Hunter continued, “It’s very well possible that he plans to exact revenge for his father on you, Diamond, since you’re Rocky’s daughter. Anything’s possible.”
“Ain’t fuckin’ him.”
Her head twisted toward D. “What?”
“Ain’t fuckin’ him no more, got me?”
“D...” she breathed as her heart skipped a beat.
“No lip, woman. Stay the fuck away from ‘im ‘til we know what he knows or don’t know. Got me?”
Her chest felt like it was caving in. “I—” I just gave him a key to my place.
“No shit, woman. I’m serious. Break it off,” D said firmly.
“D...” Jewel whispered to her man, but her eyes not leaving Di’s face.
“No lip from you, either,” he told his ol’ lady. “Your sister, you, Jag, all of us could be in fuckin’ danger. Z might’ve invited a viper amongst us.” Diesel pushed to his feet and pointed a finger right at Di. “Break it off. Don’t care how you do it. Find an excuse. Just don’t let ‘im know what we know. Got me?”
Fuck! She couldn’t think straight. How was she going to abruptly break it off with a man who was climbing into her bed almost every night? What good reason was she going to use to get him to stop coming over? How could she get her damn key back without making him suspicious?
Why the fuck was this happening to her when she finally had a man in her bed who she actually liked? Actually, might even...
Love.
Fuck.
She tried to swallow the knot in her throat, but it refused to budge.
Was Slade using her? Was he a bomb ready to implode, ready to destroy their club, their family, from the inside out?
She dropped her head into her hands and sucked in a shaky breath.
“Di,” Jewel whispered, her voice sounding so full of pity that it made this whole thing worse. So much worse.
She’d been a fucking fool.
She’d always wanted to be an ol’ lady, to belong to a man who’d be loyal to her, to love her completely and she thought that Slade might be the one.
He was someone who she didn’t grow up with, who she didn’t look at like a “brother.” He was new, fresh blood in the club. Not only that, the man was smart, good-looking and had a cool temper, unlike her.
He was someone who’d been a former Marine, one she thought had honor. A man who also understood the club lifestyle, even if she didn’t like every aspect of it herself. Like the patch whores and the constant excuses for pig roasts and partying. But everything else she did. The sisterhood, the brotherhood, the family loyalty, the community. They all supported each other. Loved each other. But now this...
They might have an enemy in their midst.
Not only did they allow him into the club, Di allowed him into her heart.
And pretending like she knew nothing about how their fathers were connected was going to be the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.
Fuck me.
Chapter Ten
Slade laid in the dark, listening to Diamond’s steady breathing and wondered if she was pretending to sleep.
She had been a bit distant when he slipped into bed with her earlier. But he’d been exhausted, and he couldn’t wait to let the stress of a busy night at The Iron Horse slip away when he slipped inside of her.
It took him longer than normal to make her come and, even then, she only did it once. Normally, she was a multi-orgasm type of woman, which he loved about her.
They clicked in bed, and when she was in her smooth-as-silk, sexy-as-hell Diamond mode, she was the best fuck he’d ever had.
And he also loved talking into the night with her, even when he was bone-tired. But tonight, as soon as he rolled off her, she’d turned to her side, faced away from him and went to sleep.
That was not like her, so he wondered what was up her ass, or what she thought he’d done wrong. Because a woman never told a man what they did. They liked to leave a man guessing. “You should know what you did wrong.”
Yeah, right. After thousands of years, women should finally realize that men were a bit dense when it came to a woman’s feelings and her expectations.
If women gave it to men straight, there might not be so many misunderstandings that could screw with a relationship.
Slade stared up in the dark at the cabin’s ceiling and his chest tightened at the thought that him and Diamond may actually be in some sort of relationship.
She was definitely more than just a lay. But how much more, he wasn’t sure.
Nor was he sure he wanted to take it much further than that, anyway.
He only landed in Shadow Valley in his search for answers. And now he was burrowed deeper into this club than he originally planned.
He actually regretted getting the club’s rockers and insignia tattooed onto his back. But he thought getting it done would lessen Diesel’s suspicions of him. Unfortunately, Slade didn’t think it did any good. The man still gave him the side eye and probably always would.
He wouldn’t even doubt that D would try to turn Diamond against him. He wasn’t sure if the club enforcer knew they were sleeping together but with him being Jewel’s ol’ man and with Jewel being Diamond’s sister, he couldn’t imagine the man didn’t know.
He rolled to his side and stared down at Diamond who was now flat on her back.
“Princess,” he whispered and brushed a thumb over her cheek. She shifted but didn’t respond. “Babe,” he said a little louder and wrapped his hand gently around her throat, feeling her pulse beating under his fingers.
She blinked open her eyes and turned her head toward him. “Yeah. What’s wrong?”
“You tell me.”
She didn’t say anything for the longest time and that caused his heart to thump heavily in his chest. She was not acting herself. Not the bitch Diamond and not the sweet one, either. She was just... withdrawn.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked her. He would get to the bottom of this, one way or another.
“I was sleeping.” Then she yawned, and he wondered if that was fake, too.
He shook his head. “No, what’s goin’ on in your head, makin’ you distant?”
“Nothing. I’m just tired.”
His gut twisted. She was lying to him. “Princess...”
“Slade, I’m tired. I just want to sleep.”
Slade sat up and looked down at her. “No. Fuckin’ somethin’s up an’ you need to be straight with me.”
She pushed herself to a seat and held the sheet up to her chest covering herself, something she never bothered to do before. She had a great body, awesome tits, and she’d never hid that from him before. They’d only been sleeping together for the past few weeks, but even from the beginning she had never been shy about her body. Not once. She’d strut around her cabin wearing nothing but her long, dark hair many a night.
So something was off.
“You regrettin’ givin’ me a key?”
When she didn’t answer, he wondered if that could be it. That maybe she thought giving him a key to her place was a mistake, a step toward some sort of commitment that neither of them were ready to take.
“That it, Diamond? You want your key back?”
She blew out a shaky breath and he certainly didn’t miss it.
“Thought we were havin’ a good time, but maybe I was wrong.”
“We were having a good time,” she repeated softly.
He wished the room wasn’t dark, wished he could see her face, see her eyes. “Were?” he asked and forced his Adam’s apple back down into his throat.
He’d ended up in a lot of different beds over the years and not one had he ever had a hard time rolling out of. Not one.
Until now.
Until Diamond.
The reason he pushed her away last summer wasn’t because she could be a bitch. That wasn’t it at all. That was just a good excuse.
He did it because he knew he could drown within her blue eyes. That he
could get sucked in that pit where he couldn’t escape. That she could capture a piece of his heart. That she could be the reason he stopped moving, stopped searching, and ended his nomad lifestyle.
“Want me outta your bed, Diamond? That what you want? ‘Cause ain’t stayin’ where I ain’t wanted.”
“Yes, Slade, that’s what I want.”
All the oxygen left his lungs. Until she said those words, he had some hope. But now...
He didn’t realize how much it would kill him to hear her say that. He didn’t realize just how deeply she was burrowed under his skin.
What he thought was them having a good time together wasn’t just that. It had become more.
He didn’t want anyone else in her bed or her life. He didn’t want to ever share the woman that sat next to him on her bed. The one that opened herself up to him.
Blood rushed into his head as his temper soared. “What fuckin’ happened?”
“Nothing.”
Again, lying.
“Fuckin’ lyin’ to me an’ I have no idea why.” He dropped his legs over the side of the bed and stared at her shadowed figure over his shoulder. “I do somethin’?” He couldn’t quite tell in the dark, but he thought her eyes were closed.
He counted five breaths before she answered.
“No... I did.”
He twisted to face her. His breathing quickened, and his heart began to race. “Whatdya do?”
“I... uh...”
“Princess,” he whispered, trying to keep the anxiety from his voice. What did she do that she’d want him to leave her bed?
“Slade, maybe it’s best you just go.”
“Fuck that shit. Tell me what you did.” He rubbed his bare chest because a sharp ache was building there.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
Fuck!
“Diamond, askin’ you one more time...”
“I fucked Rig, okay?” she screamed then slammed herself back onto the bed and covered her face with her hands, her body shaking enough he could see it even in the dark.
“What the fuck?” he whispered, his heart now pounding in his throat, a vein throbbing at his temple.
“I’ve wanted him for a long time and he always resisted... until... It... just happened,” came muffled reply from behind her hands.
“Just happened? When?”
“Earlier.”
His mind raced, and he jumped to his feet. “I was there after him?”
She didn’t respond.
“Diamond! Fucked me after him?” he shouted at her.
She pulled her hands away from her face and shouted, “Yes! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...”
“Didn’t mean to? Just happened? Been wantin’ him? What the fuck, Diamond? Thought we had somethin’—” he broke off before he revealed something he shouldn’t. “He know we’ve been fuckin’?”
Because if he did, him and Rig were going to have a conversation. It was going to be a short conversation and there wasn’t going to be a lot of talking. Brothers didn’t fuck other brother’s women. They just didn’t.
“No.”
His lip curled, and he ground out, “You fuckin’ goddamn whore.”
“We weren’t serious!”
He shook his head and found his pile of clothes where he dropped them earlier. “What the fuck, Diamond? What the fuck.” He yanked on his boxers and his jeans in one pull. Snagging his long-sleeve thermal, he tugged that over his head. Then he found his boots and socks in the dark and pulled them on. His cut was hanging on the door knob, but at the moment, he didn’t have the stomach to wear it.
One of his brothers just fucked him.
The woman still in her bed behind him fucked him.
He needed to fucking puke.
He stormed from her room, jerked her key from his pocket and tossed it onto her table as he headed toward the door. After rushing through it, he slammed it shut behind him.
But that didn’t make him feel any better.
He never should’ve rolled into Shadow Valley. He never should’ve rolled into Diamond’s bed.
He should’ve just kept rolling.
“You fuckin’ bitch!”
“Hang the fuck on, Rig,” Jag growled, putting out a hand, her brother’s eyes narrowing.
“I’d never fuck a brother’s woman. Ever.”
“Know it,” Diesel mumbled.
“Why’d you use me?” Rig turned wide eyes on Diamond, who swallowed hard.
“I panicked. I needed an excuse to get him out of my...,” she closed her eyes for a second, “house.”
“So, you couldn’t come up with some random guy? Make up a fuckin’ name?”
“Sorry. After our conversation yesterday in the office, your name just popped into my head. Had to pick someone not attached.”
“Great,” Rig shouted, throwing his hands up. “Now I gotta worry he’s gonna hunt my ass down.”
“Ain’t gonna do shit,” Diesel muttered.
Rig turned wide eyes to D. “Yeah, right. Fucking former Marine. Can probably slip into my room an’, an’ break my neck without me even wakin’ up.”
“Everyone just needs to keep cool,” Zak announced to the small group that was standing around in one of the garage bays at the body shop. It was the best place to meet to do damage control, a place to talk where they wouldn’t risk Slade overhearing them.
“He’s a former Marine, not a damn ninja,” Jag said.
“Don’t think D’s crew can do that? They’re all former military,” Rig exclaimed, yanking on his beard in agitation.
“That’s different.”
Rig continued, “We don’t know if he has any special skills...”
“He was a boxer in the Marines. Was good at it from what he said,” Diamond said softly.
All eyes turned to her.
“Great,” Rig muttered and shook his head. “I’m a lover not a fighter.”
Jag snorted, but quickly stifled it.
“Does anyone even know where he’s at?” Z asked.
Jag shook his head. “Hawk checked his room. Was empty.” Her brother’s eyes landed on her. “What time did he leave your place?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe one or so.”
“I’da known you were gonna do it last night, woulda got one of my crew to tail ‘im.”
Diamond bugged her eyes out at Diesel. “You told me to break it off.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah! So I did that. Think it was easy for me? Think I liked lying to him?” D just looked at her and she threw up her hands in disgust. “Not everyone’s a cold, unfeeling bastard like you, D.”
Diamond didn’t miss it when his body went solid. But he didn’t disagree with her. Out loud, at least. Nor would he.
She knew the truth about Diesel. What he showed her sister, Jewel, versus what he showed the rest of the world. But still... right now she felt the need to hit him where it hurt. Because she was hurting badly, and she wanted him to feel a little bit of that pain. He was the one who wanted her to break it off with Slade. Not her.
It was possible that she and Slade could have come to an understanding about their fathers. Their fathers weren’t them. She didn’t kill Slade’s father and he wasn’t the reason Rocky was in Greene for life. Maybe they could’ve moved past that somehow. But now there was no chance of that at all.
None.
“So I know the fuckin’ details if I’m confronted... when did we do this?” Rig asked her with a frown.
“Yesterday.”
His eyebrows popped up. “An’ he ended up in your bed last night? D’you tell ‘im after he fucked you?”
Again, all eyes landed on her. Even her brother’s. Heat rose into her cheeks and she pressed her palms against them. “Details aren’t important,” she murmured.
Rig shook his head, angrier than ever. “Makes it worse, Di. No man wants sloppy seconds.”
“We didn’t do it for real, Rig!” she yelled.
Rig yelled right back at her,
“He don’t know that!”
“I’m so done with this. It’s over. It’s done. You got what you fucking wanted, D. Hope you’re happy.” With that she rushed from the shop and into her office, slamming the door behind her. She leaned against the door and drove the heels of her palms into her eye sockets to relieve the burn.
Her body hiccuped as a sob fought to escape. But she wouldn’t let it. She couldn’t. If she started, she wasn’t going to be able to stop. Not for a long time. And she wasn’t going to let those guys see or even hear her break down.
She didn’t want anyone to know how deeply she had fallen for a man who could be the enemy. She wanted them to think that she was a cold bitch and that she could shake off anything and move on.
She needed to be hard. Like a diamond. Because that was who she was.
Normally, she loved being DAMC. Today she despised it.
Chapter Eleven
“Wake the fuck up.”
A groan bubbled up from Slade’s chest, which felt like someone was sitting on him. Crushing him. His hand flopped to his chest. Nothing was there.
“Thought you were done with this shit.”
His head was too heavy to lift. It rolled to the side instead. He opened one eye. Just slightly.
“Moose’s takin’ you back to church.”
“N—” Slade cleared his sandpaper-coated throat. “No. Ain’t goin’... back.”
A few moments of silence, glorious silence, greeted him. Finally.
Suddenly, Dawg’s face was inches from his. “What the fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?”
Slade winced. Damn. Why was he yelling? Didn’t he know people were trying to sleep?
He inhaled so he could push out the words, “Ain’t goin’ back.”
“Ever?”
He closed his one eyelid when the room begin to spin.
“Slade, brother. Don’t know what you’re sayin’. Just trashed.”
“No,” he croaked.
“Yeah you are. Moose’ll—”
“No.”
“Can’t stay here.”
“Just let me sleep it off here,” Slade grumbled, burrowing deeper into the couch. Or so he thought was a couch, though, he couldn’t be sure. The bottom half of his body was pretty numb.
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