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Brandi cried out and clenched around me instantly, orgasm ripping through her hard enough to drag me over the edge with her.

I grabbed her hips tighter and thrust upward while release punched through me in hot waves. For a few seconds all I heard was breathing and the low creak of the chair beneath us.

Then Brandi turned toward me smiling, saying something breathless I barely caught.

Because all I could see was Maria, not spread out beneath me or moaning my name. Just glaring at me across a clinic room with that exhausted, unimpressed expression that should not have stayed in my head this long.

Fuck.

“You even here with me?” Brandi laughed softly, brushing damp hair from her face.

I blinked hard and shoved the thought away. “Yeah,” I lied.

Brandi studied me for a second longer than usual before climbing off my lap carefully. “Same time tomorrow?” she asked, hope flickering briefly across her face.

“Maybe,” I said, pulling my jeans back up. “Be ready just in case.”

Her smile slipped for half a second before she fixed it again quickly. Brandi disappeared into the bathroom while I shoved myself back together and headed for the door before she came back out.

The hallway outside felt cooler, quieter. I dragged a hand over my face and exhaled slowly. For the first time in a long while, sex hadn’t emptied my head.

If anything, it had only made things worse.

6

MARIA

Riot kept showing up at the clinic after the whole dumpster incident.

Honestly, I’d expected it. I knew the club wouldn’t just walk away from situations like that. They wanted to make sure I kept my mouth shut. Which I would’ve done anyway. I knew better than to talk to cops.

Two mornings later, he walked in alone while I reviewed patient notes behind reception. I noticed him before I looked up because the smell of smoke and leather always arrived first.

“You here for something?” I asked.

“Wanted to make sure we weren’t missing anything with the ribs.”

“You’re worried about him?”

Riot shrugged one shoulder. “Shadow’ll lose his shit if the kid punctures a lung.”

I pulled Reaper’s X-rays back up and scanned through the notes again while Riot waited nearby, leaning against the counter, watching the clinic quietly while nurses moved around him.

“He’ll survive,” I said eventually. “Probably. He seems like a fighter.”

Riot’s mouth twitched slightly. “High praise from you, Nurse.”

I rolled my eyes and focused back on the screen before he noticed the smile pulling at my mouth. God, he was annoying.

The second time he showed up he was carrying a thick envelope of cash.

“The hell is this?” I asked when he dropped it onto the counter.

“Payment.”

I opened the envelope and immediately stared at the stack of bills inside. “That’s too much.”

“Shadow doesn’t like debt.”