered a lot of the guilt, too.
They both did.
“Shoulda had someone on her ass at all times. We got sloppy. No, I got fuckin’ sloppy. This is all on me. It’s my responsibility.”
“She’s fine,” Trip assured him.
“Yeah, now. Thank fuck. But what if they had...” He tugged on his beard. “Those motherfuckers had enough time to really fuckin’ hurt her. Kill her, kill that baby.”
None of them said a fucking word because it was true. That also weighed heavily on him.
“’Cause of all that shit, she ended up havin’ Levi early.”
“Only two weeks, Judge. He was fine. They both were,” Stella reminded him.
“Again, thank fuck. What if it had been two months early? What if he woulda died? What if she did?”
“Judge.”
Judge threw up a hand. He was done talking about it.
He’d failed.
It was his job to keep everyone safe and he’d failed.
He finally said what he’d been wanting to say since they came off the Shirleys’ mountain that night. “Need to find a new enforcer.”
“Bullshit,” Trip growled, his body tightening up. Stella put a hand on her ol’ man’s arm and he visibly loosened a bit.
“Ain’t like my pop. Ain’t a job for me. Told you that when you originally came to me about it.”
“Judge—”
“Trip, ain’t for me.”
Trip shook his head. “Not acceptin’ you leavin’ the club.”
“Not leavin’ the club. Just that spot at the table.”
“Not acceptin’ that, either. You’re the goddamn perfect person for it. Your pop was the Fury’s enforcer and you saw how he handled shit.”
“That’s the fuckin’ problem, brother. Look what fuckin’ happened to him. Promised myself and Jemma I wouldn’t follow in his fuckin’ footsteps and here the fuck I am.” Not only wearing the Fury cut, but his father’s patch, sitting in hi
s goddamn seat.
“And I said the same fuckin’ thing about me followin’ in Buck’s, Judge. And here we the fuck are. Doin’ it right this time. Rightin’ all the fuckin’ wrongs.”
“Are we, though? What fuckin’ wrongs are we rightin’?” Judge asked him.
“We’re buildin’ a brotherhood that’s unbreakable.”
“You try hard enough, brother, everything’s breakable.”
Trip shook his head, hooking Stella around the neck with his elbow and pulling her into him. She was his rock. She was who kept his temper to a low simmer when it could easily become an erupting volcano.
Trip found his woman and Judge was happy for him.
But even though Stella was Trip’s ol’ lady, Judge was responsible for keeping her safe. Just like he’d been responsible for Autumn. She’d been on club property, sleeping in their VP’s bed for months. That made him responsible for her.
And he was about to take on the responsibility for Cassie and her daughter. She didn’t know it yet, but he already knew it in his gut.
It was on him to protect her.
To find that fucking husband of hers.
To free her of that mess that asshole splattered all over her.
He could’ve just taken that night of pussy and moved on.
But he couldn’t.
Cassie wasn’t just another pussy.
The second he saw her at the municipal lot, he knew that. He knew it deep in his gut.
Maybe she wouldn’t be interested. Maybe she wouldn’t want anything to do with him because of him being a biker and her having a young daughter.
But being a biker was one thing. Being a club enforcer was another. It could be a violent job. There could be shit he’d never want exposed to a young kid. There could also be possible blow-back.
It was another reason he wanted to rip off his rank patch.
But it wasn’t the only reason. He’d only known Cassie for a couple of weeks, if that. Hardly spoke to her before sleeping with her the other night.
He shouldn’t even go back to her sister’s house tonight. He should just walk away like she did.
He was hoping for something he shouldn’t be hoping for.
The woman’s life was a cluster right now and he shouldn’t add to it.
He shouldn’t.
But maybe he could help. Do some good.
It wasn’t the reason he went over to her house earlier, but it would be the reason he’d go back. Plus, he needed to know why she left without a word.
Though, he probably knew why already. She’d regretted fucking him, waking up next to him.
He thought he’d been prepared for it. Expected it.
But he hadn’t.
He glanced up from his beer to see Trip had disappeared. He was so lost in his fucking thoughts, he hadn’t even noticed.
What kind of Sergeant at Arms didn’t even keep an eye on his prez?
That was his fucking job.
Jesus fuck.
He was thinking more about his dick than his club.
Stella stood staring at him, her eyebrows pinned together. “He had to step outside for a sec.”
“He thinks I’m fuckin’ him over.”
“No, he doesn’t. But he needs you, Judge. You have a good head on your shoulders and you aren’t a hot head. I mean, you have Trip sitting at the head of the table who struggles every fucking day. He’s afraid he’ll turn into Buck. He needs someone to remind him not to do that. Then you got Sig sitting on his right. A man who’s fucked up in the head. His temper is worse than Trip’s. You have those two leading. He needs someone solid in the number three spot. There’s no one better than you.”
“Deke.”
“Deke wasn’t a part of the club back then like us. He has no idea how bad shit can get. You three do. You three need to make sure it doesn’t head down that path again. If you step back...” She shook her head. “He needs you, Judge. He’s not going to beg because he isn’t that type of man. We need you. What happened to Autumn wasn’t your fault. You guys wanted to take care of the problem neatly. It ended up not being so neat. You learn, you move on.”
“Ozzy.”
Stella planted her hands on her hips. “Didn’t you just hear everything I said?”
“Yeah, Stel, I did.”
“I know you didn’t want the spot. I know Trip and Deke pressured you into it. But you took it. You have that patch on your chest,” she pointed at the rectangular patch that read Sgt at Arms, “so own it. Do the job without making the mistakes your father made. Trip has to do his job as president and not make the mistakes Buck made. We’re all in this together.” Her eyes got shiny, which surprised Judge. “We all lost our family, Judge. All of us, in one way or another. We’re now family. Trip trusts you to be the club’s enforcer. We all do. Don’t bail on him. Don’t bail on us. Please.”
Judge closed his eyes for a moment. Stella was a strong fucking woman and for her to get emotional over him stepping down from his position...
“I asked Sig to do better. He’s doing his best. And I know it’s a struggle for him. If it wasn’t for Autumn, I doubt he would’ve stuck around. Trip said Sig probably would’ve rolled out in a few months, if not sooner. Maybe you need your own anchor. Something besides the club. Like Trip and Sig. Someone like Cassie.”
“Stel, we fucked one time.”
She grinned, those hovering tears long gone. “Once is all it takes sometimes. She’s got nowhere to land. Maybe we need to convince her to stay in Manning Grove.” Stella leaned over the bar again. “Maybe you need to convince her.”
“Not lookin’ for an ol’ lady.” He tried to make that sound believable but by the look Stella shot him, she wasn’t buying it.
“Yeah, well, neither was Sig. Look at him now.”
“Ain’t Sig.”
“Thank fuck for that. One Sig is enough. Anyway, I’m asking you to stay sitting in the seat to Trip’s left. I feel better knowing it’s you. Give it a year. If you want out then? I’ll encourage Trip to take it to the table for a vote.”
“You’re only supposed to be an ol’ lady, Stella.”
Her grin widened. “Times have changed, Judge. This isn’t the Originals’ club anymore. And it’s a good thing it’s not. Let’s keep it that way.”
That Judge could agree on. “Make you a fuckin’ deal. I stay sittin’ at the table for now. I fuck up again, I’m rippin’ this patch right the fuck off my chest and handin’ it over to someone better.”
“Like Trip said, no one’s better than you. And you’re not going to fuck up. You know why?”
This should be good. “Why?”
“Because even though Trip wants this club to remain legit—and I agree—what happened on that mountain opened our eyes. If we need to get our hands dirty to protect what’s ours, to protect our family, then that’s what we’re going to do. No regrets. We just need to do it smart.”
“Stel...”
“Yeah?”
“You’re a goddamn badass bitch, know that?”
She smiled. “My father was Crazy Pete. It’s in the genes.”
“Trip couldn’t find anyone more perfect for him than you.”
She threw her arms up. “I fucking told him that when we were kids. He just didn’t listen!”
Judge snorted, dropped his head and shook it. “Yeah, he was a dumb fuck back then. We all were.”
“Yes, we were. We lived and learned. And that’s why that damn patch is staying on your cut.” She slapped her hand on the bar top. “Now, I’m done with this foolishness of you stepping down as the enforcer and I’m getting you a fresh beer.”
“Don’t bother. Got somewhere to be.”
“Does it have to do with a blonde?”
Judge pushed to his feet, dug a ten out of his chain wallet and threw it on the bar.
“Don’t want your money, Judge. We’re doing okay now, and the club owns half the bar. No reason to pay.”
“Then sneak it into Cassie’s
tips next time she’s workin’.”
Stella snagged the ten spot and snapped it between her fingers. “You got it. Tell her I said hi.”
Judge pressed his lips together, shook his head and headed out.
Chapter Thirteen
As Judge parked the Expedition at the curb, Cassie dropped the living room curtain where she’d been peeking out and pressed her back to the wall.
Her heart thumped so hard, she was afraid he’d be able to see it trying to escape her chest. She pressed her fingers to her mouth and realized they were shaking, too.
What the hell was wrong with her?
How could this man make her react like this? She hardly knew him. Okay, maybe not hardly... She did end up getting naked with him.
His face—and that beard—had ended up between her thighs...
Maybe they knew each other a little better than she wanted to admit.
But still...
She hardly knew who he was. Besides being a biker and a bounty hunter or bondsman or whatever he called himself.
A light tap on the door had her pounding heart doing a somersault.
She needed to keep herself together. She couldn’t let him see how he affected her.
She cleared her throat and nervously tugged her baggy sweatshirt down to make sure her tummy pooch was covered. It was stupid because he’d already seen her without clothes, but it was also habit. One she wasn’t sure she’d ever break.
She moved to the door and, with her hand clutching the knob, blew out a deep breath before opening it. When she did, her eyes immediately landed on his broad chest, covered in a snug dark blue thermal with a white T-shirt peeking out at the collar and his black leather cut.
She slowly raised her gaze, sliding it over his too-long beard, those lips that had made her lose her mind and his strong, straight nose until she met his green eyes.
Unreadable. That was what they were.
“How tall are you?” she managed to get past her tight throat. Because, of course, that was how you answered a door, right?
Dumb.
His lips twitched. “Six-three. How tall are you?”
“Not six-three.” Not even close.
“I’m thirty-seven and weigh about two-forty. Now... You gonna let me in? Or you need to know my boot size, too?”
Blood & Bones: Judge (Blood Fury MC Book 3) Page 17