Page 333 of One More Kiss

Trinity

“Let’sgo to my room for a while.” Mad Dog, stupid nickname to go with a stupid man, had his hand wrapped firmly around my bicep.

This was his way of claiming me for the night and I just didn’t want to be a part of it at all. Actually, I didn’t even want to be here and only was because my brother required it. If I didn’t show up regularly, it would’ve caused problems and he knew I wouldn’t if he didn’t require it.

Now, I didn’t think any of the guys would full out rape me if I told them no, but Mad Dog was probably the one most likely to. Not to mention all the problems it would’ve caused. All I knew right now was that I wasn’t going back to his room with him tonight.

“Oh, shoot. Diana and I are supposed to be leaving any minute.”

Mad Dog’s face turned red with what I assumed was anger. “You don’t leave unless we say you can.” His hand tightened, testing the strength of my arm bone.

It was painful, but I wasn’t about to let him know that.

“Let go of me,” I said, as if he were a mere inconvenience, but that was the wrong thing to say.

Right there in front of everyone, he reached back and slapped me across the face. I felt the sting of my lip splitting open before I could register the fact that he’d hit me.

“What’s going on?” my brother cut in.

“This bitch says she’s leavin’”

“Let me talk to her,” Scott said. Dog stepped away from us so my brother could deal with me. “What the fuck, Trinity? You’re leaving? You’re supposed to be here for parties.”

I pressed my hand to my lip to slow the bleeding. Yet my brother didn’t mention it.

“I already had plans with Diana. Long before I knew about this tonight.” I wet my lips and hoped that he wouldn’t notice that it was out of nerves. “She needs me tonight, Scott. She’s my best friend. I have to have some kind of freedom here, right?”

My brother opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by their president calling out, “Saddle up, boys. Some shit’s going down.”

Scott turned back to me. “You just got fuckin’ lucky, Trinity.”

Then the men all took off and I desperately wanted to know where they were headed and if it involved Splintered Souls. I worried about Miles more than I should’ve.

But my brother wasn’t wrong. I had just gotten really lucky.

It only took me ten minutes until I was sitting out in front of the apartment waiting for Diana to come down. As soon as I’d called her after the guys had torn out of there, she’d said she was down to go get a drink. She had been planning to come to the clubhouse, of course, but now we’d get some alone time.

The Thirsty Cow Hideout was our favorite place to go. Sure, sometimes guys from various clubs showed up, but most of the time, we could just be with friends. Even if guys did show up, they tended to keep their distance from us club whores. We weren’t marked or anything but this wasn’t in the city. Everyone knew who everyone else belonged to if there was club involvement.

It was the one positive of having the moniker.

As soon as I walked into the place, my eyes shot to Miles like heat-seeking missiles. I couldn’t talk to him here in public, but knowing he was there made my stomach flip over itself. Hiding my reaction to him was tough, but Diana could read me well.

A blonde was hanging all over Miles and I had no right to be upset by it. Yet my stomach clenched and acid churned at the sight.

“Did you know he was going to be here?” she whispered once we’d found a table.

“No. Of course not. You know that we don’t see each other publicly.”

“You shouldn’t be seeing each other at all.” She’d hated the fact that I’d started seeing him right from the beginning. “It’s really dangerous, Trinity.”

“I know.” She wasn’t wrong. “But shouldn’t I be able to have something for myself, Diana? Something of my own?”

She reached out to touch my hand. “Of course you should. But that’s not the life we have.” She didn’t have to tell me that because clearly, I knew that better than anyone. “What happened to your lip?”

“Mad Dog didn’t like that I wanted to leave tonight.” There was no sense in trying to hide it.

Her eyes got super wide. “Are you serious?” she asked. I nodded. “That’s fucked up.”

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