Page 17

However, letting a woman into my home and watching TV with her late into the night—that was unexpected. Emotion-packed. The gray area. It was a complication I didn’t understand.

“Are you listening?”

I looked across the table. Viper was staring at me. I wasn’t sure how long he had been talking. Somewhere along the lines of talk about strategy and domination, he'd lost me.

“No.”

He sighed, rubbing a hand down his face.

“At least you’re honest.”

“I usually am.”

“That’s not true.”

I looked at him. He immediately shut up. Good.

The clubhouse was louder than my house. Always. Raging music the Sons enjoyed listening to. Poker games going on somewhere in the house. Endless arguments about something silly. Bikes revving from the outside. The occasional people coming and going and hollering every damn second. Too much noise. Too many people. Normally, this wouldn't bother me. I was good at tuning them out. But today... Today, every sound irritated me. Every laugh. Every conversation. Every unnecessary movement. Everybody surrounding me at this table was on the verge of getting their ass handed to them if they didn't fucking tread carefully.

“You’re terrifying everyone,” Mason, another of the bikers, muttered from beside me.

“I’m sitting,” I argued pointlessly.

“You’re glaring.”

“I’m thinking.”

“You look like you’re planning a murder.”

I leaned back with a smirk. “Maybe I am.”

Nobody laughed. Because they knew me well enough to know I wasn’t joking. The room went quiet for a moment.

Then Viper shook his head. “This is about the girl.”

My jaw tightened. “No.”

The answer came too quickly. A mistake I realized a second too late. Everyone noticed, exchanging wearying looks. The club knew me. I was a damn good liar, but I didn’t try very often. There was never a reason to.

“She has a name,” Mason said, looking at me to fill in the gaps.

I looked at him.

He raised both hands. “Relax.”

“I am relaxed.”

“You threatened a guy yesterday because he parked too close to your bike.”

“He knew better.”

“He parked two feet away.”

“He knew better.”

A few guys laughed. I ignored them. The truth was, I wasn’t angry because of parking. I was angry because everything felt out of control. I didn't understand it at all.

A woman was in my house. It had been so long since I had a woman in my house, let alone a beautiful, attractive woman. I was frustrated. Enraged because she was afraid of shadows that weren’t there anymore.