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“Did you get hold of Crash?” Vienna asked.

“Worse. I got my mother.”

“Ooft. How was she?”

“Loud,” he said shortly.

I leant forward, poking my upper body between the two seats. “I missed you too, Dante. I'm so glad we've reached the point in this situationship that we're able to express ourselves so freely and… ouch!” I snapped as Dante punched my knee and Vienna nipped my waist.“That was completely uncalled for.”

The two men simply shot me nasty glances, and I smirked in response. I wasn’t deliberately trying to be annoying, but Dante always brought out the worst in me. And, if I was being honest, the relief at seeing him more or less okay was making me borderline giddy.

I had butterflies in my stomach from the second I had seen him marching down the street, and they were only getting stronger the longer I was around him.

I had never felt that before. Not since my ridiculous teenage crush on Alex. And even they felt more like dying moths compared to the glorious butterflies currently making me feel like I could throw up.

When had this happened? When had the shift occurred, and why was I only being made aware of it now?

Had you asked me yesterday, I would have told you Dante was a bastard, and he could go to hell as far as I was concerned. I would have told you that I cared more about roadkill and plaiting my own pubes than I did about his welfare. And yet today, he was still a bastard, and he could still go to hell, but I’dlike to go with him and annoy old Lucifer for all eternity together.

I flopped backwards, keeping my eyes on the mirror so I could watch Dante's reactions as we started driving. He was obviously in pain, but his insane pride and stubborn streak refused to allow him to show any weakness. Every time we rounded a corner, his lips twisted slightly, or little lines appeared in the corners of his eyes, but other than that, he remained stoic and expressionless.

Vienna slammed the brakes on, and I watched as Dante winced. “You stupid prick!” I hissed, kicking the back of Vienna's chair before I even realised what I was doing.

“I beg your pardon?” He asked, his eyes wide with shock. Even Dante raised an eyebrow at my outburst.

“I get travel sick in the back.” I muttered weakly. “You're driving like you think you’re Lewis Hamilton.”

“We're at a red light. I had to brake!”

“You gradually slow down. You don't slam the brakes on hard enough for every organ in my body to come flying out of my mouth.”

“Oh, no, we can't be having that, can we?” He snapped back. “Although it would leave so much more room for all the bullshit constantly pouring out of your lips.”

“I see you two have got on well in my absence,” Dante chuckled.

I caught his eyes in the mirror, but I looked away as quick as I had met them, my cheeks flaming. I saw the sardonic gleam in them, and I was in no mood for his mocking.

He knew I had lashed out at Vienna for his benefit, and I was mortified that I was so easily read. I should have known. Dante had always seen right through me. Even when I hid behind my robotic blankness, he knew what it meant. He somehow always knew.

It took everything I had to hold back and not throw an insult at him.

I was a petty, childish woman, but even I knew better than to poke the beast this time. Dante was clearly in no mood for my shit, and so I sat back and observed, wondering how the fuck I had reached the point where I was not only concerned for his welfare, but concerned just how deep these new feelings ran.

Chapter 11

Dante

Arriving back at the club was as awful as I expected it to be. Doc was grumbling about having to stitch up another member - despite it being his fucking job and the one thing he was good at. Crash was asking a million questions, and Mama was yelling at a decibel only the dogs could understand.

“I know everyone is happy to see him, but I think Dante would appreciate being able to go to his room,” Rachel said, loud enough to interrupt everyone, and surprising me for the second time tonight.

It wasn't like her to show me any sort of concern – in fact, experience told me she would only want to make things worse. Yet here she was, placing her arm around my waist and pushing through the crowd of people, guiding me into the clubhouse.

She was a confusing woman. The last conversation I had with her she was accusing me of being no better than Alex and implying I would allow the lowlife scum he associated with to be proxy members of my club. And now she was worried about me. She had spent the entire car journey throwing concerned glances my way when she thought I wasn’t looking and had even lashed out at Vienna for his driving.

“Doc!” she snapped over her shoulder. “You're to follow us! Crash… well, Vienna will tell you about the boot situation. That’ll need handling.”

“You're being incredibly bossy tonight,” I murmured into the top of her head, noticing how her hair smelled of coconut.

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