Chapter 62

JUSTIN

Justin wanted to bang his head into a brick wall over and over again. He knew he jinxed himself thinking that everything was going well with everything in the club and his life.

Dylan had gotten his affairs all straightened out, bought a great smaller house in the same neighborhood, and promptly had Gabi move in with him.

They were going hot and heavy. Justin actually accidentally walked in on them in the office at the coffee shop. He saw more of his father than he cared to ever see again.

Dylan apologized, saying they were just celebrating his newest place in the MC as the secretary.

Stevo was totally overwhelmed by being secretary and information officer, and Dylan knew the club, so it was a no-brainer vote for everyone.

Justin just reminded them that the coffee shop was a legit business and to save it for home.

He told Avery about the incident when they were in bed, and she giggled until she was almost in tears. Justin just rolled his eyes, making her laugh harder.

The flu had swept through the club and almost everyone had some degree of sickness hit them.

Any number of men were out at any given time, and those that weren’t sick had to step up and cover in the businesses. Everyone was exhausted and run down, which didn’t help keep anyone healthy.

Plus, it seemed that there were some girls at Legs that had started using and selling coke to each other and the customers.

They were trying to weed through all the bullshit to find the source, but being shorthanded was adding to the stress.

And to add insult to injury, Avery was due any day. Justin was trying to juggle her, Lexi, the club, and all the business, and he was failing miserably.

He sat on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands, willing himself to get up and get moving.

He was exhausted and just wanted to smoke a cigar, drink an expensive whiskey, have sex with his beautiful wife, and sleep for a year.

And with Avery on edge, being due any day and having a nasty spring cold, which she couldn’t take any medication for, she had a short fuse and anything could trigger her.

“Daddy! Are you taking me to school today?” Lexi called out. “Mommy said it’s your turn!”

“Oh fuck,” Justin moaned. “Yeah, I guess I am. Get ready, I will be down soon.”

He heard her head downstairs, pushed himself up, and went into the shower. He let the water rush over him and realized he was in a peculiar situation.

He was horny as hell and really wanted to have sex with his wife, but was so damn tired that he didn’t even have the energy to beat off in the shower.

Fuck, he was feeling all of his 36 years the last few weeks and he hated it—passionately.

“Sorry, big guy, not happening,” he looked down and said to his hard dick. “And now I’m talking to my own cock. Fuck, this isn’t good.”

He got out of the water, dried off, got dressed, and went downstairs for some much-needed caffeine.

Avery gave him a large mug of coffee, and he kissed her hand like he always did. She blew her nose.

“Hey, baby, how you doing?” Justin asked, trying to be pleasant.

“I feel like shit, Justin,” Avery admitted. “I am done being pregnant and really just want to take some cold medicine and sleep for a month.”

“I get it, baby, I really do. It’s gonna be over soon,” Justin promised.

“Yeah, sure,” Avery sneered and walked to the fridge.

“I know you are miserable, but it will be worth it when we can hold our baby,” Justin insisted, walking over and wrapping his arms around her.

“Oh yeah, totally worth it,” Avery sarcastically replied and pushed out of his arms.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Justin asked, feeling his resolve start to crack.

“When the hell are you ever going to be home to hold this baby?” Avery demanded.

“What are you talking about? I am home every night!” Justin countered.

“Yeah, at midnight, when you fall into bed unconscious without saying a word!” Avery replied.

“I’m supposed to have this baby any time and you are never here. I have no idea what I am doing as a mother and no help!”

“Avery, you will be just fine! You have Kiki and Mama June to help you,” Justin assured her, trying to ease her fears.

“Yeah, but not my husband!” Avery yelled, starting to cry.

“I have work!” Justin countered.

Avery laughed bitterly. “Yeah, work. Strippers, bars, and shipping.”

Justin lost his resolve. “You know what I do for work. You knew before we got married and got knocked up. You don’t get to throw that in my face now!”

“That was before I knew I was going to be raising our kid alone while you go play with strippers!” Avery spat back.

“Mommy, are you okay? Why are you crying?” Lexi asked with a quiver in her voice, looking at her parents in the kitchen.

“Sorry, sweetheart, I just don’t feel good and want to take a nap,” Avery said, trying to appease the little girl.

“Oh…,” Lexi replied, her eyes darting back and forth between them.

“Hey, princess, since Mommy doesn’t feel good, why don’t we go get some breakfast so she can take a nap?” Justin said, trying to sound chipper.

“Okay, I’ll get my backpack,” Lexi said, and scampered off.

Justin grabbed his keys for the truck. He hadn’t planned on driving the truck. He really needed to clear his mind with a ride on his bike.

He looked at Avery, who was glaring at him. “I’ll drop Lex off after breakfast. Then I have to head off and check in with everyone. No idea when I will be back.”

“Whatever. Go have fun, I’ll be here,” Avery spat back.

“Maybe I will go stay at the club a little longer, get a lap dance,” Justin whispered in her ear. “Get some well-deserved female attention since my wife won’t give it up.”

Avery pushed him. “FUCK YOU!”

“I hope so!” Justin yelled back. They glared at each other without saying another word.

Lexi came in, hugged and kissed Avery, then ran to the garage. They still glared at each other.

“See ya,” Justin spat, then turned to leave.

“Don’t come back, asshole!” Avery yelled, then started crying hard when she heard the garage door close. She went to the couch and laid down, crying herself into a fitful sleep.

***

Justin felt terrible. He dropped Lexi off at school and went to the tree grove, his thinking place, and sat in the mid-morning May sun.

Lexi only had two more days of school then was out for the summer. He had always taken her away for a week, uninterrupted time somewhere fun, just father and daughter, since she was three.

He wasn’t going to be able to do that this year and hoped that she understood.

Now he understood how the stress had gotten to his dad and he’d started screwing around, just to forget for a few minutes.

Granted, he and his mom hadn’t been good in a while, but still…he understood it a little bit more.

He would never do that to Avery, he loved her too much. But fuck, he needed this to end and some peace to come—and soon!

He jumped when his phone rang. He saw that it was one of the guys from the shipping office and prayed that it was nothing bad.

Twenty minutes later, he hung up, thankful that they weren’t operating on a skeleton crew. Three guys felt good enough to come back to work after their illness.

He was thrilled that there was one less thing for him to worry about.

He got back in the truck, went off to check the other businesses, and was pleased the coffee shop was almost back to normal and Gabi said things were looking up.

Now he just had to deal with the strip club, the bar, and check in on the illegal shit.

The illegal businesses were good, and their routes were quiet. He would have lost it if he had to go out of town and deal with shit.

The bar was only down four servers and that they could deal with. He stopped at the clubhouse to check and make sure ordering was done and the supplies were set for the next few weeks.

He sat and ate a sandwich and had a beer before moving on to the strip club.

Just as he was getting into the truck, his phone rang and saw it was Avery. He wasn’t ready to fight again and didn’t have the energy, so he ignored it and left.

***

Stevo and the club general manager showed him some footage that they thought had the dealer in it, and that pissed him off all over again.

He got the text that said that Lexi and Ryan were at the clubhouse with Nina and were playing. They were making a plan when Avery tried calling again and he ignored it.

“Everything okay with DQ?” Stevo asked.

“Ever been around a pregnant woman who was done being pregnant and sick, Stevo?” Justin asked with a sigh.

“Nope, can’t say that I have,” Stevo replied.

“Then you know that nothing is okay right now,” Justin replied, making the general manager, Adam, laugh.

Stevo raised his hands in surrender. “I’m gonna head out and talk with Patterson and see about the warrant to do this legit. Don’t stay too long.”

“Yeah, Mom, thanks,” Justin snarked.

“Boss, why don’t you go get a drink and relax? I can get Sophie to give you a dance in room two,” Adam offered.

Justin sat back and thought how good it would feel to relax and unwind. And he couldn’t help but think about how good it would feel to have a beautiful woman dance for him.

He sat for a few minutes, then got up and asked for a large scotch from the bartender. He made his way to room two and closed the door. He flopped on the velvet couch and closed his eyes.

He only opened them when he heard the door open, and a new server brought in his drink. He took a sip and set it down on the little side table and leaned back again.

He was just going to close his eyes again for a minute.