“What?” a voice yells from behind the door and Sawyer rolls his eyes.
“Get your ass up and come talk to us.”
Something slams against the door and I jump. “Fucking make me.”
“He’s not a morning person,” Sawyer says with a grin as he opens the door. Marching into the room, he grabs a cup full of water off the desk and holds it over the half naked body on the bed. “Last chance before I dump this on you, fucker.”
“Asshole,” he growls, peeking open his eye before turning to me and sighing. “Fine. I’m getting up.”
I stare at the floor as he stands up in a pair of boxer briefs and nothing else. He scoops a pair of jeans off of the floor and pulls them on before walking across the room and plopping down in the chair in front of his desk.
“You can’t put a shirt on in front of my lady?” Sawyer snaps and Streak’s eyes flick to me.
“Why? She been living in a cult and never seen a man’s chest before?”
Sawyer shakes his head. “I’m gonna kick your ass once you’re fully awake.”
“Bring it, pussy,” he snaps, wiggling his mouse to wake his computer up. “Now, you want to hear what I found or not?”
I nod. “Please.”
“Ooh, manners… I like it,” he says, flashing me a cocky grin and I can’t help but giggle. “But unfortunately, I haven’t found much of anything yet. Gavin is broke as shit but it’s not like he benefits from your death so I can’t see why he would hurt you.”
Something nags at me and I scowl, trying to pin it down but it’s like each time I get close, the wind picks up and blows it away from me again. Why? Why did that statement impact me?
“Something wrong?” Streak asks and Sawyer turns to me.
“Baby?”
I shake my head. “Something about what you said… It triggered… something but I don’t know what it is…”
“Okay,” Streak says, nodding as he studies my face. “I’ll keep digging then and get back to y’all.”
Sawyer nods and takes my hand before leading me out of Streak’s room. We walk back to his room and he sighs as he pulls me into his arms.
“It’s about time for me to go. Are you going to be okay?”
I nod. “I’m good, baby. Go run your errand and don’t worry about me. I’m safe here.”
“Okay,” he sighs but he doesn’t release me. I laugh and swat at his chest.
“Sawyer, I’m fine,” I assure him, pushing up on my tiptoes and kissing his cheek before dragging my lips to his ear. “Go and get this done and when you get back, I’ll be waiting in bed. Naked.”
He groans and nods before pulling back to meet my gaze. “No leaving the clubhouse without one of the guys, okay?”
“I won’t even leave the clubhouse at all,” I promise him and he nods as he leans down and presses his lips to mine.
“Let’s get a move on, Moosie-Poo,” someone calls and Sawyer rips himself away from me with a growl. I scrunch up my nose.
“I really hate your name.”
He rolls his eyes. “Join the club, angel.”
“Moose!” someone else yells and he sighs as he takes a step back.
“I gotta go. I love you.”
I smile. “I love you, too.”
Standing in the doorway to his room, I watch him disappear downstairs before turning to look at his bed. It was a rough night but as much as I would like more sleep, I feel like I should go downstairs and make an effort to get to know some of these guys that are such a big part of Sawyer’s life. Ducking into the room, I grab my phone before going downstairs. A few of the guys are playing pool at the far end of the room while another is sitting at one of the tables, looking over paperwork. He looks up and kicks the chair next to him out for me to sit in.
“Hi,” I say as I sit down and he offers me a warm smile as he extends his hand.
“I’m Fuzz.”
I shake his hand and nod. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You look a little overwhelmed,” he replies with a laugh that puts me at ease and I smile as I nod.
“Just a little bit.”
He nods, closing the file in front of him. “Sounds like you’ve had a crazy few weeks.”
“Yeah,” I scoff. “That’s one way of putting it but I suppose this is just every day for you guys, huh?”
“Naw, not really. Most of the time, things are pretty chill… it’s just been a bad year.”
I nod, studying him. “Sawyer said something about that. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you.”
“Is that what all this is?” I ask, pointing to the folders and he nods. “Did you find anything?”
“Nope. It’s frustrating as hell but it’s kind of nice to get back to my roots.”
I scowl. “What do you mean?”
“I was a cop before I joined the club.” He laughs. “That’s why they call me Fuzz.”
“Oh.”
“Actually, I learned something from my cop days that I was thinking might help you if you want to give it a try.”
Pursing my lips, I consider his words. A part of me is terrified of what I might uncover in my forgotten memories after everything that’s happened since I woke up in the hospital but my desire to know the truth overpowers that.
“Okay. What do I need to do?”
“I had this case one time,” he says, leaning his elbows on the table. “Where a woman lost her memory like you and the department sent her to this doctor who walked her through unlocking her memories and I could try doing the same thing with you.”
I suck in a breath and nod my head. “Let’s do it.”
“Close your eyes,” he commands and I comply. “Now, I want you to lock onto a memory from your past and it doesn’t matter how small or foggy it is, just pick one.”
I nod, choosing to think about the feeling I got up in Streak’s room when he said Gavin didn’t benefit from my death.
“You got it locked in?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Now, I want you to immerse yourself in the memory. Don’t just let it play in your head. Imagine you’re really living it again.”
My brows draw together as I focus on the emotion I felt upstairs and a picture pops into my mind and I gasp, my eyes snapping open. Fuzz’s eyes widen.
“What did you see?”
I shake my head. “I didn’t have an exact memory, just a nagging feeling that I felt upstairs and when I focused on it, I saw myself in my apartment in Miami. It was raining and I was staring out of the window, crying.”
The guys across the room start laughing and Fuzz glances over his shoulder before standing up and gathering his folders.
“We should do this somewhere quiet.”
I nod and follow him as he leads me into a room with a long wooden table in the middle and chairs positioned all around it.
“This is the war room.”
I arch a brow. “War room?”
“It’s where we meet to talk about… well, anything important.”
Nodding, I sit in one of the seats and he slides into the one next to me. “Okay, ready to do this?”