“I do believe it’s temporary, because you weren’t in jail for an excessive amount of time, but I can’t say how long it will last. What I can tell you is that there are steps you can take to get better quicker.”
He squinted at her suspiciously. “What’s your suggestion?”
“It would be a good idea to see someone,” she replied, her eyes lighting up with hope.
“You mean like a shrink? Oh, hell no,” he replied definitively.
“Only be for a short period of time. Long enough to figure out what your symptoms and triggers are, get pointers on how to relieve the stress, and check in on your progress. That’s it.”
“No, no, and no,” Puck denied flatly. He returned to pacing, passing her a few times before pausing in front of her, hands on hips. “Anyways, you’re a social worker. Hell, that’s like being a shrink. You can do it for me.”
“I really can’t. Believe me, it’s not that I don’t want to. I’m not a qualified therapist, and it’s not my area of expertise. I can help you if you’re in the middle of a panic attack, like what happened earlier, but I’m not the best person to help you overall.”
“Christ, why you gotta be so difficult?” he spat out.
Ava suppressed a small smile. “Your reaction isn’t surprising, but I know what I’m talking about. Let me ask you this. If something’s wrong with your bike, who’s the best brother at fixing bikes?”
“Cutter. He’s a certified mechanic.”
“If he tells you how to fix it, would you follow his advice?”
“Fuck, I’m not a kid. Of course I’m going to follow what he tells me to do.”
“Imagine me as Cutter in this scenario. I’m telling you how best to fix the problem.” She arched a single brow at him. “Are you going to follow me?”
His hammering pulse had slowed down and the band around his chest had loosened significantly, but his nostrils flared at her last question. The last thing he wanted to do on this God-given earth was go see a shrink, but his momma didn’t bring up no fool, and he sure as hell wasn’t looking for a repeat of what he’d gone through. Nor did he want to accidentally hurt Ava. What if he lashed out at her during an attack in the middle of the night? He hoped she’d smack him awake, but he’d never forgive himself if he hurt her. It was his job to protect her.
If nothing else, his image would be shot to hell if he had another panic attack in public. Sammi already worried about him. It was natural for her to stress out while he’d been behind bars, but shit was legitimately messed up if his little sister had to worry about him outside of the pen.
Lucky for him, Skull had a reputation for being an all-around dumbass. Brothers would automatically assume he was in the wrong. An apology should do the trick to get the Albany brothers off his back. Considering he’d busted up Skull’s nose, he’d make amends. What a clusterfuck. He speared his fingers through his hair. Just when he thought life was going his way, he was facing another pain-in-the-ass problem.
Taking a seat on the couch, he scented her fragrance, and it evened out his breathing. Dropping the back of his head against the couch, he stared up at the ceiling and said, “Yeah, alright. I’ll do it but,” he tilted his head in her direction, “you owe me. You realize that, right? Every day I show up at an appointment with a motherfucking shrink, I’m coming home to a woman who will do whatever I want. All fucking night. That’s the deal.”
“You with your deals.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “And what exactly will I be getting from all of this?”
“An old man who’s not insane?”
“Not funny,” she chided.
His hand reached for hers, his eyes burning into hers. “Don’t worry, baby girl. I’ll always make sure you’re taken care of.”
“And I you, Puck, and I you,” she responded. “I’m proud of you, you know? It takes a strong person to do what you’re doing.”
His fingers twined with hers. “Would you leave me in peace if I didn’t do it?”
Ava threw her head back and laughed. “Probably not.”
Puck smirked. “There’s your answer, then.”
“I love you, babe,” she whispered. Puck’s heart burst. More than relief filled his chest at her admission. It was pure fulfillment. He’d worked hard to gain her trust. It was no joke after the way he’d broken her heart, but he was one lucky bastard. He’d do anything for this woman. Anything.
Chapter Eighteen
Ava gathered her hair in her hand and cast a look over her shoulder, a furrow lodged between her brows. The hairs of her nape stood on end, and a small shiver coursed down her spine. Shifting on her stool at the counter of the small burger joint where she waited for Abby to meet her for lunch, Ava couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. She should feel safe in the middle of a restaurant packed with the lunch crowd.
The place was a hole in the wall, with one narrow aisle lined with small tables on either side and a counter in the back. At a table near her, a man rustled the newspaper in his hands. The upper corner of the paper flopped forward. Her eyebrows arched as she recognized the top half of the face behind the paper. It took a moment for his eyes to flicker up and focus on her. Derick’s serious eyes remained on her as he slowly folded the newspaper and tucked it beneath the empty plate on the table.
Getting up, he slid into the seat she’d been holding for Abby.
“Hey Derick, how are you?” she asked with a smile. It had been a while since he’d stopped by her office during his coffee break. Too wrapped up in Puck, she hadn’t realized until now that she hadn’t seen him in some weeks.
He gave her a grin. “Been a while,” he said, his gaze moving down her figure. An eyebrow curved up as he deliberately paused on her bare thigh, exposed from the high slit of her dress. Since Puck moved in, she’d been dressing differently on the days when she worked from the Agency office. Not that it was by any means provocative, but she loved the way Puck’s eyes followed her in the mornings as she got dressed. How he grabbed her butt, gave her a searing kiss, and told her to behave herself just before she left for work.
“Wow, gotta say I like how you dress when you’re not working at Duchess County.”
Laughing nervously, she covered her thigh with the clingy material of her dress. “Yeah, I’d never dress like this at the jail.” She gave a little shrug. “It’s different when I’m at the Agency.”
“Sure is,” he replied, his gaze dipping down one more time before crawling back up to her face. “Never thought you dressed like this. Period.”
“Trying to change things up a little bit. Can’t let life get too dull, you know?”
Derick chuckled lightly. “Sure thing.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked curiously.
“Oh.” His eyes darted through the large window behind her and then back to her. “Had a doctor’s appointment and came to grab lunch afterward.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he replied with a small, sheepish chuckle. “Annual exam. My sister’s always pressuring me to go get checked out. My mom was diagnosed with diabetes a few months back, and she’s been hounding me. You know the kind. You have a stable job with health insurance, and if you knew what was good for you, you’d use it,” he said in a nasal voice. “Older sisters,” he mocked with a roll of his eyes.
Ava laughed. “Oh, I know all about older sisters since I am one. Definitely always listen to your older sister.”
“You have a younger sister?”
“Yes, much younger than I am. I practically raised her,” she replied with pride. It struck her that Derick didn’t know her that well if he didn’t know about Kat.
“Didn’t see you come in. I was focused on the paper someone left on the table when I ordered. You here with someone?”
“Actually, a work friend is supposed to meet me any minute now.” As if summoned, Abby pushed through the front door, Loki following close behind. Pointing, Ava said, “Oh, there she is. With her boyfriend.”
>
Derick’s posture stiffened as he took in Loki, who pressed Abby behind him to pave a path through the busy aisle leading toward the counter.
“Hey, Ava,” greeted Loki. Abby poked out from behind him and jabbed him with her elbow until he moved far enough for her to get in front of him.
“Bossy,” she huffed out in irritation.
“I was trying to help. Anyone could bump into you and hurt the baby, Pixie,” he explained.
“God forbid. Loki, it’s a pregnancy, not a handicap, but I’ll handicap you if you keep up with the pushy attitude,” she snapped. Shaking her head, she gave Ava a hug. Derick got out of his seat and gestured toward the empty stool. Abby looked at him and then at Ava.
“This is a colleague from Duchess County. Derick, this is my friend Abby and her boyfriend—” Loki coughed out, “Husband,” in his fist, and Ava adjusted, “I mean, her fiancé, Loki.”
Derick moved back suddenly and bumped into the waiter, who shoved past him with a scowl. Loki inspected Derick carefully and gave him a silent chin lift.
“I’ve got to get back to work. See you tomorrow, Ava. Nice to meet you,” he muttered without casting a look at Loki and backed away.
“Oh…okay. You’re not taking the day off?” she asked politely to ease Derick’s nervous energy. Eyeing Loki, she figured he might seem threatening with the nasty scar on his face, but it’s not like Derick was one to cower in front of rough-looking men.
“Nah, with our shortage of COs, we can’t take full days off unless we’re sick or something,” he mumbled. With another goodbye, he gave Loki a silent nod and hustled through the narrow aisle toward the exit.
Watching his retreating back, Loki noted, “Strange guy. Nervous.”
“Yeah, it’s you, Loki. It’s not the first time you’ve scared someone off with your broodiness,” huffed Abby.
Loki’s eyebrows slanted downward. “So be it, Pixie. I don’t like strange men around you anyway, even law enforcement.”
“You do realize there’s such a thing as overprotective?” she taunted.
One side of his mouth lifted in a smirk. “Is that right?” he drawled. “Never heard that theory before.” He let out a grunt. “Sure as hell not gonna follow it.”
Slipping into the empty stool, Abby tapped her fingers on the countertop and narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you staying, or did you just follow me because you’re insane?”
He dipped his head and dropped a kiss on her nose. “Could be I missed you.”
Abby’s eyes melted. Her face went slack and tears gathered at the corners of her eyes. “Darn these pregnancy hormones.”
He gathered her into his arms and rocked her. “Enjoy your lunch with Ava, and I’ll see you tonight, alright?” Looking at Ava, he said, “I’m not a stalker. I had business in the area, so I stopped by to check out how my woman was doing. Is that a crime?”
“Not by me,” piped up Ava.
“God forbid anything happens to you, Ava, because Puck will be just as bad.”
Picking up the greasy menu that had been left by the waiter on the countertop, Ava looked at it and mused, “I highly doubt either of those things would happen. This is your special hell.”
“Tell me about it,” Abby grumbled.
“You’re dreaming if you think Puck will be any better,” Loki warned Ava. He loitered beside Abby until she threw her hands up in exasperation and gave him the kiss he was waiting for. Raising her eyebrows, Ava was surprised the building hadn’t scorched down to the ground from the heat coming off them.
Loki wished them a good lunch and left. The waiter stopped at their end of the counter, mechanically scribbled down their order, and rushed off.
“It should be here soon,” said Ava with a pat to her friend’s hand.
“Thank God, I’m so hungry. I think that’s why I was short with Loki. Eating for two is not as fun as it seems.” Leaning against the back of her stool, she asked, “Who was the guy? He seemed into you.”
“Derick? No, I don’t…well, maybe. He’s a CO at Duchess County and used to stop by my office during his coffee break a few times a week, but he stopped coming around.” She shrugged. “He actually asked me out at one point, but then backpedaled, which is for the best now that Puck and I are together.”
“Speaking of Puck, how are things?” she asked with a saucy wink.
Ava ducked her head. “Good,” she mumbled, suddenly a little shy. “Great. Better than the first time around, honestly.” She cleared her throat. “He…uhm…he kind of moved in with me.”
Abby’s lips spread into a bright smile and she grabbed Ava’s hand. “Welcome to the club, Ava. I knew that time we stopped by your house when you were sick that he was serious. He’s never been interested in a woman to the point where he went out of his way for them.”
“You were right. I didn’t want to acknowledge it at the time, but we’ve come a long way.”
Two plates with burgers surrounded by the shop’s famous hand-cut french fries slid in front of them.
“Mmm, time to eat,” declared Abby, and they dug into their meals.
Chapter Nineteen
Ava should’ve realized that, despite Puck’s promise to seek help, it wouldn’t be as easy as she’d anticipated. Weeks passed without him contacting someone on the list of therapists she’d texted him after the incident at the clubhouse party. Each time she brought it up, he blew her off with an excuse that he was too busy with the bar or hadn’t had time to call. Blah, blah, blah.
Sunday morning rolled around, and they were lounging in bed, eating waffles she’d made with an old cast-iron waffle maker she’d picked up at a yard sale. Puck insisted on feeding her himself. She was licking maple syrup off his forefinger while trying to think of a way to broach the subject one last time, when her eyes fell on the front page of the Poughkeepsie Journal that Puck had picked up from her front stoop. The headline news stated: “Inmates Run Major Heroin Fentanyl Ring out of Duchess County Jail.”
A roar flooded Ava’s eardrums. She surged over the plates and cutlery on the bed, leaving a clattering of china in her wake. With trembling hands, she rattled the newsprint open and read aloud, “Inmates are running a drug ring out of Duchess County Jail in the City of Poughkeepsie, selling crystal methamphetamine, heroine, and fentanyl supplied by ex-convicts, according to the Department of Corrections, Office of Special Investigations.”
Her eyes glanced through the rest of the article, and she read out the details of the bust and the drugs they found hidden in Kingpin’s cell. Raising her eyes at Puck, a smile tugged at her lips. “You did it.”
“We did it,” he amended, grinning at her.
Shaking her head, she said, “No, it’s you. I’ve been trying to keep him in jail for the past three years, but you did it. He’s going to be put away in a federal prison. Probably Green Haven Correctional Facility, since that’s the maximum-security prison closest to here. This wasn’t a little slap on the wrist for a simple possession charge. This is a bust. We’re talking about conspiracy to distribute. If it’s drug trafficking, it’s a felony. Hopefully more than one.”
Throwing the paper to the side, she flung her arms around Puck’s neck and tackled him to the bed.
“The plates. The maple syrup,” he said with a laugh as she straddled him and pinned his arms to the bed.
“I don’t care. We can clean that up later. I want to celebrate.”
A twinkle entered his eyes. “Yeah? How you gonna congratulate me? All those hours spent kissing that bastard’s ass…” He gave her an exaggerated pout and fake sniffed. “It was so hard on my soul.”
“Oh, yeah? That’s not the only thing that’s hard,” she teased as she ground herself on his thickening cock. She leaned over, rubbing her hard nipples against his chest when there was a ring at the door.
Puck glanced past her to the door of the bedroom. “Expecting someone? If an old boyfriend has the guts to show up at our doorstep on Sunday morning, expect me to kick his ass.”<
br />
With a chuckle, she replied, “Oh, hush.” Scrambling out of bed, Ava grabbed her robe and threw it on.
“Yeah, and your ass is going to get a paddling after the ambulance takes him away,” he shouted behind her as she hurried out of the bedroom door.
Peeking out of the peephole, she saw Abby standing on her doorstep, lilting over to one side as she maneuvered a big plastic carrier in her grip. Loki was stomping up the walkway behind her. In the past few weeks, they’d spent much more time together. Ava even joined Sammi and her for “brunch” last Sunday. Although it had turned out to be more about Abby plying Sammi and Ava with drinks since she couldn’t have any because of her pregnancy.
Flinging the door open, Ava greeted her friend. “Hey! What’s going on?”
“Hiya,” Abby replied with a sheepish smile on her face. “I’m assuming you didn’t get my texts from last night. Should’ve figured you were living the honeymoon phase of a new relationship.”
Waving her and Loki inside the house, Ava admitted, “Sorry, I haven’t checked my phone since I left the office yesterday. What’s going on?”
“Well, I found a new furry friend after dinner last night. I don’t know what kind of karma I have hanging around me, but I have a knack for finding abandoned animals.”
“A knack, or you go behind the dumpsters of every damn restaurant we visit to see if there are animals living out of cardboard boxes?” Loki teased.
Abby gave him the stink eye. “It’s not my fault if I worry about helpless baby animals exposed in the wild.”
Loki snorted. “Poughkeepsie is not the wild. It’s not the Serengeti up in here.” His hand draped over Abby’s shoulder as he looked down at her fondly. “I see you, Pixie. You can’t stand to have any living being suffer.”
“Hell, you must be feeling her fo’ sure if you’re gracing my doorstep at ten fucking a.m. on a weekend. What in the hell is wrong with you?” boomed out Puck from behind Ava.
Ava’s hand flew out to her side and smacked Puck in the belly.
Puck's Property: A Bad Boy Biker Romance (The Demon Squad MC Book 5) Page 15