“I don’t want Aunt E hurt.”
“I don’t either.” It was the truth.
Sabre shifted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t tell me you didn’t see the opportunity and take it. Your betrayal is going to be bigger than Gerry’s fucking cartel deals.”
Did I manipulate the situation?This wasn’t the first time I’d asked myself that question. I’d eventually come to terms, promising I’d never push her. If I stayed in the “friend zone” our entire marriage, so be it, as long as I got to be with her.
“He’s got a point,” Grizz said, matching Sabre’s stance. He leaned around me to look at his best friend. “You could have said that nicer, though.”
We were consenting adults, so what gives them the fucking right to question me?
“No, because if this crashes and burns, you and I are going to pick up the pieces. Do you really want that responsibility?” Sabre shot a look at Grizz. They were good at communicating without words, which made them the perfect pair to run the club, but I was livid.
“Both of you need to get the fuck out of here with this bullshit.” I wasn’t a vindictive man, but I wanted to remind them I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t played fair to win their Old Lady. “You should have introduced Flo to the club sooner. You got lucky.” I snorted, turning towards Grizz. “You got lucky Buster never tried to leave.”
Sabre’s face shifted. His brow furrowed, and he stared at me down the bridge of his nose. I was sure I was about to get some stupid punishment for my outburst, but his phone rang. Pulling it out of his pocket, he looked at the screen before answering. “This better be fucking good.” We couldn’t hear the other end of the conversation, but when Sabre said he was on his way, Grizz and I instantly followed.
We hurried to the front gate, and when B saw us, he opened the door to the shack.
“I left it out there, Prez.”
Sitting on the opposite side of the gate was a bouquet of blood-red roses, tied with a black ribbon. It looked harmless, but as we stood there staring at it, the ribbon caught fire, and the whole thing went up in flames.
***
Elizabeth
The men had tried to hide the burning flowers from the rest of us in the backyard, but when a prospect went running with a fire extinguisher, the jig was up. I was one of the last to see the mess outside the gate. It had clearly been a message for me, but I wasn’t sure anyone else had put two-and-two together.
The fire had cracked the glass vase, causing it to burst into a million pieces. I wouldn’t have thought anything of it, but a blood-red rose petal floated through the air, landing in front of my shoe.
Roses were my favorite.
Only one man had ever sent me blood-red ones.
However, when I brought it up to Thunder, he didn’t seem to think it was anything more than a neat trick. “If I thought you were in danger, I’d call this trip off, and we’d have to make do in the clubhouse. I just can’t see him sending flowers as some sort of warning besides the obvious. He’s here.”
I wasn’t sure I completely agreed, but I didn’t say a word. Changing, we’d let the club get their last-minute catcalls in before we hit the road. I was watching the mountains pass out the window when Thunder started up a conversation.
“Where did you get the dress?” he asked.
“Emily.” I shifted in my seat, and that was when I realized he was watching me out of the corner of his eye. “I…told her…to pick.” My nieces had been too busy running around, and I hadn’t reminded them about the dress situation. Instead, I’d pulled Emily aside, handed her some money, and told her to choose whatever she thought would work. She’d taken How with her, not telling him until they walked into the boutique that it wasn’t for her.
“Well, she did a good job. You looked beautiful.”
I blushed at the compliment. “Handsome.”
“No, you just make me look good.”
We were about halfway there when I started counting down with the mile markers. This was a vacation, nothing more, but as each mile ticked by , it washard to ignore past conversations. I’d been sitting at one of the picnic tables when the Old Ladies had surrounded me.
“That man hasn’t been with anyone since you came to the clubhouse, so if you do exercises or something for your hip, you should,” Dee whispered in my ear at mile marker 250. I turned my back to Thunder, pretending the trees sticking out of the mountains were interesting.
Raven’s eyes rolled back into her head at mile marker 260. “How was it with El Sombra Roja? I bet he was rough.”
Thunder sneezed, drawing my attention. I wondered if he expected us to share the same bed.You’re overthinking this. It’s not as if you haven’t shared a bed before.
“She was the only woman who pleased my man better than I did, so I wanted to know what she was doing. Bookie never went back.” Bear had drained the rest of her beer. As Thunder drove past mile marker 275, he flexed his fingers against the steering wheel. I imagined what they would feel like touching me.
