“I’m not an Old Lady, though?” I state as she guides me toward a different part of the clubhouse.
“Not yet, honey… not yet,” she chimes, winking back at Nitro as she drags me away from him.
We settle onto a comfortable sofa in a quieter corner of the clubhouse, and Ro and Millie join us, along with two other women I haven’t met yet.
“Ladies,” Victoria says, gesturing to me with a flourish. “This is Marley. Marley, meet Gia and Jessa, the other souls brave enough to put up with these knuckleheads.”
The woman with warm brown skin and curves for days grins at me, waving a freshly painted nail. “I’m Gia. And ignore Ro if she tries to recruit you for anything questionable.”
“Hey!” Ro protests. “My ideas are never questionable. Ambitious, maybe. Slightly illegal on occasion—”
“Frequently illegal,” the other woman corrects with a laugh. She’s petite with strawberry blonde hair pulled into a messy bun, freckles dusting her nose. “I’m Jessa. Fair warning, this crew will have you spilling all your secrets within the hour.”
“That’s the plan,” Victoria says, settling in beside me. Her eyes sparkle with mischief as she leans forward. “So… how long have you and Nitro actually been together?”
My stomach drops. “We are… we’re not really together. We’re just fake dating.”
The women exchange looks that make my skin prickle with awareness.
“Oh, honey,” Gia says, barely suppressing a smile. “That’s adorable.”
“What?” I ask defensively.
“Nothing,” Jessa says, clearly trying not to laugh. “It’s just…fake dating. Sure. That’s definitely what’s happening here.”
“It is!” I insist. “It’s an arrangement. A business transaction.”
Ro snorts so hard she nearly chokes on her drink. “Business transaction. Girl, the way that man looks at you should be rated R.”
“Or X,” Gia adds helpfully.
My face flushes hot. “You’re all wrong. This is temporary. We have an agreement.”
“Honey,” Victoria says, her tone gentle now, leaning forward. “I went undercover in this club, thinking they were all criminals. I was literally a cop trying to take them down. And even I couldn’t deny what was happening between me and Sin.”
“But that’s different,” I protest weakly. “You two had this whole intense situation—”
“And you don’t?” Millie challenges, raising an eyebrow. “Girl, Nitro offered you his apartment. His space. Do you have any idea how big that is for these guys?”
“EspeciallyNitro,” Jessa adds. “That man guards his personal space as if it’s Fort Knox. The fact that he invited you in? That’s huge.”
“It’s just practical,” I say, but the words sound hollow even to me. “I needed a place to stay.”
“There are a dozen places he could’ve helped you find,” Ro points out. “Hell, we have emergency funds for situations like yours. He could’ve set you up in a hotel, a rental, anywhere. But he brought you home, Marley.”
“Because…” I trail off, not sure how to finish that sentence.
“Because he wanted you there,” Victoria finishes softly. “Because the idea of you being anywhere else probably made him crazy.”
“What you’re sayingiscrazy,” I rebuke.
“Is it, though?” Ro challenges, fixing me with a knowing look. “Because from where we’re sitting, the way Nitro looks at you is exactly how Sin looks at Victoria. Like you’re the only thing in the room that matters.”
“We have an understanding,” I insist, but the words sound weak, even as they come out of my mouth.
Gia leans back, studying me with those perceptive eyes. “Understandings don’t make a man’s jaw clench when another brother stands too close to you. That’s not business, sugar. That’s jealousy.”
“Has he done the thing yet?” Jessa asks suddenly.
