Calming the Riot

by Karen Renee

The bartender checked on them, and both men ordered another round. Liar swiveled on his barstool. He’d been keeping an eye on Andi off and on while they waited. It was doing a number on him to watch the fuckers at tables watch her massage other players. She was wearing black scrubs and hadn’t made any effort to hide the hickey he gave her. The problem was it was fading because he left the mark on Monday.

  Leaning his back against the bar, he realized Blood, Vamp, and Rage were sitting at a table too. It solidified his love for the Riot MC. He couldn’t imagine any other scenario where five other men who weren’t related to him would step up to help Liar keep his woman safe. He was focused on Cal and Volt at their Texas Hold ‘Em table. Volt going stiff at the table could not be missed. When Cal followed Volt’s line of sight, Liar did the same. Gilbert Grant had entered the poker room, and his gaze was fixed on Andrea. She was standing in profile working on an older man at a table toward the back.

  Vamp was moving toward Gil, and Liar had no idea how Vamp knew the man was there until he noticed Volt and Cal were also stalking that way.

  “Fuckin’ fuck. Where in the hell is the so-called security in this fuckin’ place,” Liar muttered as he slammed his beer bottle on the bar.

  He moved away from the bar and felt Andrea’s gaze on him. He looked at her, and the beaming smile she was shooting his way faltered. Her eyes slid to the side, and when she saw Gil, he could swear she paled.

  “Oh, fuck no,” Liar muttered under his breath to himself. He moved closer to his brothers who were surrounding Grant, but he was keeping his eyes peeled for anyone in charge or one of the deputies from downstairs. None of those people were around, so Liar joined the semi-circle closing in on Grant.

  Volt stepped close to Gil. “You lookin’ for a trip to jail tonight?”

  Gil Grant had dark black hair and narrow-set brown eyes. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talkin’ about. Now get outta my way, you thug.”

  “You callin’ my President a thug, Grant?” Liar shoved his way to stand in front of Grant.

  He looked disdainfully at Liar. “How do you even know who I am?”

  “There’s a restraining order in effect against you.”

  Grant’s eyes darted away, and he made sounds as though he was going to argue. “Don’t try to fuckin’ argue. I saw your eyes when you caught sight of her. Before you leave, answer one question. You put Blake up to fuckin’ with me last Saturday?”

  Grant’s bushy eyebrows furrowed immediately. “Who in the hell are you people?”

  Liar didn’t know how many minutes they had Grant surrounded, but finally, a stocky man approached their huddle.

  “There a problem here?”

  Volt moved before Grant could. “Andrea Paglia is working the floor, and she has a standing restraining order on this man. He’s in violation. We’re making sure he’s going to vacate the premises.”

  The security man lifted his chin at Volt. “Know about that.” He turned to Grant. “You’re gonna have to leave, bub. Two other locations you can visit. Otherwise—”

  Liar cut the man off before he could give out too much info about Andrea’s arrangement. “Otherwise, he’s SOL.” When he stopped speaking, he gave the security guard a meaningful look.

  “Right. You’re gonna have to leave. If not, a Clay County Sheriff’s Deputy will escort you out.”

  Gil Grant didn’t say anything, but he did turn around and leave the room. The security man made moves to leave, but then stopped. “No need for causing a scene, fellas, all right?”

  Liar wanted to argue with the man, but Volt lifted his chin and said, “Right, sir. Thanks.”

  Something about this seemed too damned easy. However, Liar didn’t need to borrow trouble, so he turned to head back to the bar, but Beast was standing right behind him.

  “Cal’s old lady took your girl to the bathroom on the far end of the room. Know you’re pissed, didn’t want you to freak out.”

  “Thanks, Beast,” Liar muttered. He walked over to grab his beer just as his name was called for a table.

  ***

  Over an hour later, Liar was up by nearly two hundred dollars. The table he landed at was full of men who were what professional poker players called “ATMs” because they played until their chips ran out, only to re-buy without leaving the table. It was so easy to win off these men; Liar almost felt guilty. Keyword was almost. He watched Andrea digging her elbow into the fleshy shoulder of a black man at the table across from his. If he wasn’t trying to guard his chip-stack, she’d be damn cute. She kept looking to him and throwing flirty smiles his way. It was making his dick twitch, which required him to focus on not getting hard. All of that meant he wasn’t as focused on his cards and betting strategies.

  The dealer shoved a pot to a young woman sitting directly to the dealer’s right. She was a force to reckon with because being in the ten-seat meant she had to keep a closer eye on her cards and her chips. It was the seat at the table Liar liked the least because it was so easy for the dealer to misinterpret your actions or whether your cards were yours or part of an earlier fold. The cards were flying around the table for the next hand when a bad feeling crept over Liar’s neck. He checked his hand, two non-connecting non-suited cards. It was an insta-fold. Not his normal behavior, but it didn’t matter because he was out of his seat and then he saw him.

  Gil Grant had returned to the room. Not just returned, he had his sights set on Andrea, and Liar was pissed. Not pissed, fucking livid. Clenching his fists, he felt the bite of his fingernails in his palms, and he forced himself to relax his hands.

  Earlier Liar noticed he had a good five inches and probably fifty extra pounds on Grant. Since Grant was closing in on Andrea, Liar lengthened his strides. He butted his chest against Grant before the man could round a nearby table to get to Andrea.

  Liar noticed two things simultaneously. One, Gil Grant reeked of a unique mustiness Liar had never smelled before. Two, Cal was at his back and quickly helped Liar shove Grant backward without being too obvious about it.

  The man’s beady eyes narrowed, and Liar knew he was going to try to fight back, but Volt and Blood had joined them. Blood grinned and let loose a loud laugh. In a fluid move, he managed to turn Gil while landing his bulky arm on the scrawny man’s shoulder. They all moved forward looking like a group of guys who were all buddies.

  Liar hadn’t been able to look back to Andrea during this elaborate maneuver they were executing. He prayed she kept at the client she was working with because Liar couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t follow them out of the poker room.

  His thoughts must’ve been written all over his face because Cal nudged him with a fist. “Don’t worry, man. Mallory got her to the bathroom earlier. I told her to keep Andrea from followin’ us out here if the asshole did somethin’ stupid like this.”

  Liar’s lips thinned. “No offense, Sarge, but your woman ain’t renowned for doin’ whatever you tell her to do.”

  Feeling Cal’s vicious look, Liar looked to him. Cal said, “She’s learned her lesson. Between her bein’ abducted, the shit that happened to Frankie and then Neil’s ordeal just last month. Mal’s on board, Li.”

  By this time, they not only had Grant out of the building, they had him cornered near Blood, Volt and Vamp’s bikes. Liar almost thought Cal was wringing his hands, but then realized he was situating his brass knuckles on his hand.

  “No disrespect, but can I borrow your other set, Sarge?”

  Cal’s hazel eyes danced over Liar’s face. “If you’re sure you wanna take point on this, you can borrow both sets.”

  At this point, Grant clued into the mess he was in with the Riot MC.

  “What the fuck is y’all’s problem. I ain’t seen her since last winter. It was a misunderstanding. I just want to—”

  With brass knuckles on both hands, Liar shouldered his way past Blood and Volt. “A misunderstanding isn’t resolved with a fuckin’ massage chair to your goddamned head,” he said through clenched teeth.<
br />
  Someone in the huddle hissed. In the recess of his mind, Liar thought all of his brothers knew about that, but maybe someone forgot. His mind cleared as he focused his energy on putting as much force as he could behind his punch to Grant’s stomach.

  The man folded in half as he gasped while gripping his sizable belly. For a fleeting moment, Liar felt bad for knocking the wind out of the man, but the excessive rage he had for what this man tried to do to Andrea consumed him. Adrenaline surged through his system, and he knew it would take more than two men to pull him off Grant. He kept his blows to the soft areas of Grant’s body, even though Liar was itching to inflict maximum damage on the man’s ugly face.

  His brain registered a remote voice chiding Cal. “Looks like Li might want your position, Cal. You ready to give up your position as the SAA?”

  His focus sharpened on Grant because he could see the man was probably going to charge Liar. It would be an asinine move, but men who were losing physical fights didn’t typically make logical decisions. Throwing a harsh punch to what should have been the man’s kidney, the resulting howl pleased Liar in a sick way. No, not sick. Men like Grant needed a lesson beyond the financial burden associated with a restraining order. Over the last month, it was clear Andi didn’t have a man in her life to teach that sort of lesson to Grant. Now she had Liar, and that definitely pleased him.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Andrea

  Mallory did her level best to keep me in the bathroom. The problem for Mallory was, she couldn’t differentiate between my normal compliance and my fake acquiescence that covered my devious plans to get away from her. Needless to say, I gave her the slip while we were in the ladies’ restroom.

  While I wasn’t sure where Liar, Blood and the rest of the guys had taken Gil, I figured it had to be a dark corner of the parking lot. It took me by total surprise to see Liar’s red hair in the lamplight. He was bent in concentration, and I realized he was the only one raining blows down on Gil. I had seen the sheer anger on his face before he rounded his table. I had no idea what would incite such madness from him, that was until I saw Gil was in the poker room again. Since Gil didn’t get close to me at all, I was surprised at this brutal show of force against him. Blood was the only one with his back to the action, and it was clear he was looking out for trouble from authorities. I stood stock-still and hoped he wouldn’t notice me standing in between vehicles nearby. I was pulled from my thoughts when I realized Mallory was at my side.

  “Cal is gonna kick my ass when he finds out I didn’t keep you inside,” she whisper shouted at me.

  “Oh, he will not,” I muttered.

  “We should go back inside,” she persisted.

  I gave her my full attention. “You go right ahead. I’m not going anywhere.” And I wasn’t, not because I felt like being contrary, but because watching Liar like this was turning me on. I’m sure it didn’t say anything good about me, but I liked that he didn’t want this man anywhere near me and he was going to do whatever he had to do to get that point across. This display of physical retribution satisfied me more than the restraining order ever could, that was for damn sure.

  Mallory sighed. “Jesus, you’re stubborn.”

  I shrugged. Then I realized Blood wasn’t standing where I last saw him. Edging closer to the fight, I shouldn’t have been surprised by Blood standing at the end of the parking space where we were standing, but I was.

  I smiled at him, but Mallory spoke up.

  “She gave me the slip, Blood. I just told her we needed to go back inside, but she’s a stubborn one.”

  Blood lifted his chin at Mallory. “You get inside. I’ll keep Andrea from violating her restraining order.”

  I heard Mallory walking away on her heeled boots, but I narrowed my eyes at Blood. “What do you mean, ‘keep’ me from violating the restraining order? I haven’t done anything.”

  A wry look crossed Blood’s face. “Not sure if they made this clear to you back in January or not, but hon, he has to stay away from you, and it also means you have to keep that distance from him. No need to introduce any gray areas to the cops.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, looked to the side and pursed my lips. He was right, and in fact, they had told me about that when I got the restraining order, but I had forgotten.

  Looking back to Blood, I asked, “Why’s Liar the only one using his fists on Gil?”

  “You and I both know the answer to that. There some other question you’re actually tryin’ to ask me?”

  I pressed my lips together. After a moment, in a low voice, I asked, “Can you make him stop?”

  His face softened with the look that crossed his face. “Darlin’, you know the answer to that too. Not one of us can get him to stop now. Not too late to follow Mallory back inside.”

  I shook my head at him but pulled my cell out of my back pocket. When I had Shayla’s contact info up, I sent her a text telling her I wouldn’t be finishing the shift. I apologized, but things were slowing down by the time Gil had shown up again. I wanted to get the hell out of here as soon as possible so Liar wouldn’t find himself in a heap of trouble.

  “Where’s your car?” Blood asked.

  I twisted my lips to the side. “At my apartment. I walked.”

  “Fuck me,” he exhaled. “You’re somethin’ else all right, Andrea.”

  We fell silent, but I could still hear the grunts of Liar beating Gil. The turn-on factor was waning because it had gone on for so long, but I was pulled from these thoughts by Blood’s question.

  “How in the fuck were you plannin’ to get home tonight? You didn’t know for certain that Liar would be here. So, what the hell?”

  “I would’ve ridden with Shayla. She lives in Fleming Island, so that’s ‘what the hell,’ Blood. Now, I suppose I’ll be on Liar’s bike. Presuming nobody catches him in the midst of what he’s doing.”

  “You go back inside, then he doesn’t run that risk, babe.”

  I lifted an eyebrow at him. “I’m not going back inside.”

  Blood reciprocated my eyebrow lift and moved out of the space between the two cars in the parking lot. “Then c’mon, maybe we can get Liar to give it a rest.”

  I moved toward Blood, and he draped an arm around my shoulders keeping me tight to his lanky frame. Why he was doing this wasn’t clear until we were just feet from the men. Volt’s arms crossed, and he gave me his sternest gaze, then he shook his head at me.

  Liar must have noticed this because he stopped throwing punches and looked over his shoulder. Stiffly, he turned and blocked Gil from my view. “There a reason you got your arm around what’s mine?”

  I stiffened at his words. I wasn’t a ‘what’ and this wasn’t anything I was accustomed to hearing from Liar.

  “Like I told your woman, that R.O. works both ways. She was already out here. I’m makin’ sure she don’t violate the terms. Not sure, since I’ve been watchin’ over your girl, but you done here yet, or what?”

  When he turned slightly to look over his shoulder at Gil, I got a good look at Liar’s profile. It glistened with sweat. Then he turned fully, and I was looking at his backside again. I heard the distinct sound of someone spitting. Liar looked to Volt.

  I watched him take something large off of both hands. It looked like a strange ring that bound all four of his fingers. He handed them to Cal. “I’m done, but I ain’t so sure he’s learned his lesson. Maybe one of you can get more information outta him about whether or not he was in touch with Blake.”

  ***

  After he cashed in his chips, Liar took me back to my place, and it reminded me of our first ride together. His entire body was unnaturally stiff, and I feared he was angry with me. When he cut the engine, I hustled off the motorcycle.

  “I’m sorry,” I said as soon as he swung his leg off.

  His head shifted to the side. “What the hell for?”

  That response threw me. “Um, because—”

  “Did you ask him to come b
ack to the poker room after we told him to leave? ‘Cause I’m pretty damn sure you didn’t. Don’t you dare apologize for that fucker’s behavior.”

  “Um…I wasn’t. I was sorry that I didn’t stay with Mallory in the building, but then again, I’m not sorry.”

  His neck craned toward me by an inch. “So, are you apologizing to me for somethin’ or not?”

  I shrugged.

  He stepped toward me, but the step was so huge it was nearly a lunge. “Why aren’t you sorry, baby?”

  My eyes slid to the right and back to him. “I was kind of turned on,” I whispered.

  “Only, kind of?” he asked in a voice oozing with sexual innuendo.

  My nipples tightened at his words and the tone.

  He stepped into my space. “You ever seen men fight before?”

  I shook my head because my mouth was too dry to speak.

  “Do you know what happens after a man like me fights like I did tonight?” This question was said in a voice so low it bordered on being a growl.

  I sighed and shook my head at him.

  His low chuckle held no humor. “Not sure if that’s good or bad, but one damn thing’s for certain. You’re about to find out. You said on Sunday you have some of your massage oil up there, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said with trepidation.

  “Good, but you don’t have to worry. Tonight’ll go too damn fast for anything out of the norm.”

  I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but before I could contemplate it any further, he grabbed my hand and yanked me up the stairs to my apartment.

  Liar

  Liar wasn’t going to push the pearl necklace tonight. When they worked their way up to that, he damn sure wanted to savor it. He hadn’t been kidding earlier. The adrenaline was starting to fade but having Andrea at his back on the ride to her place kept his cock hard as nails. Between the rush of pummeling Grant and not being with Andi for the last two days, once they were both naked, he wouldn’t last long. In some ways that embarrassed Liar, but it was the way of fighting. Just because he knew things would be quick the first go, it didn’t mean they weren’t going to have fun.