Page 10 of Strength in Submission
Max shrugs. “Dunno man, just tellin’ you what he told me.”
“Tell him to let her through already, will ya?” I head over to the door and walk out of the clubhouse, into the parking lot.
The club is only a few minutes from 295 and we’re in the Cisco Gardens neighborhood. It’s nice because it’s only about a twenty-minute drive to downtown. Far enough away from the hustle and bustle, but close enough in case shit hits the fan.
I put a hand over my eyes to shield the sun from my view and see her silver car rolling right up. She’s wearing gaudy sunglasses and she pulls up next to my BMW series coupe.
I stand and wait for her to exit the vehicle and when she does, she stares at me before laughing awkwardly. “Have to admit, it’s been a really long time since I’ve seen you wearing your vest thing. It might take me a minute. I’m so used to suits.”
“It’s called a cut, not a vest. Take all the time you need. I’m not always so prim and proper, obviously.” I release a chuckle and scan my eyes over her and see a slight pigment in the coloring of her skin.
It seems a bit off, but more than that, the right side of her cheekbone is swelling.
Without thinking about it, I reach out and take her sunglasses off. “What the fuck happened to you?”
I don’t mean for my words to come out so sternly, but fuck if it isn’t taking everything inside me to not get every damn answer and then leave her here with my brothers while I rip some fucker to shreds.
She sucks her dainty bottom lip in and looks to the ground in shame. I give her a moment and just as I’m about to speak she looks at me with tear-filled eyes. “Santiago, please don’t. I—Ican’t do this right now. I need to be somewhere safe, some place where I won’t… where I won’t be questioned. I need to think.”
I nod, understanding what she needs. It’s not like it takes a fucking genius to figure out who did this to her. I spot the two suitcases in the back of her car. She must’ve gone to her old apartment to get some of her shit.
“Okay, how about we go get you some aspirin and some ice on that face of yours then.” Without thinking, I wrap my arm around her waist and walk her to the clubhouse. She paws at my hand for her sunglasses.
“Please, I don’t want your friends to see my… you know,” Violet mutters lowly.
“Vi, you don’t need to worry about that shit. No one will say a damn thing to you. Trust me, okay?”
She sucks in a deep breath and nods, and with that I push open the door and walk inside. Max’s still behind the bar so I head over there. “Mind getting Vi here some aspirin and a Ziploc bag of ice?”
Max takes one look at her and smirks. “Yep. I bet the other guy looks fuckin’ wrecked.”
Violet lets out a laugh and I’m thankful for the old biker’s sense of humor. I’m sure she needed a laugh right about now. Max kneels down to the ice machine and scoops some into a plastic baggie, then hands it to me over the bar. I lean over and grab a microfiber cloth and wrap it so it’s not too cold on her cheek and press it to her face.
“Argh,” Vi groans and fuck if it doesn’t piss me off even more.
How the fuck does a man do this shit to someone?
“I’m sorry,” I murmur, looking into her dark almond eyes.
“It’s okay. I… I appreciate you even doing this. I was just looking for a place to process, for quiet, maybe even distractions. I don’t know.”
“If you’re lookin’ for a distraction, I can have Amsterdam get his ass up here and burp the alphabet. He can get all the way to Y in one breath, but fuck if he doesn’t make his way past it,” Max interjects, causing Vi to bust out into a breathless laughter. “Here’s your meds, sweetie. Take it sooner rather than later. I’m sure you’re up for a cold, hard drink too. Huh?”
“That would be amazing,” Violet tells him with a half-smile, taking the pills from his hand. She opens the water bottle he set down in front of her and takes the aspirin.
“Pick your poison, babycakes,” Max says with a smirk.
He’s not normally this jovial, so I know he’s doing it because he knows what happened. He knows she got hit, as anyone would who walks near her, and he’s doing his damn best to make sure her mind isn’t on it. For that, I’ll be forever grateful.
“Tequila, please.” Violet surprises me by her choice, but she shouldn’t. She’s been best friends with Ash for as long as I can remember, and I’m sure Ash taught her to take it like a champ.
“Rail, or the shit we get for Whip?” Max looks at Violet and then to me.
“Whip?” Violet laughs out my road name.
“It’s my road name,” I remind her.
“Sorry, I still view you as Santiago. Whip is just… ”
