“Sweetheart, you all right?” he whispers.
“Yeah. I’m great.”
“You don’t get to see Rox and Sarah much now they ain’t living in Brockford no more, so I figured I’d bring you to your girls.”
“Thanks, baby.”
He smiles. Ax taps him on the shoulder and it has him turning away, the two of them lowering their voices, talking in hushed whispers.
“Nice leathers,” Rox comments, drawing my attention away from Smiter. “When did you get them?” she asks, eyeing them appreciatively.
“Smiter’s doing. We picked them up before heading up here. Apparently, my clothes were far too skimpy for riding on the back of his bike.”
She laughs. “Too cute. You should’ve seen how Runner was with Sarah when it came to all of that. And, remember how she always used to cover up anyway? Still, he’d zip her up in his jacket, right up to her chin, making sure every inch of skin was covered. She was drowning in the damn thing.”
“That’s extreme.”
“Watch this space. You’ll see it firsthand with Smiter soon. Once these guys make a claim on a woman, all that overprotective, possessive crap explodes all over the place.”
“Knowing you, that must cause a hell of a lot of arguments between you and Ax.”
“It did, but we’ve managed to find a balance now. He knows not to push it too far with me.”
“Not if he doesn’t want his ass kicked,” I say, with a laugh.
She chuckles. “Yep.”
As I glance around the table, I realize something. “Where’s Ava and Carter?”
“My dad’s in town for a few days. He’s babysitting them back at our place.”
“I can’t imagine your tough-as-nails dad supervising a playdate.”
“He’s a big softie when it comes to the babies.”
“Aww.”
As she gets pulled into a conversation with Runner and Sarah and Smiter and Ax are caught up in their own, I think on her warning. I really don’t want Smiter going all caveman on me. It’s already irritated me enough in the past when he’s reprimanded me for dressing too provocatively in public. Any time he tries to tell me what to do, or attempts to order me around, it really gets my back up. I’m not the kind of woman who would ever stand for that. And I really don’t need it either. I’m independent, strong, and I live my life how I see fit. Sure, every now and then I like a bit of possessiveness from him and some protectiveness, because it shows me that he cares about me. Every woman likes a little bit of a white knight in her man. But I don’t want it getting really intense and out of control. That would be suffocating.
It will be fine. Rox is just speaking from what she’s seen with Ax and Runner. It doesn’t mean Smiter’s going to turn up the intensity like they did. And if he does, I’ll just tell him to back off. I’m sure he’ll understand. He knows how I operate.
His hand grabbing mine across the table pulls me from my thoughts.
“Hal, I gotta talk with Ax for a bit. You all right here with the girls and Runner? Sorry, I know it’s our date and all that.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “Please, it’s fine. Go ahead.”
He leans over and kisses my cheek.
And then he pulls back and slides out of the booth. His happy, carefree expression changes, the second he looks to Ax who’s sliding out of the booth too. I see a darkness there in his eyes, a ferocity that unsettles me.
Ax leans into Smiter and, because of my close proximity to them, I can hear him growl at him, “We’re with our women. Ain’t the time to be talking business, Smiter. Don’t ever bring it ˈround the girls again. It’s the only time we’re doing this. You feel me?”
“I left Brockford like you ordered. But I gotta know what went down at that meet.”
“That why you crashed our lunch? Couldn’t wait ˈtil tonight to come talk to me at the clubhouse?”
“One reason, yeah. You know when it comes to him, I don’t got the patience I normally do. Can’t fucking help that.”
My stomach drops at Smiter’s hushed words. That’s why he really brought me here? So he could ambush Ax about whatever it is they’re arguing about?
“Fuck,” Ax grits out. “Get outside and we’ll get this over with.”
With that, they both head on out of the diner.
Runner catches my eye. I must have a worried look on my face, because he offers me a gentle smile and asks, “You hungry, darlin’? We’re ˈbout to order.”
Sarah and Rox turn at his words.
I nod. “Yeah, I could eat.”
Rox wraps her arm around me and pulls me over to them, so we can order.
I take one last glance at the door where Smiter and Ax left. I shake it off and focus on enjoying time with my girls and, oddly, Runner too.
Chapter 11
~Smiter~
Going to bed. Talk to you tomorrow.
I frown down at my phone and Halle’s text.
I’d asked her if she’d be up in a bit to talk. Guess she ain’t gonna be. She blowing me off? It’s been a long time since I been in this kinda situation, needing to figure out what a woman means, and all that. I’m real rusty.
She was quiet when me and Ax came back into the diner after talking outside. She hardly said a word to me through the whole lunch. But that coulda been her just making the most of the time she had with her girls. She don’t get to see ˈem much no more. They live hours away and they both got young kids keeping ˈem busy. Then again, when I’d walked her to her apartment and moved in to kiss her, she’d turned her cheek to me. That weren’t a good sign.
Yeah, she’s pissed at me.
Why?
Is it cuz we didn’t fool ˈround during our date, or the long-ass ride there and back?
One of the reasons I brought her to the diner was so we had some people between us. Needed a barrier there to stop me from fooling ˈround with her. This thing between us ain’t supposed to be just ˈbout sex no more, but that don’t mean it’s easy for me to tone it down ˈround her. The woman’s so fucking sexy, I wanna devour her every second I’m with her. I thought she woulda picked up on me holding back for the good of what we’re tryinˈ to build between us.
Guess not.
I put it out of my mind, as I step into the clubhouse. I’ll deal with it tomorrow.
Right now, I just wanna wail on the bag in the gym.
Since I talked with Ax ˈbout the meet he had with Frankie, I been keeping my feelings on lockdown. Cuz me and Hal were on our date and ˈround everybody else, I couldn’t be showing none of the rage that’d been burning through me. Didn’t want her asking no questions. She’s got a way of getting stuff outta me and I don’t want her knowing nothing ˈbout that motherfucker. That shit is way too dark for her.
But now she ain’t with me, I got the space to get it outta my system.
As I pass on through the clubhouse, I give a couple of head nods to the club members chilling up at the bar.
“Hey, brother!”
Billy steps into my path, forcing me to react quick and stop fast, so I don’t bulldoze right over him.
“What’s up, kid?”
He can’t look me in the eye as he mumbles, “I’m sorry, brother. Didn’t know Halle was yours. I woulda never even looked at her.”
“You touch her?”
He shakes his head. “No.”
I slap his shoulder. “We’re good then.”
“Yeah? You sure?”
Poor kid. He only just got patched in and now he’s freaking ˈbout something that ain’t even his fault. Yeah, I was pissed at the time, but it was my fault, cuz I never fucking claimed her. Shoulda known word woulda travelled this fast, after I finally did claim her at the diner. Runner and his big mouth.
“Yeah, we’re good. Forget it.”
He smiles and we shake on it. “All right. Thanks,” he says, heading back to the couches.
I make my way outta the lounge and down the corridor towards the gym.
; As soon as I step inside and kick the door shut behind me, I let out the roar I’ve been holding in for too long. I plunge my fist into the bag. The rough material scraping a burning path across my knuckles gives me the satisfaction I been looking for. Has me wanting more.
Screw the gloves.
I step in front of the bag and let my fists fly.
Every brutal hit I land helps kill the fury that’s been way too close to taking me over.
It’s been a long time since I felt this kinda rage and pain.
The day I lost her.
The day he made me watch as he ripped her from me.
The day everything changed. The day I changed.
I shut down.
I can’t believe the goddamn timing here.
I finally make a move with Halle, take a fucking risk and he shows up here? A part of me has me wondering if it’s just a coincidence. There’s a real fine line between being paranoid and knowing something in your gut. My judgment’s fucked with Frankie’s reappearance dredging up so much painful shit about Mia, so I ain’t sure which it really is.
Motherfucker!
Ax told me earlier that Frankie claimed he was just passing through Brockford. Weren’t planning on staying. He agreed to get his ass outta there within a week. Ax left it at that. Made me swear a fucking oath on the club that I’d stay outta his way and not make a play to go after him. It ain’t no secret that I’ve been wanting to rip him to shreds for years. When it first went down ˈbout a decade ago, I had all the boys at my back, tryinˈ to track him, so I could deliver justice. But, the coward went to ground real quick, so even Runner couldn’t find him.
Back then, the club had no issue dealing out justice with a bullet to the brain. Blood for blood.
Now, though, Thorns don’t operate that way. We’re at peace.
Almost had that jeopardized ˈbout a year ago when Runner’s brother, Jase, and an ex of his wife’s brought some dangerous shit to our doorstep. Tried to drag Runner down. He ended up taking the two of ˈem out to protect his girl and the club. We’re finally past dealing with all the fallout of that and I know Ax don’t want another incident flaring up. It’s why he’s being so fucking harsh with me.
I get it. I’m the guy running security for the club. I know what kinda hell would break loose if I disobeyed his orders.
The thing is, I know it in my gut. This is my only chance to get Frankie. Am I really gonna sit back and pass it up?
I throw another brutal punch at the bag, then I step back to catch my breath.
I got a week to figure all this out.
“Hey, brother.”
“Shit,” I choke. Didn’t hear nobody come in.
I look up to see Runner leaning against the doorframe.
“Just taking a breather,” I tell him, hoping he’s gonna get the message and go.
Instead, he stays put. He takes a drag of his smoke, then comments, “So, you and Halle, huh?”
“Yeah,” I answer, cracking my bloodied knuckles.
“Last I saw, you were on the outs. Next, you’re making a claim on her at the diner.”
“You got a point, Runner? Or, you just saying shit I already know?”
“You love her?”
“What?”
“You love Halle? You claimed her, so the answer should be real easy, yeah?”
I take a step towards him. “Looks like all that therapy’s rubbing off on you. Sounds like you’re tryinˈ to shrink me.”
“Ain’t sure?” he pushes, just plain ignoring me.
I blow out a breath. “I care ˈbout her. That good enough to get you outta here, so I can get back to pounding on this bag?”
“Don’t gotta be good enough for me, Smiter,” he says, pointedly. “Halle ain’t the kinda woman who’s gotta settle. She’s got everything going for her. Don’t gotta tell you that.” He walks further into the room, his eyes boring into mine. “So, I ain’t sure why you got it in your head that she’s gonna settle for a guy who ain’t all in with her.”
What. The. Fuck?
“You son of a—”
He holds his hand up and cuts me off quick, “Thing is, I think you do love her, brother. Problem is, you still ain’t let go of Mia. Halle’s gonna slip through your fingers. You wanna see what that looks like, take a closer look at Dealer. Couldn’t stand up and get it together with Kim, so he sat the fuck back down and let Skinner take her as his. Ain’t just her neither. Remember that girl he had his eye on for a bit?”
“You mean the girl he was fucking ˈround with when he was married to Rox’s mom?”
“She weren’t just a whore to him. Knew each other for years. He never claimed her. Never took a chance. Instead, he settled for a woman who didn’t expect much from him, who didn’t care he couldn’t lay it all on the line. Now look at him, Smiter. That’s what it looks like. With your holding back bull, you’re coming up right behind him, brother. Don’t want that for you.”
“I ain’t him, Runner.”
He shrugs. “Prove it.”
He takes off outta the room then, leaving me to wrap my head ˈround the heavy shit he’s said.
He’s wrong ˈbout Mia. I have let her go. The moment I told Halle I’m in.
It ain’t that.
It’s the unfinished business.
Frankie.
I never got the chance to get my goddamn vengeance.
I ain’t been able to put it to bed.
I can’t close the door on none of it, ˈtil I settle things between us.
Chapter 12
~Halle~
“Hot damn. The girl’s got moves. I want a lap dance from her,” Lisa says, as we stand watching my newest dancer, Candy, flaunting some very impressive moves, while she graces the lap of the birthday boy among a group of businessmen in the booth over in the far corner of Temptress.
The song up on stage comes to an end and I turn to Lisa and fluff out her dark-brown curls. “Perfect. You’re up, babe.” She fiddles with her sexy policewoman costume, pushing her boobs up a little more. A pair of novelty cuffs dangle from a hoop at the side of her mini-skirt.
Giggling, she holds the foam, very phallic-looking truncheon to my lips. “Kiss it for good luck.”
I give it a quick kiss and she turns gracefully on her stiletto thigh-high boots and saunters down the gangway to the stage, swinging her hips seductively to the beat of the next dance number. Wolf whistles and wild cheers erupt as soon as the patrons take in the sight of the main attraction.
Lisa knows how to put on a hell of a show. Then again, she learned from the best.
Me.
I hop back up onto my stool at the bar and resume downing my martini. I smile down at myself. I’ve got my curls hanging freely about my face. I’m wearing a scoop-neck, backless top that does my boobs a lot of justice, along with the pair of leather pants that Smiter bought me the other day. You might say I’m dressed to kill. It’s because I stupidly thought he’d come by. But he hasn’t, nor has he bothered to contact me at all. I hate that I actually dressed for a man tonight. What has gotten into me? I don’t do that. I dress for me, not to impress anyone else. And why do I care that he hasn’t contacted me, since he dropped me home after our apparent group date at Sarah’s diner days ago?
The expectations have changed. That’s why.
I never used to care too much when I didn’t hear from him for a while. I knew it was just a casual thing.
But now, it’s different.
Maybe it’s just different to me. Does he get it? Has he realized it was a mistake, or something? Did he feel trapped into making a leap he wasn’t ready for, because of my all-or-nothing stance?
Fuck. I have no idea.
I hate feeling like this. I hate him making me feel like this. I hate not knowing where things stand.
Hell, I’m beginning to think this whole thing is a mistake, if this is how he’s going to be. One minute he’s right here and all over me, then the next he’s gone. I have no idea if he’s going to com
e back to me.
I don’t deserve to be a second thought.
I deserve a man’s full, devoted attention.
Commotion from the booth in the corner catches my attention. Oh, no.
Instinctively, I reach for the security radio at my hip, ready to call in one of my bouncers, as I slide off my chair and start forward to get a better look at what’s going on.
What I see has my breath hitching in my throat, activating horrific past memories.
A couple of the business guys are trying to play with Candy, taking it too far. Hell, no!
My radio is in my hand and I’m barking down the line for my bouncers to get here, as I’m storming over there myself, when someone comes out of nowhere, leaping to the rescue. I watch, open-mouthed, as he actually scoops Candy up out of their clutches and then proceeds to wave his fists and bark viciously at the business guys. I watch as they all stumble to their feet, looking shit-scared. They’re rushing by me in the next second and taking off out of my club.
I reach the stranger, who’s lowering Candy to the floor.
“You all right, love?” he asks, looking her over with concern.
She nods nervously. “Uh… yeah.”
“Candy,” I call gently. “Take the rest of the night off, babe.”
“Halle, no. It’s all right. I don’t need—”
“I’ll pay you for a full night.”
He eyes widen. “Oh, wow. You really are the nicest boss ever.”
I chuckle. “Go on home, hun.”
She takes off, wrapping her arms tightly around herself as she goes, a sure sign that it did freak her out more than she’s willing to let on.
I turn my attention to the stranger before me.
Holy hell.
He’s not just a knight in shining armor, he’s sex-on-a-stick, to boot.
His hair is a deep black, wild with that bed-head thing going on. It brushes the collar of his shirt. I can tell right away that it’s designer. He’s neglected to do up a few of its buttons, enough to give me a good glimpse of his muscled chest and a sexy trail of hair disappearing down below. The sleeves are rolled up to his impressive biceps and ink covers the entirety of both his arms. Thick, chunky rings cover every finger. My gaze dips lower to his black dress pants that seem to be straining across his thick, muscular legs. A pair of black designer loafers complete the look.
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