Beth’s jaw dropped as she staggered back a step. Melody might as well have slapped her across the face with the vitriol she spewed. The words burrowed under her skin like parasites.
Daddy issues. Conniving bitch.
Did others see her the same way? Would they think that she was using Saint to rebel? That she was playing games to mess with her father?No.That was absurd.
She’d never worried about such a thing before and wouldn’t start now. It was merely Melody grasping at straws and trying to stir up drama.
“That’s not…” She shook her head. “I…” How did she respond to that?
Melody’s lips curved in a victorious smile. “Wonder what will happen if Daddy finds out what his precious princess is really like. I think he’ll be very interested to know you’ve been fucking Saint for the past month.”
She wouldn’t.Beth fought to keep her face neutral. For all she knew, Melody was fishing. No way could she know for sure Beth had been seeing Saint. Still, Beth’s stomach soured.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Melody said when Beth didn’t respond. “Stay the fuck away from me, and if I see you anywhere near my man, I’ll rip your fucking hair out.” Mel turned and strutted up the sidewalk, tossing her hair over her shoulder as she went.
Beth sagged as she let out a long breath. That did not go as planned. Not that she’d formulated a plan. She tore out of her salon without a damn thought.
“Fuck,” she whispered. Now she’d have to tell Saint and probably others in the club about Melody’s connection to Demo. She’d be banned from coming around, and as much as Beth disliked Melody, she knew how important the club was to the other woman.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
She walked back to the soon-to-be salon with a pit in her stomach. How could she handle this in the best way? If she told her father and he confronted Melody, would Melody spill her suspicions about Beth and Saint? She probably wouldn’t be receptive to talking to Saint either.Maybe Gator could talk some sense into her.
A bit of tension eased in her stomach. That could work. Gator could give it a day or two, then claim he saw Melody with Demo and had concerns about her safety. As soon as she got to the clubhouse, she’d run the idea by him.
After returning to the salon, she emptied the bucket of soapy water, took a final inventory of what still needed cleaning, and locked up.
Twenty minutes later, she parked at the clubhouse and pulled out her phone to text Saint.
Beth: At the clubhouse. U here?
Saint: 10 minutes out. Missed you today.
She grinned. They hadn’t had much time to text throughout the day. Hearing that he’d thought about her made her giddy. She bounced in her driver’s seat with a happy squeal. If only she could grab him and kiss the hell out of him when he arrived. Hopefully, they could sneak away for a few minutes alone in one of the bunk rooms.
But first, she had to tell him about Melody.
As she walked into the clubhouse, she glanced around. It was still early, so the place wasn’t overly crowded. Rizz chatted up a woman Beth didn’t recognize at the bar. Jigsaw and Rocket played a game of pool while their ol’ ladies sat nearby, laughing and drinking margaritas. Others played darts, some danced, and one of the newer guys, Beth didn’t know well, practically ate the face off some woman in a teeny-tiny minidress.
Just a typical chaotic night at the clubhouse, and she loved it.
She spotted Gator coming out of the kitchen and headed his way. As she reached him, she noticed her dad sitting in his usual spot at a table in the back of the room. What stopped Beth dead in her tracks was the sight of Melody sitting at the table with him. She wore a fake-fucking-expression of extreme sorrow, like someone who had terrible news to unload but knew it must be shared.
“Hey, p-cess,” Gator said. He smacked a kiss on her cheek. “How’s it hang… whoa, Beth, you okay? You just got really fucking pale.”
“H-how long has Melody been here?” If she hopped right in her car and came to the clubhouse, she had about a twenty-minute headstart on Beth.
“ ’Bout ten minutes. She got here same time I did. Why, what’s up?”
An icy wave of dread washed over her. “I saw her earlier. She was making out with Demo.”
“The fuck…”
Beth faced him. “Demo saw me. Looked straight at me and winked while his damn tongue was halfway down her throat.”
He gripped his hair where it spilled out over his red bandana. “Fuck, this is not good.”
“No, it’s not. I was worried he knew she had a connection to the club, so when they went their separate ways, I ran after her to warn her.”
