Page 171 of Fury

Oh yeah.

“Reich is the VP of my club’s national.” I leaned back in the chair, my one hand moving down Tania’s side. “If he asks me how this night went down, I’ll be letting him know.”

“So will I,” replied Butler tightly, his eyes following my hand stroking Tania. “If he asks.”

Were Butler and Reich close now? Or was Butler simply taking advantage of an opportunity as usual?

I shot Butler another look and he shot an equally fierce one right back. My tongue enjoyed the sweet heat of the liquor as my gaze flicked around the room. And again.

There he is.Tricky.

I had Lenore investigated after Drac had put her poster up on my club wall. She’d never gotten involved in another relationship after her divorce. She got laid here and there like the rest of us, but didn’t linger very long over the pickings. Word was she and Tricky had been seeing each other a couple of months now. It hadn’t stopped her from going out with other men, or him from seeing other women. Their thing was loose and easy, but busy.

Had she been here at the party tonight? There was no sign of her now. Jacket on, Tricky tagged fists with another Jack and headed out down that dimly lit hallway which led to the exit. He had somewhere he’d rather be.

I dug my fingertips into Tania’s side.

“Close, but no cigar,”my dad used to say.

“I’ve been riding all day,” I said. “Could use a shower and that bed.”

Tania slid quickly from my lap as I rose to my feet. She took the glass from my hand and set it on the table. She was eager to leave.

Not so fast, baby.

Gripping her arm, I kept her close. Butler winced at the move, and I wrapped my other hand around her neck. Yeah, he had a thing for Tania, meanwhile Tania was Catch’s sister, and at this moment every Jack despised him.

“What are you doing?” Tania whispered, her hand clamping onto my wrist.

“I won’t have them fucking with you, Tania. You hear? They need to know you’re under my protection.”

“Am I?”

“Always have been. From the very beginning.” My thumb rubbed the back of her neck. “Now that you’re back in Meager, I want Jump and the rest of them to respect you, not take any shit about your brother or me out on you after tonight. I won’t have that fucker or any of them playing with you.”

“But—”

“I’m glad you got Grace, but that ain’t enough.”

“I know them, Finger. It isn’t like that.”

“You’re talking nostalgia. I’m talking here and now. Cold, hard reality.”

Her teeth dragged across her lip. She was considering everything I’d said. Deciding. She slid an arm around my middle and pulled herself close against me.

She’d made the right decision.

Tania reached up and touched her lips to mine. My hand tightened around her neck and my tongue drove her lips apart, sliding against hers. Her fingertips dug into my arms as a noise escaped her throat.

I released her, a hand at the side of her face. “Good girl,” I whispered, my lips brushing her forehead. My arm wound over her shoulders, and she leaned into me. We were going to play this for all it was worth.

Everyone stared at us, Butler glared at us, and that electrical charge buzzed in the air again. The storm had just been upgraded to a Category 4.

Jump had his old lady escort us to the guest suite at the One-Eyed Jacks resort.

“Is this really necessary?” Tania asked once we were alone in the small room.

I’d kissed Tania in front of the Jacks, and she’d kissed me back. We played it like we had a thing. History, which we did. And a present, which we did not.

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