Stripping Callum (Last Hangman MC Book 6)(37)

“Thinking too much.” I wrap my arms around her and kiss her head.

“About?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I’m not ready to talk to her about everything that went down in my life. She’d be running for the hills, and I don’t want her out of my life just yet. I have no self-control when it comes to her.

“Well, I’m here if you ever want to talk about it.” She kisses the middle of my chest and gets two cups from the counter and fills them with coffee while I get the toast ready.

I’m glad she didn’t press to know more. I’m not sure what kind of lie I’d have been able to come up with, and I don’t want to lie to her. She’s too precious for me to start feeding her bullshit. I’d rather tell her that I can’t talk about whatever is going through my mind than to see the look on her face if she ever knows I lied to her. The look of disappointment would end me.

We’re enjoying a quick breakfast when my phone rings. I sigh seeing it’s Ant. It can only mean one thing, especially at this time of the day.

“What?”

“We have a lead on the Satan’s Inferno,” Ant says.

“Okay, where and when do you need me?”

“Clubhouse, ASAP.”

“I’m on my way.” I hang up and look at Bella.

“You have to go attend to some of your club business. I get it. If you could just drop me back at mine that’d be great.” She smiles at me, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Maybe she’s realized I’m not exactly who she thought I was.

“Yes.”

“It’s okay. I understand.”

“But you’re not happy about it.”

“No, I enjoyed this morning. It’s been a while since I’ve felt this carefree. It was good, but now I have to get back to my normal life and get to work.” She shrugs.

“You’re cute when you’re grumpy.” I chuckle.

“I’m not grumpy!”

“Yeah, right.” I get up and kiss her. “I’ll go get dressed then I’ll drop you at yours. On Friday, we’re spending the evening together if you don’t have any other plans.”

“I have to see with Gail if she has anything planned.”

“Why do you need to check in with her?” I ask confused.

“Because she sometimes makes plans with her mom and brother and tells me last minute.” For some reason, I fail to believe her.

“Okay, you know my number so let me know.” I peck her lips and go upstairs to change.

Her excuse about her roommate making plans and telling her last minute doesn’t sit well with me. I wonder what she could possibly be hiding. I can’t let it mess with me, but it’s hard when you really care about someone.

“Man, you take longer than me to get ready.” She chuckles, greeting me at the bottom of the stairs.

“Had to get these babies.” I flash her my holster.

“Fair enough. I don’t carry any of those.” She frowns.

“I have to.” I stroke her cheek.

“I know, defend and protect.” She rolls her eyes.

“Fuck, woman, you make me sound like a cop.” I glare at her.

“Big bad Callum scared of the comparison with a cop?”

“No, it’s f*cking wrong.”

“Did you ever f*ck a cop?” she asks as we walk out of the house after I punch in the alarm code.

“Next question.” I sigh, I didn’t expect this kind of question.

“That means yes. Interesting.” She chuckles.

“Why is that interesting?”

“Because I thought you never slept with the enemy.”

“It was a mistake.” I hand her a helmet and get on my bike after helping her with it.

“Was I a mistake?” she asks, staring at me.

“No,” I say truthfully. “I did f*ck a cop, it was a mistake. She wanted something I couldn’t offer her, and she died because of me.”

“Did you pull the trigger?”

“No, but th—”

“Then she didn’t die because of you.”

“She did.”

“Look, I’m guessing she died while some funky business went down. Unless you forced her to be wherever it went down, you are not responsible for what happened to her. Go on, try to go against what I just said. You know I’m right, that’s why you’ve got your sour face going on,” she says, crossing her arms over her chest, making her breasts look bigger.

“Get on the bike, I have things to do,” I say coldly.

“Don’t be a dick to me because I’m right and you’re wrong.” She gets behind me and wraps her tiny arms around me. She’s right and I’m wrong, but hell if I’m going to admit it; my pride would take a serious hit. It already did when I decided to go all Magic Mike on her last night.

Driving to her place, I think about what she said. Despite her being right that in the end, Lewis was woman enough to make her own decision and died in the process isn’t on me, I still feel responsible for the fact that she was so implicated in our club business. Maybe if I had stayed away from her none of this would have happened. If I had told Bennett about Nancy sooner, then his brother fiasco would have been a hell of a lot different. There’s nothing I can do about any of it now, but it’s still f*cking with my head more than I’m willing to admit.