“I don’t want to sound like a dick, but I’m gonna be straight with you.”
Her smile wilted.
“It’s not gonna happen, Mel.”
“Excuse me?”
“This…” he waved a hand back and forth between them, “… us. It’snotgoing to happen.”
She laughed, but not the flirty giggle he’d grown accustomed to. This laugh had a harsh edge. “You’re kidding me, right?”
He shook his head.
She scoffed as she threw her hands in the air. “It’s her, isn’t it?”
Saint stiffened. “What?”
“Beth.”
“You’re crazy.”
Melody’s mouth twisted into a sinister smile. “Holy shit. That’s it. You’ve got a hard-on for the club princess. This is the best thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Mel,” he said, voice full of warning. “Stop.”
“No,” she said with a tinkering laugh. “I don’t think I will stop. What the fuck do you see in that mousy little bitch?” She grabbed her tits over her long dress. “Look at all you’re passingup. I got tits, ass, and I know how to use my pussy. Trust me, a man like you will not be satisfied with anything less.”
“That’s enough, Mel.”
She arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow. “Imagine how her daddy will react if he finds out his future enforcer gets hard for the princess?”
“Mel—”
“He’ll lose his mind,” she continued. “Probably take your patch.”
Her voice grated on his nerves like three-inch nails on a chalkboard.
“Doesn’t seem worth it when she’s probably a dead fish in bed anyway. I heard she had to come home because she couldn’t keep her boyfriend satisfied.”
“Enough!” Saint shouted. Never in his life had he been tempted to strike a woman, but if Melody didn’t shut her mouth, he might do just that.
Her eyes widened as she jumped. “Saint, I—”
“Shut yourfuckingmouth, Melody.”
“How dare y—” Her jaw snapped closed, probably due to the homicidal gleam in his eye. But it didn’t last long. “I’ve been hanging around the club for years…years. I deserve to be an ol’ lady.”
He didn’t give a fuck what she thought she deserved. There was no way in hell this woman would get within one inch of spreading gossip that would harm Beth. “If you want the slightest chance of staying close to the club, here’s what’s going to happen.”
She looked stunned, and any other time, he might have felt sympathy for her, but she’d destroyed any of that with her catty bullshit.
“You will stay the fuck away from Beth. No more lunches. No hangouts. Don’t let me catch you fucking looking at her. Youwanna get fucked? There are plenty of single dipshits who’ll fuck you no questions asked. I amnotone of them.”
“Saint…”
“And if you ever,everthreaten to go to my president with whatever horseshit you’ve drummed up in your head, I will personally make sure you cannevershow your face at our clubhouse again. You’re not ol’ lady material, Melody. An ol’ lady would never threaten someone in the club.”
Melody had been coming around the club since before he was a prospect. They were around the same age, and he knew she had no blood family. The Handlers were important to her. She’d worked at the diner for years, and her entire friend group revolved around his club. Her long-standing connection to the MC was the only reason he didn’t ban her from the clubhouse for life, but he wouldn’t hesitate if she didn’t back off.
