A soft, tender sensation on his lips woke Bruce up the next morning. A gentle caress on the side of his neck overwhelmed his senses. He opened his blurry eyes and looked to his left. There she was, smiling down at him, dressed up and ready to go.

“Good morning.” He croaked. “What time is it?”

“It’s too early for a tourist.” She joked. “Go back to sleep.”

“No. Why do you have to leave?” Bruce complained.

“I have to go to work.” Melissa laughed, as she leaned towards him again. “Have a nice day, Mr. Gangbanger.” She said, her voice low and husky, kissing him on the cheek this time. Bruce reached for his cell phone on his nightstand on the left. He checked the time, as Melissa closed the door behind her: It was 6:47am. However, there was something else on the nightstand as well: A letter from her.

Good morning,

Just so you know, I woke up at 6 o’clock today. It’s not that I didn’t need some more sleep. It’s just that I had to leave early. You never know who I might run into and I can’t take any chances. By the way, I’m sorry I crashed like that last night. I really wanted to stay up, but I was just too tired.

This morning felt different, in a good way. You should have seen the smile on my face, when I saw you lying next to me. It’s like I’m discovering a whole new world. Maybe I shouldn’t get carried away. Sooner or later, you are going to leave. But you know something? I want to take a chance with you, Bruce. I don’t care if you were a thief. Believe me, if I did, I would have ditched you last night. I guess I’m not that kind of girl. What you did before we met is really none of my business. I really liked that you told me all about you and that MC.

You can say anything you want about last night. Yeah, I did a few things right, but you did exactly what I wanted you to do. You took my breath away. I’d better stop thinking about it. I’m still in your room and I don’t know if I can keep my hands off you.

I’ll be waiting for you tonight. Same place, same time. Don’t stand me up.

Melissa

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to.” He said to himself. At that moment, his attention was drawn by loud voices, echoing in the corridor outside his room. They belonged to a man and a woman. Bruce quickly recognized Matt’s voice. Curious as to why they were fighting and so early in the morning as well, he hopped out of bed and went to his door. He caught a glimpse of Jenny, as she hurried past.

“Oh, shit!” Matt said, stopping in front of him. “Sorry man, did we wake you?”

“Nah.” Bruce waved his hand in front of his face. “Melissa did. It felt pretty good. Much better than your ugly voice. What happened? Why were you guys fighting?”

“I tried to…” Matt faltered. “Touch her, while she was asleep. She woke up. She said she was too tired, she wanted a little more sleep. I insisted. Then, she started screaming at me.”

“That crazy bitch!” Bruce teased him. “Hasn’t anybody told her that sleep’s overrated?”

“Don’t start with me, man.” Matt grumbled, stepping into Bruce’s room. “I just wanted to blow off some steam, ok?”

“Didn’t you blow any steam last night?” Bruce got curious.

“Yeah, four times.” Matt stated.

“Four?!” Bruce exclaimed. “You dog! And you still wanted more?”

“I could have gone all night, brother.” Matt said. “I needed to take my mind off things. We ran into Joe Sanders last night.”

“So?” Bruce shrugged his shoulders.

“He said he wanted to see us.” Matt said in a shaky voice.

“Will you stop being so scared?” Frustration was lingering in Bruce’s voice. “I mean, what the hell, man? Joe’s a friend. I was going to visit him, anyway.”

“This is not good.” Matt insisted. “He didn’t look so friendly. I think he knows about the money.”

“Alright, that’s impossible.” Bruce spoke his mind. “By the way, Melissa knows.”

“What?!” Matt opened his puffy eyes wide.

“Yeah.” Bruce nodded. “She lied to me about her last name. Her father is Frank Howard. She told me last night. I had to come clean, too.”

“What if she tells him?” Matt’s voice got high-pitched.

“She won’t.” Bruce assured.

“How can you be so sure?” Matt insisted.

“Because she doesn’t care! He’s making her life miserable!” Bruce cried, annoyed by his friend’s panicky reaction. “He doesn’t even allow her to date!”

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Bruce.” Matt said.

“What did Sanders say?” Bruce interjected a question. “Why do you think he knows?”

“It’s just the way he talked.” Matt mumbled. “We didn’t hug, like we used to do.”

“You think he knows because he didn’t hug you?” Bruce was so upset that he was about to start yelling at him again. “MC members hug each other. We’re not. Remember?” He got sarcastic.

“It’s just a hunch!” Matt exclaimed. “He’ll be waiting for us at his workshop in Boulder at 10am.”

“Jesus Matt, how can you be so stupid?” Bruce wondered. “Do you really think he’d kill us in broad daylight? In his own clubhouse? What’s the matter with you? Look, forget about the business expansion, ok? Just throw away the goddamn money.”

“I can’t.” Matt murmured.

“Then stop acting crazy, will you?” Bruce requested, lowering his tone as he patted him on the back. “Keep calm. Let me do all the talking today.”

For a moment, Bruce was in a dilemma. Matt was sweating and way too tense. The mere mention of the stolen money would upset him so much that he would not have to admit that they had taken it. His body language would give him away, should Sanders bring up that matter. Matt could not be there when they discussed it.

“I can’t just leave you here, brother. Sanders could start asking questions. You’re coming with me. I just need to find something for you to do, while I’m talking to Joe.”