by S. Nelson
“Can you not do that in front of me?” she grumbled, moving past Riley and toward her chair.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, catching her eye as she walked by me. Recently, I’d avoided Natalie because I thought there was a possibility Ace liked her, but after him swearing over and over that he never even gave her a second thought, much less a first one, I believed him. As much as I could, given my trust issues.
“Guys are assholes.”
“Tell me about it,” I replied, glancing at Ace right after I spoke. And sure enough, he was looking at me. I wasn’t sure if he heard what I’d said, and the pinched brows and the scowl weren’t an indicator because he often looked like that.
He stood off to the side of the entrance, leaning against the wall, trying to look inconspicuous, but there was nothing discreet about him. Never mind the leather cut he wore, screaming he was some sort of badass, his dark-colored jeans and black T-shirt showcasing his amazing physique, accentuating some parts while leaving others to the imagination, heightening his sexiness.
I hated that my hormones churned into overdrive whenever I saw him, and because I didn’t want him to catch a whiff of what I was thinking, I averted my gaze from his.
“You two wanna grab somethin’ to eat with us later?” Riley asked.
I’d opened my phone and started scrolling through Instagram, not paying any more attention to our guests.
“Hello?” Silence. “Hey.” More silence. “Chelsea?” she shouted. I snapped my head up and looked at her. “Do you and Ace wanna grab somethin to eat with us later?” she repeated.
I answered no a millisecond before he did.
Not wanting to spend any time with him, while also dying to be alone with him, tore at the last few threads of my reserve, not that I had much to begin with.
I was tired of being confused.
I was tired of thinking the worst was gonna happen.
I was tired of the back-and-forth, the hot and cold between Ace and me.
But when he gave the same answer I did, the tone of his voice dripping with annoyance and possibly anger, I became so incensed that any words I’d normally throw his way evaporated.
My best friend knew me well enough to see from the tightening of my jaw and the slight tremble of my chin that I was upset.
“Another time, then.” She gave Kaden a kiss, whispered in his ear and pushed him toward the door.
“I should be home around six,” he said.
“Make it at least seven because we gotta meet with everyone,” Ace corrected, completely ignoring me before exiting the salon.
Once they were gone, Riley was next to me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Because you looked like you wanted to hit him, but you also looked hurt when he said no.”
“I said no too.”
“I know,” she said, tilting her head and squinting her eyes. The timer for her client rang right when she opened her mouth to say something else. “We’ll talk later.”
I nodded because I didn’t have any other response.
10
“What happened?” Marek asked, leaning back in his chair at the head of the table. I’d been lost inside my head thinking about the situation with Chelsea that I forgot I’d been the one to ask him to call this meeting with everyone.
Clearing my throat, I gave Prez my full attention, pushing all thoughts of the woman who drove me crazy, good and bad, to the back of my mind.
“Three of the dancers got roughed up last night.”
“At the club?” Tripp asked, his brows pinched while his eyes studied me.
“No. They were at Chaos, the new place that just opened up. I don’t have to tell you who did the roughing up.” My back molded into the cushion of my chair as I carefully surveyed everyone’s reaction. Some were not surprised, while others looked pissed, mouths turning up into scowls at the information.
“Is there any way possible the Reapers who did this didn’t know the dancers worked for us?” Jagger asked, shrugging when Ryder tossed him an annoyed look. “Just askin’ to cover all bases.”
“They knew who they were. I have no doubt they have multiple pairs of eyes on us.”
“You got problems with these shitheads in Texas?” Stone asked Nash. All three of our Laredo brothers were present, leaning against the wall because all the seats were taken. Marek offered them a place to stay so they didn’t have to trek back home right after the issue with Tag and Pike at the safe house.
“They have a charter close to two hours from where we are, so we don’t really have an issue with them,” Nash answered. “Besides, the ones there are gutless.”
“We had one run-in with them last year. Nothin’ we couldn’t resolve.” Rez raised his brows after speaking, the small smirk on his face speaking volumes.
“You’re lucky,” Ryder added. “We got away from having to put up with them for a long time, but now they’re back.” His eyes swung to Linc quickly before returning to Rez.
Linc shifted in his seat, his cut scrunching with his movements, and glared at Ryder for the reminder of why we were in this mess with our enemy again, even though the fighter of our group wouldn’t change a damn thing. He’d save Maddie again and again if he had to. Not that I could blame him.
Over the time she’d been with us, I developed a sense of protectiveness over her, as had Brick and even Trigger, the ol’ bastard. We even gave Linc a hard time when we thought he might’ve overstepped with her. But everything turned out as it should. They were in love and she was safe. The timeline was quick for such deep feelings, in my opinion, but I supposed a dramatic situation put things into perspective, and fast.
“What are we thinkin’, then?” I brought the topic back around as to how we needed to handle the Reapers. “First they attacked some of the dancers outside Indulge, then they set fire to the place and now it seems they’re following ’em, comin’ at ’em when they know we’re not around. Who are they gonna target next?”
My focus snapped back to Marek, but he didn’t get a chance to respond before Tripp chimed in, “Do we need a lockdown, or do we need to send some people back to Laredo with our brothers?”
“Our families have grown over the past twenty years. There’s no way we can send everyone to Texas until we get a handle on this.”
“We can call in a few other charters to help us out if necessary,” Miles uttered. “If we have no other choice. This place is big, but I’m not sure it can hold everyone.”
“What’s a lockdown?” Brick asked a question some of us wanted to.
“Everyone comes here to the clubhouse and can’t leave until the threat is taken care of. Sometimes it was a couple days and sometimes it was longer,” Hawke answered. “But Miles is right. This place isn’t big enough for everyone.”
“I agree.” Marek scratched along his jaw, his beard not as trimmed as he usually kept it. “I wanna say they aren’t ballsy enough to go after our families, and even though this batch of assholes is in a different category than their predecessors, they can be just as dangerous. I’ll never underestimate them again, and you shouldn’t either.” His eyes roamed over the entire room, driving home his point. “Griller’s a fucker, but now Dutch is spending time here with them instead of taking his ass back to Tucson.”
Collective groans sliced through the already tense air, making the hairs on the back of my neck stick up. For those of us who didn’t know him, we’d heard a bit about Dutch. He was the reason we’d been told to start carrying. Being strapped was something the older guys were used to, although it’d been a while since they had to.
“Talk to your ol’ ladies,” Prez instructed, his attention falling to Stone, Ryder, Jagger, and Tripp. “They unfortunately remember. Have them check in with you every half hour if need be. Then talk to your kids, stress how important it is right now not to go anywhere you can’t get to them quickly if you have to. I don’t want to freak them out because they’re not used to this
, but we need to be cautious until we can devise a plan. That being said, make sure your phones are charged and on you at all times, even in here. And…” Marek’s attention flipped to Nash, Miles, and Rez. “Can you guys stick around for a bit longer to help out?”
“Of course,” Nash replied, the other two nodding in unison.
“Good. I’ll call Salzar to let him know.” Salzar had been the head of the Laredo charter for decades now. I’d never met the guy, but I’d been told he was loyal and as mean as they come, when driven to be so. Tripp and Hawke had once told me he reminded them a lot of Cutter.
“Now, what about the renovations at Indulge?” Prez’s gaze landed on his son. “You got news as to when they’re gonna finish up?”
“Joe said they’ll be done in two days,” Kaden answered, drumming his fingers on the table, abruptly stopping to scowl at Cutter when the ol’ guy knocked his arm.
Joe was the guy we used to do repairs wherever we needed him. He’d brought in a few of his guys to repair the damage from the fire.
“Our profits took a hit but not drastically, so being up and running at full capacity in two days is good.” Marek tapped the edge of the carved table two times. “What else?” With a deep exhale, he continued. “Addy said Tag should be able to help out where we need him in a couple days.”
“How do you know that?” Stone butted in, leaning closer to his friend, a flicker of annoyance stretching across his face.
“It’s my job to know.” Prez smirked, goading his VP. “Just ’cause she’s not talkin’ to your ass doesn’t mean she won’t talk to me.”
Stone’s expression switched from miffed to incredulous in the time it took for him to blink. “She’s talkin’ to me.”
“She let you home yet?” Tripp asked, the tug of a half smile twisting his lips.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
Addy allowing her husband to come back home explained why he didn’t look as pissy as he had the past couple days.
“Good, ’cause we need the room.” Marek pointed to the three Laredo guys. He then grabbed the gavel and raised it in the air. “If there’s not anything else.” He looked around the room, but no one said a word. The crash of the wooden hammer erupted, releasing everyone from the meeting.
After I grabbed my phone from the outside table, I flicked it open to see if I had any missed calls or messages from Chelsea, and as I’d suspected… nothing.
“You okay?” Linc sidled up next to me and slapped me on the back.
“I guess we’ll see,” I mumbled, already thinking about our upcoming encounter. She asked if I was really gonna come by her place at three forty-eight in the morning to get my answer. If I did, I risked the chance Chelsea would be dead to the world, figuring I’d show up at a more decent time. But depending on how much I mentally tortured myself over the possibilities of her acceptance or rejection, the outcome would steer my decision on whether to stick to the strict twenty-four hours I initially gave her.
“I’m sure this has something to do with a certain blonde, am I right?”
“When doesn’t it?” I shook my head. “I told her to make up her mind. Either she wants to be my woman, or she doesn’t. Simple as that.”
“Is it?”
“Is it what?”
“Is it that simple?” he asked. “When it comes to you two, simple isn’t the word I’d choose.” His smile fell flat when he saw my irritation.
“I can’t do this back-and-forth with her anymore. If she doesn’t wanna be with me, then I’ll find someone who will.”
“Did she give you an answer yet?”
I glanced at my watch. “She has just under nine hours.”
“You timin’ it?”
“You’re damn right. I’ve wasted enough time wondering.” I shifted my feet, wanting to talk more about my dilemma but also wanting to forget. “How is that?” I pointed toward the mark on the side of his face, his reminder of how close he came to dying just a short time ago.
“It’s fine. I forget it’s there sometimes, but I do play it up with Maddie to get some extra lovin’.” His laughter was stolen when his woman approached, looking between the two of us, probably wondering what was so funny. How he found her was by no means ideal, but he was lucky he had Maddie. “Hey,” he greeted, pulling her into his side. “I was just on my way to get you.”
“Hi, Ace.” She beamed up at me, her hair piled on top of her head in some sort of messy bun. She was such a tiny thing. The both of us towered over her small frame.
“How ya doin’, Maddie?”
“Good.” She’d come out of her shell in the time she’d been with us, but there were moments, like this, when she reverted into a bout of shyness.
“You’re puttin’ on some weight. Looks good on ya, sweetheart.” I needed something to distract me and it appeared I’d just found it. Maddie looked down at herself before meeting my eyes again.
“I eat all the time now.” She laughed, cuddling closer to Linc, whose arm tightened possessively around her.
“First off, stop lookin’ at my woman. And second, don’t call her sweetheart.” Linc’s jaw muscle twitched and his eyes narrowed, but his features softened when he glanced back at Maddie. “You ready?”
“Where you two goin’?” I wasn’t ready to be left alone with my thoughts right now.
“I’m takin’ her to Kaden’s for the night. The guys need the space,” he answered.
“Speaking of,” Maddie chimed in, “can you grab my things from the room? A guy with a ponytail just walked in there and I don’t know him.”
“Was he younger or older?” I looked toward the hallway.
“Older.”
“Nash,” Linc uttered.
“You sure you want to stay at Kaden’s, man? Your sister is movin’ in there, and I don’t have to tell you what they’ll probably be doin’ to celebrate.” I wiggled my brows which got a laugh out of Maddie but a groan from Linc.
“Don’t.” He closed his eyes for several seconds. “Just don’t. And when the hell did this happen?”
“Earlier today when we stopped by the salon. She told him. Well, Chels blurted it out before she could tell him.”
“They’ll have to keep their hands to themselves for the night.” Meeting my eyes, he said, “Can I leave her with you or are you gonna hit on her?” His question was serious but riddled with sarcasm.
“Depends on how long you take?”
Again, Maddie laughed, but instead of coming back with another retort, Linc walked away to gather her belongings. And since she didn’t have much, he’d be back in no time, then they’d take off, leaving me to amuse myself until I had to go see Chelsea.
Rubbing Maddie’s upper arm in a show of genuine concern, I asked, “How are you doin’ with everything?” Linc had explained her reaction to Pike showing up here and how much she didn’t want anyone to hurt him, even though he was the sole reason she’d gone through what she had at the hands of his club.
“I’m okay. I just wish…” She looked down, pulling her eyes from mine. “I don’t know. That things had turned out different.” I didn’t need to ask what she meant.
“We didn’t do anything to him, you know that, right?”
She nodded, exhaling slowly before finally picking her head back up. “Linc told me.”
I was about to ask her what exactly he’d said to her when he walked back toward us, slinging his arm over her shoulder, and kissing her temple. “He’s not botherin’ you, is he?”
“Of course not.” Maddie smiled up at me. “I always enjoy talking to Ace.”
“That’s because you don’t know him that well yet.” She lightly smacked his stomach in my defense, which I appreciated, even though he was just joking. At least, I hoped he was. I had been a pain in the ass with my grumblings about Chelsea every now and again, but if that was the worst anyone could say about me, then that wasn’t too bad.
My buddy winked at me before whisking his woman away, and I was left feeling ann
oyed that I didn’t know where I stood with Chelsea yet.
11
“Then he gave me an ultimatum.” I needed to talk to Riley, and even though I’d been closed off with her about Ace, passing off my attraction to him as purely sexual and nothing more, she saw through my façade.
“All because you wanted him to wear a condom?”
“That’s what I said.” A half-hearted laugh escaped on a rushed puff of air, my mind whirling between wanting to divulge every thought and emotion I held toward Ace and wanting to skip over a lot of it. It wasn’t because I didn’t trust Riley. The opposite was true. I trusted her with my life, and I knew she’d keep whatever we said between us, but I was the one who was conflicted. How could I explain anything to my bestie I didn’t quite have a handle on myself?
“Has he texted you since he left here?”
“No. He said he was givin’ me twenty-four hours. I doubt he’ll contact me before then.” The display on my phone read 7:12. “Which means I have eight hours and thirty-six minutes left to make a decision.”
We both sat on my couch, Riley at one end and me on the other. She stopped by after her last client left to get the rest of her things but also because she knew I needed to get some stuff off my chest.
“Do you know which way you’re leaning?” She fluffed the throw pillow in front of her, cradling it to her chest before pulling her leg underneath her.
“No.” I played with my bottom lip while mentally listing the pros and cons of being with Ace. On the pros side, I was insanely attracted to him; he was fantastic in bed; he made me laugh; I’d told him about my dad, details I’d only ever told Riley; and he wanted to be with me exclusively, hence the ultimatum. On the cons side, I didn’t trust he wouldn’t break my heart. There it was in a nutshell.