Page 74 of I am Dressed in Sin (Death by Daybreak MC 2)
“No closer than that,” he warns me, and even though it makes me want to stomp my foot and pitch a fit, I listen. I’m ornery and bullheaded, not stupid.
“Feminist!”
A clinking sound echoes from the direction of the trees, and I feel a wild thrill of excitement shoot through me, so violent that it actually causes my eyes to fill with tears.
There he is, sprinting out of the woods on three legs, but like he was born that way, like he doesn’t even miss the fourth. My scrappy husky launches himself over the fence and lands without a hitch, his black and white fur ruffling in the wind as he trots over to me.
He stops briefly to bare his teeth at the boys, pausing only when I drop to my knees and throw my arms around his neck, burying my fingers in his fur. We’ve been together for years, me and him. Us against the world.
Cat was actually the one that originally gifted baby Fem to me, walking in the front door with a ball of puppy fur in his big hands. He unceremoniously dumped the dog on the couch and grunted at me.
“Here ya go, girl. Give you something to do other than piss me off.” And then he walked away and never told me where or how he got the dog. Years later, when Gaz was having one of his fits, he sneered at me and told me that the dog had come from a family that the club had murdered. Whether that’s true or not, it’s a haunting reminder that everything DBD does is twisted and two-faced.
I lean back and check Fem for injuries. Finding none—besides the healed stub of his missing leg—I grab his collar instead. There’s something attached to the metal loop that holds his dog tags. It’s a key with a room number on it.
I just stare at it for a moment before turning it over. On the opposite side, there’s the name of a motel that I vaguely recognize.
“The Palm Motel,” I suggest carefully, standing up and holding the key out to Sin. “Does the club use that place?”
“We wash money there,” Sin starts, frowning hard before he glances over his shoulder at Beast. “Do we call Cat and tell him about this?”
I’m not sure exactly what he’s picking up on. Maybe the mafia will blow the place up? Maybe Reba is there? Maybe … something else. I don’t know, but it’s something Cat will eventually find out about whether we tell him or not.
“How to explain it though,” I suggest, running through the options. It’s possible we could tell Cat we came here to look for Reba and found the key. He’d maybe chalk it up to Beast being too sweet on me, on him conning Sin into offering his help. But no. That makes both men look bad. “Tell him I fucked a guy at that motel once, that I recognized the room from Grey’s video call. He’ll like that.”
Both men give me such dark looks that I hold up both hands in protest.
“Really though? I won’t apologize for fucking guys in the past.” Lies. I probably shouldn’t, but I just can’t help myself. They’re both clearly bothered by the idea of me being with other men. “Get over yourselves.”
Sin grabs my arm when I try to waltz past him.
“Nice try, Gidge. There were a dozen men in that room who know the Palm Motel far better than you ever will and none of them mentioned that. The video call did not come from inside one of the rooms.”
He exchanges a look with Beast who offers a slight shake of his head in response to Sin’s original question. “For now, we can keep this to ourselves. If Cat has questions, I’ll answer ‘em.”
“Off to the motel?” I hope aloud, but Sin gives me a look.
“Not exactly.” He gestures with his chin toward the road. “Let’s go.”
I so desperately want to argue with him, but I’ve got my dog, and I’ve gotten Grey’s message. It’s probably best to let the club investigate … only, they won’t care if Reba lives or dies in the crossfire. The only person who cares is me.
“We have to go there,” I tell them both, thinking about Grey. Knowing he’ll want me to check it out myself.
Beast waits silently beside us, eyes scanning the horizon as Sin turns a grim look toward me, leaning down and putting that pretty mouth of his near my ear.
“Did you think you were going to come back after three months of making us suffer, and we were going to be nice?” He releases me abruptly, simultaneously pulling out his phone and typing something out with his thumb. I lift up on my toes to see who the recipient is and frown when I notice he’s texting Nellie.
