Page 46 of Breaking Free

“Not officially,” Piper clarified. “We don’t have a contract.”

Samson connected the dots. “She’s the new stalker case.” He chuckled low, exchanging a smirking glance with Axyl.

Understanding now, the younger man declared, “Ah, I see,” with a smile that wasn’t as wide as the barkeep’s but came close and was clearly at Tristan’s expense.

“You see nothing,” he snapped. “As owners, we have veto power with membership. It’s my call, and I’m making it.”

Piper’s calm evaporated. She moved closer, her breasts almost touching his chest when she fisted her hands on her hips. “I don’t get you. First, you helped me move in, and I thought you were nice. Then you yelled at me for taking your parking space.I thought it a bit of an overreaction, but Josie said you worked nights sometimes, so I chalked up your grumpiness to that. I kept trying to be neighborly. I even brought you your mail, but you slammed the door in my face—twice.”

“I did not.”

“Yes, you did,” she shot back. “You’ve gone above and beyond with this stalker business, but being decent and concerned for me one minute and a total jerk the next is giving me whiplash. I didn’t ask for your help. You took it upon yourself to change the locks and install all the security. Not that I don’t appreciate it—”

“Funny, you don’t sound like you do.”

She rose onto her toes. Barefoot, she wasn’t tall enough to look him in the eye, but he gave her credit for trying. “It’s like you’ve got two people living inside you. Just pick one already, so I know who I’m dealing with!”

“You really shouldn’t be here,” he said through gritted teeth, his jaw tightly clenched as he struggled to maintain his composure.

“So you’ve said,” she retorted sharply. “I disagree.”

He was unaccustomed to arguments and such blatant defiance at the club, of all places. It further reinforced his argument. With his temper flaring, Tristan bent toward her. “You’re unbelievably stubborn. I tried to discourage you gently last time—”

“Gently!” she fired back. “You ordered me to get out!”

“I don’t recall saying that.”

“You said go home, which is the same thing,” she insisted in such a snit, her vest brushed his shirt as her chest rose and fell with her accelerated breathing.

Nose to nose with her now, he asked not the least bit politely, “If I say it again, are you going to listen?”

“I’ll save you the trouble.” Dropping to her heels, she glanced at Josie. “You don’t have to leave, but I’m going. I already have enough stress in my life.”

The ends of her honey-blonde hair danced above the gap between her fitted vest and snug skirt as she stormed off. Male heads turned as she passed, and it irked him even more that he wasn’t the only one who noticed.

Josie hopped down from her stool. With a deep frown etched on her face, she craned her head back to look up at Axyl as she issued an apology. “I’m sorry. We made a pact to back each other up, no matter what.”

“I understand what a wingman is, Josie,” he replied.

She smiled at him, although her disappointment was palpable. Then she hurried after her friend, calling, “Piper, wait.”

“I hope you’re happy,” Axyl ground out, shooting him a piercing glare. “You ran off two potential members, one of whom I’ve had my eye on.”

Samson, who stood watching now with both forearms on the bar, offered additional information. “They were talking about going to one of the public clubs.”

“They’ll be chum for the sharks,” Axyl declared, which sounded like an exaggeration, but wasn’t. The lack of safety in the public clubs was one of many reasons they opened Club Decadence. “Nice going, old man,” he said, scowling. “You’ve just made protecting our client, if she doesn’t boot your ass and the rest of us out the door, even harder.”

Without uttering a word to either man, Tristan went after the women. They were winding a path through the bustling lounge, but he went around it, taking advantage of his longer strides and a practiced scowl to move people out of the way and cover double the distance in half the time. He reached the lobby doors several steps ahead of them.

Piper’s eyes were bright with anger and a sheen of unshed tears when she looked up the short steps at him. “What? Didn’t I exit your turf fast enough? Sorry, but it’s hard running on tile barefoot.” She looked down at her feet and then at Josie, who appeared by her side, panting. “We forgot our shoes.”

“You won’t need shoes on a tour,” he grumbled.

“I will because I’m not going on a tour. I’m leaving,” she snapped back.

“Josie is going with Axyl, and you’ll be with me.”

“But you said—”

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