Page 42 of Wild Ride

Screw trying to fight her off. I’m not about to be bruised or bleed for this bitch. For someone I don’t even know what her name is, let alone anything else about her other than she sells her body to these men.

I narrow my eyes on her face, and the rest of the room disappears. Blackness curves around my vision, making it easier for me to focus on her and the pressure I apply around her throat. Her hand releases its hold on my hair before both of her hands wrap around my forearms.

Her nails dig into my flesh, but I don’t stop. At least not until I feel my body being lifted from the floor and am forced to stop. I don’t want to, though. I’m hot with anger, my vision only focused on her and fueled by my rage.

That is until my feet are set back down on the floor and two strong arms are wrapped around me from behind.

Then I hear a voice that is an instant balm to my rage. “Baby, calm.”

I don’t say anything, although I want to tell him that I am calm, but I know it would be a lie, so I don’t. My gaze doesn’t leave her body, though. I’m focused on the way she lies there, pretending to be passed out when I know her grip was firm enough just a few seconds ago that she was trying to shed blood on my arms.

I force myself to calm down, my breathing becoming even, mainly because I want him to release me, and I want to look into his eyes when I tell him what that woman did to me. The way she attacked me.

Thankfully, when I try to turn around, he releases me just enough so I can. As soon as I face him, his arms tighten again. One of his hands presses against my lower back, and with the other, he curls his fingers around my hip, flexing them the moment my eyes meet his green ones.

“She attacked me. I was defending myself.”

Bullet’s eyes widen, and his lips twitch into a smirk. He obviously finds this humorous. I don’t smile, mainly because to me, none of this shit is funny. Instead, I tilt my head to the side and watch him for a moment, waiting for him to respondbecause I can tell that he’s got something to say. The words are on the tip of his tongue.

“Exorcist knows not to approach you.”

That’s it.

That is all he says.

I snort as my response. “Maybe she needs to be reminded because she came up to me.”

“Maybe you just misinterpreted what she had to say?”

Everything inside of me deflates at his words. My scalp burns, but the pain instantly vanishes. My focus shifts from the physical pain to the emotional pain from his words, from his excuses for this woman. I shut down almost instantly. I didn’t want to fight over him, over anyone, and she goaded me.

I wrap my fingers around the inside of his bent elbows, and I push down. Thankfully, the move catches him off guard, and he releases me. Moving backward a couple of steps, I clear my throat as I turn toward the table where my laptop is still sitting open.

I close my computer then grab my purse that is sitting on the empty chair and hitch it over my shoulder as I tuck my laptop beneath my arm.

“The fuck do you think you’re doing,” Bullet demands on a growl.

Turning to him, I wet my lips, giving myself an extra calming breath before I speak. Keeping my tone soft and even, not raising my voice so that nobody else around us can hear, I tell him exactly what I’m doing.

“I am gathering my things, then I am going to my rental car, and I will be driving back to my motel room. From there, I will get a good night’s sleep before my meeting with my father’s estate attorney in the morning. After I’ve signed some papers, I am going to go to his house and gather the things I want. After that, I will be heading back to Oregon.”

“Yeah? You think you’re going to do all of that and just leave?” Bullet asks.

Flicking my gaze down to the bitch who is now sitting there pretending to attempt to catch her breath, I slide my eyes over to him. “I think you have plenty here to keep you busy. This is not the place for me. It’s time I go home, where I belong.”

“Where’s that?” he spits. “The cult?”

Anger quickly fills me, but I tamp it down just as fast. “No, I left there a long time ago. I am not a child of the Haven. I am Dakota Vaughn, and now that I know where I come from, I think it’s time for me to find myself.”

Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything else as I turn around and walk out of the bar.

BULLET

I let her walk out of the clubhouse, but not because I’m giving up on her in any way. I’m not. I just have other shit to do, and it’s better she isn’t here when I do it. Flicking my gaze down to Exorcist, I watch as she stands, her face bright and her lips curved up into a huge smile.

This woman thinks she’s victorious.

Shifting my gaze to her throat, I smirk at the sight of the red marks there. Dakota did that. I didn’t know she had it in her, but maybe it’s just the Shade part in her coming out. Exorcist places her hand on the center of my chest, tilting her head back slightly as she looks into my eyes.

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