Page 36 of Phantom
Suddenly, Stag’s gaze turned to me. “What the fuck are you looking at, Val?”
“It’s like he said. You’re drunk. Go home.”
Stag nearly went down as he turned to face me. His beer belly poked out at me, and his long, braided beard whipped around as he turned to face me. “I’ll go if you go with me, pretty girl.”
“Adley, knock it the fuck off,” my dad growled, actually raising his voice. “I really don’t want to have to kick your ass.”
I reached into the back pocket of my jeans, pulled out my favorite pair of brass knuckles, and slid them on my hand. “Oh, really?” I replied to my dad. “I’d love to.”
Stag let out one chuckle, then a second, and then started a gurgling string of barking laughter. Nothing in me thought that he was dumb enough to do anything stupid other than run his mouth, so when he reached a meaty hand out, took my hair into his fist, and yanked me toward his crotch, I was too stunned to react.
“Suck my dick, you bitch!” he barked.
My dad tried to slide out of his chair, but he wasn’t quick enough. I didn’t even hear Colin’s chair move, but suddenly, he was between Stag and me with his hand clutched around Stag’s throat. Although Stag was at least twice Colin’s size, Colin hunched and lifted Stag clear off his feet until he was about a foot off the ground. With impressive force, he flipped Stag sideways and drove him down onto the floor.
People screamed, and tables and chairs screeched as patrons slid out of the way, anticipating a fight, but Stag could barely move, and even if he could, he probably wouldn’t dare take Colin on with the piercing, horrifying gaze Colin pinned him with. All of the Steel Knights had converged on the altercation in an instant, but getting in between Colin and Stag wasn’t necessary. Colin walked over and settled back into his seat as if nothing had happened.
Bucky and Texas hiked their arms under Stag’s arms and dragged him off the ground. They both peered past me, and I followed their gazes over to Taylor. As the Sergeant at Arms, he was the one who made decisions about how members were punished for violating the bylaws, and they were waiting for an order. Taylor’s eyes were bouncing between Colin and Stag, but finally, they landed on Stag. He motioned his head toward the back, and Bucky and Texas pulled Stag behind the bar and through the doors toward the warehouse. Not much time elapsed before Taylor rushed back there himself, followed by the rest of the Steel Knights’ members.
“Maybe you two should get out of here for the night,” my dad said. “Let things calm down.” After that, he got up from the table himself and disappeared behind the bar.
“I’m fine with that,” Colin said.
“You go,” I replied. “I need to check in with Taylor.”
Part of me expected Colin to protest, but he wasn’t dumb. “Understood. I’ll see you at home.”
He stood up from the table and was out of the bar a moment later. He trusted me to take care of myself, and he didn’t deserve how I treated him in the desert. Another apology would be in order when I got home.
I waited for some of the patrons to calm a little bit, and then I stood up and made my way behind the bar, through the kitchen, and into the warehouse. If a fight had taken place, it was over already, and Stag was already gone. My dad was nowhere to be seen, but Taylor was sitting at the meeting table, perfectly calm and looking as if nothing had gone wrong. A few of the non-officer members were floating around, but I wasn’t sure what they were up to. It made more sense to ignore that in favor of calming Taylor down before he did something outrageous, so I walked over and sat across from him at the table.
“Where’s Dad?” I asked.
Taylor shrugged. “Dunno. He left.”
“What about Stag?”
Taylor’s gaze crawled up to me, empty, a void where emotions should be. “What about him?”
“I’m fine, so don’t do anything dumb.” As I looked around, Taylor quietly chuckled. “What’s so funny? Where is he?”
Taylor cracked his knuckles. “Parts of him are in a car on their way to Phoenix.” My heart sank, and he grinned. “The rest of him is on the way to Rumble.”
“Taylor.” Rage boiled inside of me. I never wanted to be responsible for someone’s death again. “That was an overreaction.”
“You know the rules,” Taylor hissed. “No one touches what belongs to me and gets away with it.” His eyes narrowed. “No one.” The last two words were laced with a warning.
The chair I was in sent a screaming screech across the floor as I backed it out. “I’m not your property.”
Taylor didn’t respond, not that it would have stopped me from bolting out the back door and rushing toward my bike if he had. He’d already taken care of Stag, which meant, without a doubt, that Colin was next.
Chapter Thirteen
Phantom
Blaming myself for the way I acted in the bar didn’t do me any good, but I couldn’t help it. Never before in my life had I acted so impulsively, but seeing that man put his hands on Tess sent an unknown rage coursing through my blood. My anxiety was already heightened after seeing the Raging Vipers in the desert—more of a chance that I could be recognized—but when Adley reached out and grabbed Tess’ hair, I turned into someone I didn’t recognize. It was a good thing that I didn’t have a gun on me at the time because I might have put a bullet through his skull. Tess could take care of herself, and I knew that, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to jump to her aid when certain threats arose. I just wanted her to be safe.
My leather jacket was the first thing to go when I was safely behind the door of Tess’ guest bedroom, and I damn near ripped the black long-sleeved shirt off. It had the musty smell of the desert clinging to it, and it was covered in sweat from handling the glacier of a man that was Adley. The stack of clean shirts on the desk was calling out to me, but a cold shower would help me calm down. Tess wasn’t back yet, which was good. I owed her an apology for playing knight again, but I’d rather do it while I was clean.
