by T. O. Smith
River’s eyes darkened in a warning, but I ran my hand over his hair, pleading with him not to do this right now. With a grunt, he leaned back in the booth again, but there was a promise in his eyes that we would continue the conversation later.
My gaze flickered around the table, my eyes locking on Troy and Kyle. “Well, well, well, been wondering where the fuck you disappeared to, Adelaide,” Troy commented, letting his eyes run over me.
I bristled. “Put your eyes on my fucking face.” I snapped at him, making Kyle snicker next to him.
He shrugged. “Figured since you seem to spread those sexy ass legs for just about anyone, I might get a taste of my own,” Troy smirked.
“Watch your fucking mouth before Tristan has to find a new president for his North Carolina charter.” River snarled at Troy, leaning forward threateningly.
Troy looked between us for a moment before he barked out a laugh. “Fucking hell, you two?” Troy demanded. “This is fucking priceless. Does Tristan know?” He asked, looking up at me.
“Don’t know, nor do I give a fuck.” I snapped at him. “Now, what do you want to drink?”
After taking their drink orders, I walked back over to the bar, making the drinks, knowing River wanted me to make them – not anyone else. He had club business to take care of, and he wouldn’t want potential eavesdroppers. “Henry wants a word with you,” Natalie informed me as she walked up. “I’ll finish the drinks for you.”
I shook my head at her. “That table will be fine, I promise,” I assured her. “River is picky – doesn’t want anyone else serving his table.” She nodded in understanding as her eyes flickered nervously to the owner of the bar. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
I strode down the back hallway to Henry’s office, which was next to the restrooms and the rooms that the dancers got ready in. “You called?” I asked as I stepped into his office. I hated being in the same room alone with him. It made my skin crawl with disgust.
I jumped in fright when he slammed the door closed behind me, shoving me back against it. My heart thundered in my ears as my mouth ran dry. “So, you can fuck my boss within hours of meeting him, but you ignore my advances for months?” He seethed. “I treated you decently, woman – took pity on you when you begged me for this job, and this is the fucking thanks I get?”
“River and I have known each other for a while. And I’ll never fuck you, Henry, so fuck off.” I sneered, thankful that my voice came out steady. I refused to show him how afraid I actually was.
Fear was a weakness in these situations. Men like him fed off of it.
I cried out in pain as his fist cracked against the side of my face, sending me sprawling to the floor. I felt blood well up in my mouth, and I gagged slightly at the metallic taste in my mouth, my stomach churning. My head was spinning from the punch, pain pulsing through my face.
Henry shoved me onto my back, straddling my hips as I fought against him. “Get off of me!” I screamed.
His fist slammed against my temple, and this time, it was lights out.
■ ■ ■
RIVER
“Get off of me!” I heard Adelaide scream from the back of the restaurant. People in the bar went silent, everyone trying to figure out who had screamed.
Troy stopped talking, but I was already on my feet, jumping out of the booth. I rushed down the hall as Sam, Troy, and Kyle got out of the booth. Slinging open Henry’s office door, I found him straddling my fucking woman, his hand around her neck. She was bleeding, and her face was swelling.
Rage pulsed through me as I gripped him by the back of his shirt, slinging him off of her. He crashed against his desk, and Sam gripped my shoulder before I could go over and pummel my fists into his face. I clenched my fists, my breaths coming in short, quick spurts as I tried to control my rage.
No one put their fucking hands on my woman and got the fuck away with it. In fact, the last person that did that ended up in fucking pieces.
“I’ve got him,” Sam told me gruffly. “I’ll take him to the clubhouse. Deal with Adelaide. She needs you, brother.” He said, breaking through my rage.
I rushed over to Adelaide, clenching my jaw at the bruising and swelling already popping up on her porcelain-like skin. “She’s out cold,” Troy informed me. “But she’s got a strong pulse.”
I just grunted in acknowledgment as I lifted her limp form into my arms, striding out of the office with her cradled against my chest. “Rick is right down the road with the truck,” Sam called out from behind me as I was striding out of the office.
“She going to be alright?” Troy asked me as he walked down the hallway with me. I knew he gave Adelaide a lot of shit, but I knew he still cared about what happened to her. At one point, she’d been like a sister to all of them.
But times changed, and she changed with them.
I nodded at Troy. “She’ll wake up with a massive headache, but she’ll be fine,” I assured him. “I’ll have Sam set up another day and time for us to meet.”
He nodded, taking his cue to leave as Rick rolled up with the truck. “Damn, Prez, what the fuck happened?” He asked as I gently set Adelaide in the passenger seat, leaning her seat back and strapping her in her seatbelt. Her face rolled to the side, still out cold.
“Fucking Henry.” I snarled in answer. I ran my fingers over her cheek, using her to keep me grounded. I needed to be with her right now – not out murdering Henry. “I need you to manage the bar until I find a replacement,” I told him as I strode around to the driver’s side of the truck.
“Got it, Prez,” Rick told me.
I threw the truck in gear and took off for Adelaide’s apartment, silently thinking of the pain that I planned to inflict on Henry when I finally got my hands on him.
SIXTEEN
ADELAIDE
My head was pounding when I woke up.
With a groan, I slowly sat up, reaching up to rub the sleep from my eyes, sucking in a harsh breath as pain quickly flared up on my face, making me jerk my hand away. River’s cut was laying on the foot of my bed, alerting me that he was somewhere in my apartment.
Judging by the pain in my face and my head, I had taken a fucking beating last night.
I walked into my bathroom, gasping at my face as soon as I looked in the mirror. The entire left side of my face was discolored and slightly swollen. “Holy fuck.” I muttered, staring in horror at the battered woman staring back at me.
“Holy fuck is right.” River agreed as he leaned against my bathroom door. I looked over at him as he moved off the wall, moving forward so he could gently cradle my face in his hands. “By the time my crew is done with Henry later, the mother fucker will be begging for me to put him out of his fucking misery.” He quietly promised as he ran his eyes over my face.
I turned to look back at the mirror, sighing softly. “Make-up is definitely not going to cover this,” I grumbled in disappointment. Henry had made sure he fucked me up good.
River walked over to the shower and turned the water on, pulling his shirt over his head. I swallowed hard as I ran my eyes over his beautiful, tattooed body, subconsciously licking my lips. Would there ever be a moment that I wouldn’t want him?
River groaned softly. “Keep looking at me with those pretty, little fuck-me eyes, and I swear I will drag you to that bed and fuck you hard, Darlin’.” River warned me, his blue eyes darkening.
I walked towards him, trailing my fingertips up his abs, over his hard, defined chest, and finally around his neck. I loved that he still found me attractive despite the ruined condition that my face was in. “Promise?” I asked him huskily.
With a slow, sexy smirk, he threw me over his shoulder, smacking my ass in the process. I squeaked in alarm. “That’s always a promise, Darlin’.”
■ ■ ■
I slowly untangled my arms from around River after he parked his bike outside of his clubhouse. I unstrapped the helmet he had for me and slid off, handing the helmet over to River.
“
Go on inside.” He instructed me. I sighed, looking over at the clubhouse. I wasn’t sure about spending my day inside of one of these buildings again, especially around men I didn’t know. “The club has already been informed you’re going to be here today.” He stood from the bike and gripped my ass in his hands, drawing me against him. My breath hitched in my throat. “Make sure you get you something to eat.” He instructed.
“I’m not hungry,” I told him.
He shrugged. “Tough.” He told me, making me scowl. He rubbed my belly with one of his hands, softening my mood. How was he so fucking good to me – for me – without even having to try? “Got a little one to feed now, remember?”
I sighed, knowing that I wasn’t about to win this argument. He kissed my forehead before giving my ass a light tap and releasing me.
“Darlin’,” River called from behind me as I turned towards the clubhouse. I looked at him over my shoulder, “show ‘em who the fuck you are.” He told me with a smirk as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
I tilted my lips up into a slight smile since smiling fully hurt too fucking much. He was telling me to stand my ground and that he would fully back me up in whatever – within reason, of course.
I strode into the clubhouse, walking into a round of arm wrestling. “A fighting ring would be much more fun to watch,” I commented nonchalantly as I walked past.
“Women keep their mouths shut around here.” One of the men stated.
I eyed him with distaste, taking in his brown hair and his beard that was the same color as his hair. He was muscular, and I rolled my eyes when he intentionally flexed his arm muscles as if that would intimidate me.
“Not this one,” I informed him.
“Probably why your face looks like it does.” A woman probably around the age of nineteen or twenty sneered.
River stepped into the clubhouse with Sam, and instantly everyone shut the fuck up and focused their attention on him. I snorted as I moved behind the bar to the kitchen. What pussies. I looked over my shoulder at River, and his gaze met mine, amusement shining in their blue depths.
I blew a kiss at him before I disappeared into the kitchen, rummaging for something sweet.
Cereal that had a ton of sugar in it, preferably.
I blew out a breath in frustration when I didn’t find any. All they had were salty snacks, a bunch of fucking beer, and food that had to be cooked. All I wanted was unhealthy cereal and milk.
I pushed back through the kitchen door, finding River sitting at the bar, talking to the man with the beard from earlier. “River, there’s no cereal,” I grumbled, drawing his attention to me.
“So, find something else to eat, girly,” the man snapped, annoyed at being interrupted. I glared at the man, a silent dare for him to continue. He was on a power trip, and I fucking hated men like that.
“Watch your fucking tone with her.” River snapped. I smirked when the man scowled, but kept his mouth shut. “Mel!” River called, grabbing the young woman’s attention from earlier. “Take this,” he said, pulling a twenty from his wallet, “and go get a box of cereal – the sugariest you can find – and a gallon of whole milk.” He instructed.
She nodded, taking the twenty from him and rushing out of the clubhouse doors. Henry stumbled out of the back hallway with a groan, drawing River’s attention to him. River quickly got off his stool. “Oh, great, your finally fucking awake.” He snarled.
And then, he slammed his fist against Henry’s face, a sickening crunch sounding through the room. I gasped, watching as River slammed his fists against Henry’s face over and over, well after the man was unconscious on the floor. I’d heard numerous bones break as River beat the fuck out of him.
He pointed a bloody finger at one of the men that had been arm wrestling. “Val, when he wakes up, I want his fucking cut. He’s out of the fucking club. And I want him escorted off of my fucking territory.”
“Understood, Prez.” Val, a man with black hair and eyes just as dark, nodded his head at River.
River disappeared down the back hallway, and I quickly followed after him, finding him in the bedroom at the very end. His room was mostly plain. He had a black fitted sheet and a plain black comforter on the bed with a few pillows. The club emblem hung above his bed, and a single nightstand sat on the left side of his bed with a plain, black lamp on it. There was a dresser against the wall near the door, and the open door to the side of the room revealed the bathroom where River was currently washing the blood off of his hands.
“Never took the time to make this place feel like home, did you?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Don’t really have time to, Darlin’.” He informed me as I leaned against the bathroom door jamb to watch him. “Being a president consumes most of my time, and when I’m not doing that, I’m normally out in the garage.”
He turned the water off and dried his hands, turning to face me. “Feels a lot like home with you standing in the room, though.” He admitted, a small smile tilting his lips the slightest bit, making my nerve endings curl.
Fuck, he couldn’t just unleash his smile on me like that.
“Prez, you expecting company?” Someone shouted from up the hall.
“Fuck – no!” River called back. “Who the fuck is it?”
“Sons of Death!” The guy hollered back. “And ooh, boy, Tristan looks pissed.”
My breath lodged in my throat as my heart rate picked up speed. I hadn’t seen Tristan said I’d met him in another state to do a DNA test, not wanting him to know where I was staying at. The betrayal in his eyes that day had gutted me, and yet, he still asked me to come back home to him.
River clenched his jaw, looking down at my face as it drained of color. “You going to be alright?” He quietly asked me, reaching up to caress the good side of my face, his eyes running over me as he did so.
I shrugged, not knowing how to respond. River drew me into him, pressing his lips to the top of my head. I closed all the distance between our bodies, leaning on him for that one precious moment before my world got flipped upside down – my sanctuary broken into. We both jerked our heads up when we heard shouting. “Grim, you can’t fucking go back there!” Sam barked.
“Fuck.” River cursed, releasing me as he quickly stepped out into the hallway. “Tristan, you can get the fuck out of my clubhouse right now if you’re only going to cause fucking trouble.” River growled in a warning.
“Where the fuck is she, River?” Tristan demanded to know.
I slowly stepped out into the hallway, nervously looking up at Tristan. There was so much pain in his eyes as he ran them between me and River. Instantly, River possessively wrapped an arm around my waist, tugging me against his side.
“You left my club just to jump to his?” Tristan angrily demanded.
“He’s the dad, Tristan,” I informed him, swallowing hard at the hurt in his eyes. “And for your information, I’ve been supporting myself for the past three months. River just found me when he happened to come into the bar during one of my shifts.” I explained, though I knew I didn’t owe him any kind of explanation. But that hurt in his eyes was killing me.
“Yet, that quickly, you’re in his bed and in his clubhouse.” Tristan snarled at me. I flinched.
“Fucking lay off of her.” River snarled, taking a threatening step forward as he pushed me slightly behind him.
I gripped River’s arm, his bicep flexing under my grip. He swung his gaze to me, his eyes softening immediately. “Please,” I whispered. “Not him.”
River clenched his jaw but nodded at me, taking a step back from Tristan. I breathed a sigh of relief. River silently reached up and brushed his thumb over my bottom lip, understanding in his gaze.
We were the reason Tristan was hurting so much.
“What the fuck happened to your face, Addy?” Tristan asked, moving to step forward but deciding against it.
I pointed to where Henry was struggling off of the floor, his face covered in blood.
“Hand over your fucking cut!” River barked, moving to where Henry was trying to struggle into a standing position, shouting in agony at the broken bones in his body. My stomach twisted.
“All of this over a random piece of pussy?” Henry bravely snapped at River from his position on the floor.
River wrapped his large hand around Henry’s throat, lifting him off the floor as he slammed him against the wall. Henry screamed in pain. “Want to fucking repeat that?” River snarled at him, his voice deadly.
Henry choked, shaking his head no. River dropped him to the floor, and Henry sprawled at his feet, another scream of pain leaving his lips. My blood chilled in my veins. “Your fucking cut.” River snarled, holding his hand out.
