Chapter Eight

CHAPTER EIGHT

Ace

I t was too damn early to be awake. I was usually already grumpy in the morning, but now that I had a big bear of a man upstairs in my bed, who’d cuddled me all night after fucking me on his fingers and sucking my cock like a man starved, I was even more irritable. I wanted to be in bed with Gunner. Not in this damn chapel to discuss more of this sex trafficking shit. Seriously, why couldn’t church be held in the afternoons when I was more awake?

“We have a small problem on our hands,” Shaw began. I slumped back in my chair and closed my eyes, resting the side of my head on my fist. “Abbie informed Cameron last night that Carmen’s disappearance is being investigated, which we knew would happen.”

“I’ve already got the SUV in the shop getting a detail,” Jax told Shaw. “There won’t be anything left of her or Richards once I’m done with it.”

“Good.” Shaw cleared his throat. I slowly opened my eyes, looking at him when I felt his gaze settle on me.

“What?” I muttered.

“Where are the bodies?” Shaw demanded.

I scoffed and shrugged. “I don’t fucking know, Shaw,” I snapped. He scowled at me. “I still don’t remember shit about that day.” And trying to remember just made me irritable. When I saw Teeny yesterday after church while Gunner was upstairs, I’d almost burst into tears. I’d missed her birth. I didn’t even remember being told, though the text messages were right there on my burner phone. I adored that sweet baby. Arlo and Frankie had even named me her godfather, and I wasn’t even there to see her be born.

Shaw sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, this might be a problem. Especially since Gunner didn’t mention anything about a body being near you.”

“Your axe is missing, too,” Jax said, arching a brow at me. “Wasn’t in the SUV.”

I shrugged. “Oh fucking well.” I pasted a fake smile onto my lips. “Guess we all better prepare for lock up in case someone finds it,” I snarked.

“Chill the fuck out,” Konrad snapped at me. “We’re trying to cover all our bases, Ace. Stop being a fucking brat.”

I rolled my eyes, wincing when pain exploded through my skull. I was still suffering from headaches from my concussion, and all this talking wasn’t fucking helping. “Look, I don’t know how many times it has to be said that I don’t remember anything. I took a nasty fucking fall. Busted my head open on a rock. Maybe Gunner knows something. But I don’t remember shit.”

Cameron sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ll ride up today and take a look around.”

“And I’ll talk to Gunner,” Shaw said. He looked at me. “In the meantime, I need you to head out and gather intel on Dorman. I want every single bit of information you can get on him. His routine. His home. His neighborhood. The cars he drives. The fucking food he eats for lunch. I want to know when this son of a bitch takes a shit, Ace. Everything .”

“Why me?” I griped, throwing my hands up. “I’m still suffering from headaches, Shaw. Any of them can go,” I snapped, throwing my hand around.

“Blu has a doctor’s appointment today, and Grey has a therapy appointment shortly after,” Konrad informed me, his lips set in a deep frown. Couldn’t Blakely take them? “Arlo needs to be here to help Frankie with Teeny. Jax has to clean the SUV. Cameron is going to search the area where you were supposed to dispose of Carmen and Jeffrey to make sure you left nothing behind. You’re our only option, kid.”

I shoved back from the table, my chair smacking into the wall. It was always me. I always had to be the one to do the damn dirty work. Who gave a fuck if I still needed time to recover?

“I fucking hate this family,” I seethed. “Let Gunner know where I’ll be.” I pointed a finger at Shaw. “And don’t you dare fucking wake him up. You can talk to him when he wakes up on his own .” He’d had a rough day yesterday, and he needed rest. He still hadn’t been completely right when we went to bed last night, even if he’d tried his best to pretend he was for my sake. Flashbacks obviously drained him, and I wanted him to be able to rest so he could face the day with a fresh head on his shoulders.

Shaw sighed, annoyed but choosing not to argue with me. “Sure, kid. Be safe. I expect a check-in every hour.”

I saluted him with my middle finger before storming out of the chapel. Heading upstairs, I quietly entered our room and slipped inside. Gunner’s chest was slowly rising and falling as he slept, the blankets just covering his bare hips.

I didn’t want to leave him. Not even for a few hours. I wanted to be right here with him where nothing in this world could touch me. But club business called, and no matter how much of a fight I put up, I knew I wasn’t getting out of this.

After grabbing my bike keys and my burner phone off the charger, I walked over to his side of the bed and leaned over him, pressing a kiss to his slightly parted lips.

“I love you,” I whispered. Then, I slipped from the room and jogged downstairs, ignoring my brothers as I walked out the door, heading for my bike. Was I being a brat? Yes. But I was getting real tired of getting stuck with all the damn tedious and dirty work.