they would. Instead, silence fell. Of course, silence was relative in the bar. Around us, the chaos had recommenced, and there were all kinds of hollering and shit as the two strippers who’d been moved off the bar by my woman, were now on the pool table with their asses sticking out as my brothers shoved pool balls in their cunts.
I added a mental reminder to Lysol the entirety of the pool table. I hadn’t given a fuck before. Shit, before I’d probably have watched the show—Vicky would shove anything up her pussy. I’d even seen her do shit with a cherry stem down there that defied belief.
“I hear him most days.”
My eyes flared wide at Lucie’s confession. All thoughts of the past, what I’d have done before, disappearing in the blink of an eye. “You do? What does he say?”
“You don’t think I’m crazy?” she whispered, taking another swig of the hard liquor. The level of tequila dropped substantially, but I knew she could handle her drink.
“I probably might have if I hadn’t heard it myself.” I shook my head. “I thought I was going insane, but I just—what he said, I couldn’t have made that up.”
She blew out a breath. “I wonder why he talks to us. I’d hate to think—”
When she broke off, I reached over and cupped her jaw. “What, baby? What do you hate to think?”
“I don’t know, not really. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I want Ryan to find his peace. Not be stuck in limbo or something because he wants to protect me.”
“Ryan was born to protect you.”
Her bottom lip was sucked in between her teeth. “That’s a strange thing to say.”
“No, it isn’t,” I rasped, staring deep into her amazing eyes. “He protected you when we let you down.”
Her eyelids lowered. “He did.”
“You don’t have to worry, Lucie.” I licked my lips. “We won’t let you down again.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Can’t I?” I laughed. “Maybe not, but I can promise to do my best, right?”
She gave me a half-smile. “Right.” With her thumb, she motioned over her shoulder. “They’ll get used to me being back here.”
“Of course they will. We just need Wolfe to decide what he’s doing.”
That had her pulling a face. “It’s not his decision.”
“It’s our decision, but he’s Prez.” I shrugged. “He has to come around to the idea, but he will.”
“Jackass. If he thinks I’m about to let him—”
I hushed her. “Don’t even worry about it. Wolfe knows we love you just as much as he does. He just needs some time.”
“Maybe. I’ll give him some, but I’m taking my rightful place soon. I can handle their talk and their bitching. I know my dad turned them against me, and I get it, I do. But I’m not going to put up with it for long. Every time I walk into a damn room, the brothers either start whispering like old hens or catcalling. I’m not going to let Amaryllis see that.”
“Of course you ain’t,” I growled. “Who the fuck was catcalling you?”
“Some new brothers.” She winced. “So much has changed since I was here last and yet, it’s all pretty much the same.”
“At least drugs aren’t clouding things now.”
She jerked in surprise at Flame’s abrupt entry into the conversation. I’d seen him coming, of course, but she hadn’t. Her back was to the rest of the room, by design or accident, I wasn’t a hundred percent sure. As used to the clubhouse as she was, there were few women who weren’t sweetbutts who got off on the orgy going down behind us, so I took her positioning to mean two things.
One, she didn’t particularly mind the orgy happening behind her, but she didn’t want to see it.
Two, she trusted me to keep her safe from anyone who might attack from behind.
I hadn’t exactly let her down on that score, but I still felt guilty with the way she jumped.
“That’s true. This room used to look like an opium den and whorehouse combined.” She bared her teeth. “Now it’s just a whorehouse.”
I snickered, but my eyes flickered with heat when Flame dropped a kiss on top of her head. Flame was so self-contained, so fucking alien sometimes, that it was a downright pleasure to watch him interact with Lucie. Only she seemed to bring out the human in him, and I was gradually getting used to this softer side of my brother.
It helped that it had been a while since he’d gone on a job, and if