Lifting her, she wraps her legs around my waist and laughs. I sit her on the bar and step back.
“I need five minutes. Stay here, don’t move.”
Her laughter follows me as I cut across the bar, heading toward Luca and Angel.
“Prez, I got you a cop. Officer Sketchy. Wants paying as and when he’s needed.”
“Fuckin’ finally, something falling into place. You did well.” Luca grins but it doesn’t look right on him.
I give him the number and say, “I’ve got someone to be in, see ya later.”
Tia is where I left her on the bar and standing before her, I throw her over my shoulder and head up to my room. My grandpa was somewhat right, I am like him, but I won’t end up like him. There will be a day I’ll settle down, have a family, but it won’t be what my father classed as normal. I’ll wear the patch for the rest of my life, my family will be an extension of the one I patched into.
She slips down the front of my body, quick to lean up on her toes and kiss me.
“As pretty as your dress is, it would look better on the floor.”
Grinning, she steps back and undresses.
“Do you always come around biker clubs wearing no panties?”
“I don’t see the point. I have expensive taste and hate replacing them when they get ripped off of me.”
I’m sure she thinks she’s being sexy but all I’m thinking is she runs through my brothers like a game. She could never be my old lady, but fun for a night? She’s perfect.
25
Ford
The silence hangs so heavily it’s suffocating, yet there’s not a word I want to speak to the bitch that had me chained up like an wanted dog for months. She had me at the point where I wished for death, just to end the unrelenting boredom and fear of the worst happening. She’s been trapped in this room for a while and the only satisfaction I can take is she looks like crap. Her hair isn’t smooth and glossy, having been to expensive salons. Her lips are no longer blood red. Her nails are chipped, some bitten down to stubs. Dark bags have taken root under her eyes. It is the wariness she wears like one of her designer coats that shines whenever I walk into the room that I savor.
It’s been an hour since I came in and slid down the wall, plonking my ass on the floor. She lifts her eyes and when they settle on me, they’re full of water. Tears waiting to fall. So I wait, needing them. It seems she has given up trying to make conversation or even speak a word. The night we were meant to take her out at the charity ball, I was amped to succeed. I wanted to be a part of something great for the club, I never saw her getting one over on us coming.
As soon as the first tear drops, I say, “This is done.”
All I needed was her tears. We all thought she was unbreakable. I needed to see her break to finally see she isn’t anything but human. The same as me. She had the riches, the big houses, the fancy cars, but when it comes down to the basics, we’re all the same.
“What do you mean, this is done? Are you going to kill me now?”
I stare down at her and feel no need to reply.
“Please, just tell me. Put me out of my misery.”
Again, not one part of me wants to give her what she wants, even if it is only a few words of confirmation.
“Take out your gun and shoot me. Just get it over with,” she pleads.
Heavy sobs come next, and I hang back to listen to her sorrow. It’s music to my ears and this, I savor. I should fucking record it so I can put it on replay.
“Ford?”
Phoebe? Her voice carries down the hall and I go to find her when she comes to stand in the doorway, eyes wide, flitting from Effie to me. She’s frozen but her mind isn’t. She was always easy to read, and right now, she’s trying to work out who the fuck I am and what is going on.
“Help me!” Effie pleads, her voice breaking.
Pushing Phoebe out into the hall, I slam the door shut behind me and trap her between my arms against the wall.
“It’s not what you think,” I try.
