Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98255 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
“Sure. Sure.” She got to her feet and picked up her plate. “I better head back to work. It was lovely seeing you, Grant.”
He wanted to touch her, but she was already stepping away from him. Grant hadn’t finished his dinner and he frowned as he realized Aria hadn’t finished hers either.
He wondered if it was busy at the vet’s.
Finishing his meal, he picked up his plate, winked at Beatrice, and headed out of the diner. He went back to the shelter the club had built.
When he arrived, he saw a couple of bikes parked out front. Was Bull sending club brothers to remove him from helping at the kennels? He stepped into the main reception and saw Rusty, Pat, and Stacks there.
“Hello, gentlemen,” he said.
“Hey, Grant,” Rusty said.
Wanda wandered over to her bed and Grant shook his head.
“What brings you boys out here?” Grant asked.
It was rare for more than two club brothers to be at the kennels. There were three of them and him, so that made four. Not that he could count himself as part of the team. Nope. He was suspended.
“Bull wanted us to check stuff,” Pat said. “Anything going on?”
“Not really.”
“Nothing?” Stacks asked.
Grant looked between the men. Something had happened. He knew it, but they were not allowed to tell him.
“There was no break in security. I’ve checked the perimeter. Nothing new has happened. I walked the dogs this morning. They had their morning dump. I cleaned up the morning dumps. Fed them their morning food, and I even straightened up the place a little. Does that give you a rundown?”
“Where were you?” Pat asked.
“What the fuck is this? Is this Bull making my life shit? Is this what he wants, just because I called Maddie once?”
That was a stretch. He had called Maddie a few times, but she understood what was happening here. She cared about the fucking dogs. Of course, his brother cared about the fucking dogs as well. He knew that, but even still, this was pissing him off. All it would take was for Bull to call him.
Pat nodded at Stacks and Rusty. Both men left the reception desk and headed outside.
Grant looked toward Pat, and then he saw it, the VP patch attached to his Sergeant at Arms title.
He laughed. “Ah, I see. Does my brother want my leather cut now?”
“No, he doesn’t. You’re suspended, Grant. You know what that means.”
Grant knew Bull had taken the patch from his jacket without him realizing it. Fucking asshole. His brother had stripped him of his title.
“Tell him to keep the title and shove it up his fucking ass.”
“You’re angry.”
“Fuck off,” Grant said. “What are you here for? To fire me? To remove my ass from the premises? I’m the only one fucking taking care of it. I’m sure Maddie would love to see that.”
“A couple of dogs have gone missing,” Pat said.
Grant froze. “What?”
“A couple of dogs from the shelter. Not here. They’ve gone missing, and there was a reported break-in two nights ago.”
“There was nothing here,” Grant said. He frowned. “Two nights ago. My brother suspended me last night. Why wasn’t I made aware of this?”
“It was a club decision,” Pat said.
Grant hated how much that fucking hurt. “A club decision. I see.”
“Grant—”
“Don’t fucking Grant me! I get it. My loyalty to the club means nothing. Is that it?” he asked. He shook his head as the anger started to build. “What do I need to do? Do I need to die? Was my loyalty not shown with fucking Maddie? Is my brother too much of a coward to come and tell me himself?”
Pat sighed. “Bull didn’t come because he knew you’d be upset and seeing as you’re brothers, shit escalates.”
“You know, I liked you more when you were fucking silent and had all that damage shit going on in your head.” Pat had been in the military. He never talked about his time, but when he returned on his last service of duty, the man had changed.
Grant was being cruel. He knew that. And even as he hated himself for what he was saying, he couldn’t stop himself. Every single part of him was telling him to shut the fuck up, to stop, but he couldn’t. The club had voted to suspend him. This was the first time he had ever heard of it, and he fucking hated it.
Pat didn’t say anything. He turned on his heel and left.
Grant ran fingers through his hair. Anger rushed through his body, as well as pain. The club had turned their back on him. Why wasn’t he surprised? You are surprised.
“You’re worthless to me. You’ll never be half the man Bull is. He is a real man. You’re a fucking pussy. You’re no good for the club. Fat-loving bastard that you are.”
Grant closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. He wanted to scream. No, he wanted to hurt something, but instead, he took several deep breaths. Wanda was with him. The dogs were back in the kennels, and he couldn’t take his anger out in front of them. They hadn’t done anything wrong. No one had done anything wrong. Calm once again.