The other ladies climbed out, stretching and going to grab their bags. I grabbed my own bag and then walked over to the back of the SUV, dropping my duffle inside.
“Ma, just leave this here for now. I’ll drive it over in a bitand help with your bags.”
Ma climbed out then asked, “Aren’t you gonna take her home?”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I said, “Yeah Ma, but we all need to piss, I need to feed her, and she needs to meet everyone. If it pleases you, I’m taking her to the clubhouse first.”
Katarina said, “I could use some food and a ladies room.”
Shiv said, “You and me both. Let’s go, new friend,” as she threw her arm over Katarina’s shoulders and guided her inside.
At least they were all getting along.
Everyone started to file inside and I was behind Shiv and Katarina. Shiv said, “Follow me,” and her arm fell from Katarina’s shoulders before she stepped through the door.
Katarina was right behind her, and I wasn’t far behind when a huge palm landed on her plump ass. Before I could grab the arm that belonged to that hand and break it, Katarina’s hand had grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and swept his feet from under him. In just seconds, she had him on his belly with his arm bent behind his back.
Chaos erupted and Squatch tried to pull Katarina off the other guy, but I was already on them, my hand at Squatch’s throat. I refused to let go, pushing him until he fell back onto a table as bottles shattered on the floor. “Don’t touch her,” I gritted as chairs fell and women squealed, moving away from us.
He put his hands up, his lips in a hard line. The idiot member on the floor, Rod, was still running his mouth. With one last squeeze to his jugular, I pushed Squatch away as myofficers cleared everyone else away from her. I grabbed Katarina by the arm and lifted her up.
Shoving her toward him, I barked,“Rooster, take her to Church.”
She didn’t seem rattled but she did jerk her arm from my grip, and didn’t protest when Rooster waved her to the door that led down the hall.
Leaning down, I grabbed Rod’s collar and pulled him up. He looked over his shoulder, his jaw tight.
I got close to his ear and said, “You touch my wife again, it’s the last time you’ll have hands.”
“Sorry Prez, I didn’t know you had a wife.”
Shoving Rod down and stepping over him, I looked at Ma. “We need food. I’ll be back shortly.”
She grinned but said, “Alright.”
The other ladies moved but looked stunned. Hell,Iwas stunned. How did this woman who maybe topped at one-forty just floor a two-hundred and fifty pound man?
Chapter 12
Katarina
Well that was great. I was tired, my back hurt, my ass hurt, and I was in a strange place with strange people. I should have known my reflexes would kick in faster given my nervous system was on overdrive.
After a sleepless night, I’d quietly slinked out of bed and managed to collect my things to head back to my own room. It was too early to get ready for the day, but too late to try to sleep. Instead, I’d enjoyed one last workout in my training room before showering and packing up my weekender bag. I also managed a very short call to Klara and disappointed her terribly when she learned nothing happened.
Between blowing off steam, very little sleep, and a very long ride with a bunch of women I barely knew, it would seem the haze had been lifted. I was fully aware of my new reality, especially after pulling into the compound.
It wasn’t as large as Papa’s home, but it was a large building, very plain with a few doors and windows. But there were motorcycles everywhere. The grounds were not lush and manicured. There were fire pits, barrels, grills, and tiki torches all over. Picnic tables scattered the courtyard, along with a few chairs here and there. Further down, near the treeline, there were houses. Small and quaint. The yard behind the clubhouse seemed to stretch a good way, and everything was encased by tall trees. There was a huge building where we all parked that seemed to be their garage. The whole place was very private, much like home. Except there was no gate, and I was fairly certain nobody would be coming to open the door or collect our bags.
The women were amazing, but when Shiv let me go to show me the way and I couldn’t see Hawk, all of my instincts went to full alert. So when a hand randomly grabbed my ass, I didn’t think, I just reacted.
After the night before, I knew it wasn’t Hawk. Of course it wasn’t because he barely touched me aside from grabbing my arm to walk me around so he surely wouldn’t be getting a handful when I didn’t expect it. Plus, he clearly wasn’t interested in touching me. But he was my husband. If I knew it was him, nothing would have happened. As it were, I was sure it wasn’t and just because I was in a place full of outlaws didn’t mean I was going to take anyone’s shit. I just wished I didn’t give myself away.
Rooster opened a door down the hall and tipped hishead. Walking inside, my eyes immediately went to the large tapestry on the back wall. It had their logo with a list of names beneath it. Walking closer, I skimmed the names as if I’d recognize any.
Except at the end, one was familiar: Raven Jones.
“Was this… was this Hawk’s father?” I asked, turning around. But he was gone. “Okay, then.”
