Page 32 of Slayin Villain
I pushed through bodies until I found the center, two brothers choking each other out in front of the goddamn prospect table.
I didn’t hesitate.
I grabbed one by the collar, yanked him off the other, and slammed him into the side of the burn barrel.“Enough!”
The guy snarled and swung at me.Dumb move.
I ducked it, drove my elbow into his jaw, and tossed him to the ground.
“You wanna throw hands at a patch-over?”I roared, standing over him.“You wanna disrespect this club, this night?Then you’re not a brother.You’re a fuckin’ problem.”
Silence fell.
Kingpin walked over.He looked down at the brother coughing in the dirt and spit.“You patchin’ over or want to be a lesson to the newbies?”
The guy spat blood.“Over.”
Kingpin nodded to me.“Then make it official.”Then Prez addressed the wide eye prospects.“We patch in all prospects tonight, too.”
One eagerly stepped up as I tried not to roll my eyes.I grabbed the new cut, peeled the old prospect cut off his back, and slapped the Bastard Sons MC cut to his chest, pressing it to him like a goddamn seal.
Our new cuts were passed out all around.I shrugged mine on in unison with the other officers.Cheers erupted around us.Whiskey got passed.
And just like that, the storm passed.
I turned, scanning the crowd again.
Rachel was still there.
But this time, she wasn’t hiding.
She was watching me.Eyes locked on mine.Wide.Wet.Something between fear and pride in her face.
I walked toward her, crowd parting like they knew not to get in my way.
“Didn’t think I’d see you here,” I said when I got close.
“I almost didn’t come.”
“You always had a thing for watching me fight.”
Her lips curved, sad and sharp.“You always had a thing for proving you didn’t need anyone.”
I stepped closer.“That what you think this is?”
“I don’t know what to think anymore, Villain.You kiss Ember in front of the whole damn club, then show up on my phone confessing, to more.Then nothing.Just silence.Until tonight.”
I looked down at her.“You were the one who ghosted me, Red.”
“Because I couldn’t stand seeing you with someone else.Not when I still…”
She cut herself off.
But I heard it.
“Still what?”I asked, my voice softer than it had been in weeks.
She didn’t answer.
