Then, after glaring him down with daggers shooting from my eyes, I climbed behind the wheel of the van and slammed the door.
Before his voice barreled through the metal door. “Get back to the clubhouse or everyone comes after you. Got that?”
I cranked the engine. “Loud and fucking clear, asshole.”
Eleven
West
“God damn it!” I roared.
I slammed my fist against the van door as she cranked the engine. I strode for my bike and hopped onto it as quickly as possible, not wanting to let that woman out of my fucking sight. She was infuriating, and probably the greatest risk to the club at the moment. And for some reason, I wanted to keep her damn secret.
“Fucking women,” I murmured.
I fell in line right behind her with my full tank of gas and settled on one truth: that I’d follow her wherever she went. I hoped she didn’t get any smart ideas, but if she did she’d figure out sooner rather than later that our van couldn't outrun a bastard on a bike. I stayed in her blind spot as well. I didn’t want her clocking me and maneuvering around me in any way. I didn’t want her to have eyes on me in case she got smart and tried to take off, because if I needed to, I’d take those damn tires out with the gun on my hip.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Chloe,” I whispered.
Thankfully, we cruised all the way back to the clubhouse. She didn’t divert or take a different way. In fact, she took the most efficient way, and that gave me a bit of hope. Maybe she finally understood the severity of this situation.
But the second she charged out of the van and slammed the door behind her, I knew that wasn’t exactly the case.
“I don’t even want to BE here anymore!” she screamed.
I rushed up to her and grasped her upper arm in my grip. “Keep your damn voice down. For all I know, you’ve been followed back because you’re an idiot.”
She yanked away from me. “Let me go. Don’t you ever fucking touch me without my permission, you brute. You aren’t in charge of me. This isn’t my group of friends or family. This is Lexi’s place with Dean. Not mine. And I don’t have to stay here if I don’t fucking want to. I’m packing up my shit and getting the hell out of here. You all are crazy as fuck. I’m leaving. Today.”
She glared at me before she stormed through the front door as Stone called out my name. Great. Just fucking grand. That meant he recognized the fact that I had been gone. Not only did I have a target that wanted to flee the first chance she got, but I had a president breathing down the back of my damn neck.
“Well,” I called out as she strode down the hallway, “if you want to take the fucking cartel on by yourself, then by all means have fun!”
Chloe flipped me off before she turned the corner to make her way to her room and I watched as Stone poked his head out of the living room.
“Where the hell have you been?” he glowered. “I’ve been calling for you forever.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I didn’t know what the hell possessed me to lie for the damn woman, but I decided it was the best decision for all of us. “Chloe got spooked and tried to run again. I swear, she’s jumpier than a damn bean. I left because I went to follow her and drag her ass back so that she doesn’t compromise all of us in the process of trying to go home. She doesn’t like it here.”
Stone scoffed. “I don’t give a shit what she does and doesn’t like. She doesn’t get to put all of us in jeopardy simply because of the company she keeps. That’s a personal problem on her part, so solve it.”
“I’m trying,” I murmured to myself.
“And one other thing,” Chloe hissed as she came back down the hallway.
But before I could interject to tell her that someone else had jumped into the conversation, Stone turned the corner and stepped into the hallway.
Separating me and her.
“Look,” Stone said as his voice hardened, “I charged West with keeping you alive. Keeping you safe. If you don’t want to keep your brains inside your fucking skull, that’s a personal problem. But as long as you’re under this roof, you’ll do whatever it takes to keep all of us safe. Women, children, and pregnancies. Got it?”
Fear passed behind Chloe’s eyes. “I don’t know who the hell you people are or why you’ve suddenly become so obsessed with me—”
“Make no mistake,” Stone glowered as he hovered over her, coating her in his shadow, “we aren’t obsessed with you. We’re trying to make sure no roads lead from the cartel to us, and right now you’re on that road. If you don’t like it, pack your shit and take your chances. But if I ever catch wind that you’re talking with the cartel, = the feds, or with anyone that poses a threat to us while we’re vulnerable? I’ll kill you myself.
“Stone!” Texas barked.
And that was when Chloe unleashed. “I’m packing my things. You all are crazy as hell.”
