Page 62 of Blood Revealed

“Yer man here tried takin’ from one ’a our women when it wasn’t on offer,” Duke says, defending me. “An old lady. Don’t know how you deal with that shit up north, but here, you don’t touch a woman ’less she gives that okay.”

“Fuck, look at him. How the hell did anyone get close enough to Danger Jim to mess him up so bad?”

“He grabbed my wife,” I tell Tag, and at this point, I don’t care if it pisses him off or not. “Fucker grabbed my wife by the arm and when she tried to push him off, he went after her top. That shit cool with you? Old ladies are safe, man. They’re always safe. He got off easy in my opinion. I should’ve put a bullet in his brain.”

“Blood,” Duke yells. “Enough. Boss, take him up to the club, give him a fuckin’ beer, and don’t let him outta yer sight ’til he calms the fuck down.”

“On it,” Boss says as he shifts so I’ve got no choice but to move. How am I the asshole here? He assaulted my wife.

The music blares too loud when we get back up to the common. It’s hard to talk, which is fine. I’m not here to share my feelings. Boss orders me bourbon and a beer, then a beer for himself.

“Sit,” he orders, shoving me back onto a stool.

“Fuck you,” I spit. “Not my mother or my preacher. Certainly not my wife. Don’t see why you think you can boss me around.”

“I’m your fuckin’ VP. Now sit your goddamn ass down, drink, and listen.”

He’s right. He might be my friend, but he’s still the club’s VP. I grab up the glass of whiskey and throw it back, coughing from choking. That beautiful burn hits my throat and my eyes.

“Feelin’ better?” he asks.

“Hardly. The man had it coming. He put hands on my wife.”

“I get it. And I know you been sweet on her forever, but, brother, you don’t want to end up in divorce court, can’t treat her the way you did outside. These’re strong women. I protect my family. Elise and Gun are my fuckin’ world. But I also know I gotta let her do what she’s gotta do, for the most part.”

“Really? Don’t remember you takin’ it too well when my sister freaked out and left and Elise took off to find her.”

“Don’t. You know that’s not the norm. I’m talkin’ about that shit you said to her about the strippin’. In her eyes, it was honest work. Paid her bills. And I get it. I’d have thrown a fit Elise showed her tits for money. But the way you went about it was wrong, and you know it.”

Fuck, I hate that he’s right. I rub my hands over my face. “I feel like every brother in here’s undressing her with his eyes.”

“That’s the price you pay for fallin’ for a hot one like Hannah. Plenty of ugly women you could’ve bedded. You chose the one who’s shit-hot and took her clothes off for work.”

Right. I laugh. “Shut up, asshole. I no more chose to fall for Hannah than you chose Elise. That shit just happens. This is gonna get worse before it gets better, isn’t it?”

“You want the lie or the truth?”

I’m so fucking screwed.

13.

Hannah

I wake up under the covers, cuddled up next to Raif, my pissed-off attitude from last night still present, even if, apparently, my body doesn’t remember that when he falls into bed with me. He apologized and I let him work out his frustrations with his glorious dick. But how could he have said the things he said to me?

When he rolls, I use that as my chance to escape from the bed, quietly padding to the bathroom to do my business. We’ve got a cleaning company coming to take care of last night’s shindig and it’s not even over. These guys are here for the week.

What can I say? The Lords know how to party. Leaving the bathroom, I pull a loose sweater off the hanger in the closet, it’s soft gray. It pairs nicely with my darker gray leggings. Then I slip on my black ballet flats and leave Raif sleeping.

There are men passed out all over the furniture and the floor of the common. Gross. I don’t like letting my bare feet touch this floor, let alone sleeping on it. But hey, I’m not a man.

Stepping over several bodies, I trudge to the kitchen to start the coffee. Then I set to work on making breakfast. With all these men and women still here, I decide on oatmeal. It feeds an army. But since I’m me, I make up a brown sugar and—I walk over to the freezer to see what kind of nuts we’ve still got in there. It looks like walnuts. So today it’s brown sugar and walnut topping.

I’m busy, in my groove, singing along to a song on my “easy morning” playlist when Elise saunters in, looking as beautiful as always. She and Boss keep a room here for when parties happen. Her jeans are practically painted on and her sweatshirt has the collar cut off exactly how the chick from the movieFlashdancewears her sweatshirt. With her hair pulled back in a messy bun, she looks hot. If I were into chicks, I’d have tried to hit that years ago. As she’s never expressed any interest in chicks, either, she’d have probably shot me down. Though I guess I’ve never asked, so who knows?

“How’re you doing?” she asks me. “You know, after last night?”

I shrug. “Raif was an ass. It hurt my feelings. But I still let him make it up to me with his penis.”

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