"What's up, Brother?" I sank down into the chair that he pulled out for me.
He shrugged, grinning. "May as well take the VP's chair since we don't have one yet."
"And why is that? Fuck, it's been months." That should have been the first order of business once LD left for Vegas. In fact, I was surprised that Cole hadn't moved into the position.
Demon's sharp, commanding voice kept Cole from responding.
"Listen up, Brothers!"
The room quieted down, and all eyes moved in his direction. He looked my way. "We've been waiting for your ass to come back home, Brother. Hope you beat down whatever demons you were chasing."
I didn't know about that. I hadn't expected to see Holly again, and so soon after getting back. "I can handle them," I said instead. "I'm good, Prez. Demons won't get in the way of my duties."
Demon nodded, satisfied with my answer, even though I suspected that he didn't believe me. "Glad to hear you say that."
He reached for something that I guessed had been sitting on his lap. It was a patch, and even upside down I could see that it was for VP. I didn't think anything of it until he tossed it my way. I caught it, giving him a frown.
"Took a vote while you were gone. Congratulations. You're our new VP."
What the fuck? I blinked, looking back and forth between Demon and the patch in my hand, in shock. I hadn't expected this.
When I looked over at Cole he shrugged and held up his hands. "Don't look at me, Brother. I didn't want it. I like fucking people up."
My gaze scanned the faces around the room. Some of my brothers were standing against the wall, all big, burly, hard-core killers, and not one of their expressions revealed that they weren't on board with this. I cut my eyes back to Demon. It hadn't been something that I'd been actively seeking, but I couldn't deny the sense of pride and accomplishment that I felt over my new responsibilities.
"Wasn't expecting to come back to something like this."
"Why the fuck not?" Demon growled behind his grin. "You've been with Desert Rebels a long time, Sax. Been a good brother to all of us. You paid your dues as a prospect and soldier. As far as I'm concerned, getting an officer's patch has been long overdue."
Brothers backed up his commendations with enthusiastic words of agreement. I felt uncharacteristically humbled because I'd been gone almost a year and hadn't done anything during that time to deserve this honor. The fact that the club wanted me as VP and had waited for my return spoke volumes to me.
LD had left for Vegas months ago. I wondered who'd been serving as acting VP since then. I hadn't concerned myself with the club's goings on while I'd been on the road, and Demon hadn't kept me informed. That detached attitude ended now that I was back. I lived, breathed, and would die for the club. Nothing and no one was going to distract me from that.
"Thank you for the honor, Brothers. I won't let you down."
"So you accept?" Demon asked, as if I had any choice.
I snorted. "You doubted it?"
"Get that patch on your cut, Brother!" Cole gave me a hard slap on the back.
"Here." Demon tossed me a small tube. "Until you can get to the seamstress and get it sewed on."
I snatched the tube of glue in the air with a grin. I slipped off my cut. Cole helped me position the patch.
"Think of all the prime pussy that patch is gonna get you, VP." The comment came from Loco and was followed up with several snorts. "Thanks to you, we got us some new pussy in the clubhouse. She's a fucking wildcat in bed."
"Figured you'd be the first one to break her in," Oz laughed.
Loco's brows shot up. "Well most of you dumb fucks have old ladies, someone had to do it." He looked over at me. "You tried her out yet?"
I shook my head and instantly regretted it. My brothers knew that I'd been on the road with Goldie, and I knew that they would find it strange that I hadn't already fucked her. Not that I gave a fuck what any of them thought, but I knew that, in their eyes, if I’d fucked Goldie it would have solidified that I was over Holly and had moved on.
I released a heavy breath. "Plan to as soon as I leave church," I said, knowing that I was lying through my fucking teeth. "Got some celebrating to do."
A chorus of “hell yeah”s broke out, but quickly died down when it was noticed that Demon was sitting silently at the table. "We can do more celebrating after church," he said once the room was quiet again. "Right now we need to discuss the Knights."
"Been a while since I've heard that name," Dancer grumbled.
It had been at least a few years, not since we'd exchanged their president's brother for a peace treaty, right after they'd come across Demon riding solo one night and had attacked him. The kid, Freak, had been out to make a name for himself, but we'd captured him and used him for leverage.
"Stretch still their president?" Snake asked.
Demon nodded. "Got three of his brothers sitting at the table with him, too."
"I heard they want to make a move," Cole muttered. "To Vegas, of all places."
"Fuck. As if Vegas don't have enough clubs riding the streets."
Most weren't outlaw MCs, though. I gave Chewy a smirk. "Vegas is a big fucking place, Brother. We're not just talking the strip."
He shrugged. "Long as they don't cross over into our territory."
"That's not how we work there, and you know it," Demon snapped. "Too many fucking MCs to define borders. Sure, we have recognized zones, but there's an unspoken agreement that when one MC is crossing through another it's fast, peaceful, and respectful. Otherwise Vegas would turn into a war zone, and half of us would be dead or in prison."
"Too bad the Insane Boys hadn’t adhered to that."
Snorts erupted in response to Reid's comment.
"Yeah, well, they're not around anymore, are they?" Demon snarled.
Neither are a lot of our brothers and old ladies, I thought to myself. Cole had filled me in on what had gone down at Grinders the night of Annabelle's birthday. A fucking massacre. LD and brothers from both clubs had gone after the IBMC fast and hard, finally killing their president, Dogface, after he'd attacked Jolene and LD at her place.
They’d been able to take care of that traitorous slut, Tamara, too.
"So, what trouble are they stirring up, Prez?"
Demon looked to our enforcer, Cole. A silent communication passed between them before Cole explained. "Bull caught wind that some of the Knights have been seen hanging around our businesses, like they’re scoping them out. They're a small club. If they plan to relocate to Vegas, they're gonna need capitol."
"Fuck, you think they have the balls to rob us?" Loco snarled. He was always ready to fuck or fight.
Cole shrugged. "Not sure yet what, if anything, they're up to."
"Why doesn't LD take care of their asses then?" Dancer asked unwisely.
I glared at him for his stupid remark. The brother got his name because he was thin and fast and could dance his way out of a fight, but we'd brought him into the club because of his connections and expertise in working with explosives. Don't get me wrong, the man could fight when he needed to, I'd seen that with my own eyes, but it wasn't something that he went looking for.
"The fuck?" Demon shot him a scowl. "We're the same fucking MC, asshole. And last I heard I'm still the president of Desert Rebels. Not saying LD can't handle anything that comes his way, but we do it as a fucking club. As his enforcer, Bull did right by contacting Cole. We wait and watch, we don't go assuming shit until it actually happens. That's how wars start, and we don't want the other clubs thinking that we're overreacting, paranoid pussies."
"They watching any of the other MCs?" Oz wanted to know.
Cole shook his head. "Bull reached out to some of the clubs we're friendly with, and they haven't noticed anything."
"We're watching the Knights because of their suspicious activity. LD reached out to Stretch and warned him they were on our radar."
"Bet that went over good," I smirked.
&
nbsp; "Why now?" Colton asked, leaning back in his chair. "After all this time of being quiet?"
"Who the hell knows?" Cole grumbled, running his hand over his head.
"We've beefed up our presence at Grinders and the tattoo shop. Nothing to worry about now, just wanted to give everyone a heads up."
"What about our brothels?"
Demon shook his head. "They're too far outside of Vegas, and too isolated. Be hard for anyone to scope them out without being seen." He looked over at me with a smirk. "That's it for now, Brothers. Let's go celebrate with our new VP!"
When he scooted back his chair, we all followed.
Chapter 7
Holly
When you had a baby, you had to be prepared for things to not go according to plan. I’d intended to leave right after seeing the men heading off to church, but Ava had chosen that time to have a messy bowel movement and I'd had to take her back upstairs to give her a bath. Annabelle had offered to do it, but she'd had Ava all night and I hadn't wanted to take advantage. She was already going to be taking Ava in the evenings when I worked, so she'd have plenty of time with my daughter.
Smelling fresh and clean, Ava and I headed back downstairs. It was obvious from the noise from below that the men were out of church, and I nearly stumbled when I glanced over at the bar and saw Sax with his arm around Goldie. The woman looked too comfortable against him, and I saw from her appearance that she'd already embraced the club slut persona as if she'd been born into it.
My heart lurched painfully at the sight. How was I supposed to deal with this? Especially after what had happened between us the night before? I was still slightly sore from his pounding. I hadn't been intimate with anyone since the attack that had caused this whole mess between me and Sax. Well, it wasn't exactly true that the attack had been responsible for the mess we were in--I was the reason we were no longer together.
When I'd found out that I was pregnant I hadn't been able to bear the thought that the baby might not be Sax’s. Was it possible that Ava was his daughter? Yes. And it made me sick every time I thought about my deceit. Even if she were his, once he found out what I'd done he would never trust me again. Losing Sax had been the price I'd had to pay for having a child.
A girlish giggle drew my gaze to the bitch that was plastered against Sax. Goldie was a pretty girl, and she was rocking the low-riding short shorts and crop top that exposed her midriff and the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. Her hair was pulled up, exposing her neck. Sax's eyes met mine just as he turned slightly to run his nose along her flesh.
I looked away quickly, fighting back tears, and made my way back to where most of the old ladies were sitting. Somehow I found a smile in me as everyone welcomed me back to the table. There was something about their expressions and the atmosphere in the room that made me feel as if something big was going on.
"Let me have that baby!"
I automatically handed Ava off to a smiling Bobbie. "Next time she does a mess like that you can change her. I had to give her a bath."
"I don't care," Bobbie said, nuzzling Ava beneath her chin and making her squeal. "She smells so good!"
"That's because she's new." JoJo and everyone else laughed at her comment.
"You missed the excitement." I looked at Annie for her to continue. "Sax is the club's new VP."
I'd already made it clear to the girls that we weren't going to walk around on eggshells when it came to talking about Sax. Somehow I'd convinced them that I was over him and starting a new life with Ava. That was a big, fat lie, but a necessary one. I tried but couldn’t bring myself to look back toward the bar, where it was obvious now that a celebration was going on. God, I knew that I would need to congratulate him. It was the right thing to do.
"Let me go congratulate him before I leave." I turned before anyone responded.
I took several calming breaths as I made my way over to him. He was surrounded by his brothers and all of the club girls, the center of their congratulations. Jealousy slammed through me, but I was determined to get through this. I could fake it when I needed to. Reid and Loco saw me approaching and moved aside to make room for me up against the bar. Goldie seemed to cling closer to Sax when she noticed me, a possessive look in her eyes that I didn’t miss.
"Hey, honey, come over to congratulate our new VP?"
I barely acknowledged Dancer's comment.
Finally, Sax turned toward me, but he didn't speak. He stared down at me with hard eyes and a tightness to his mouth that revealed his displeasure with my appearance. "I just heard the good news and, um, wanted to congratulate you." My voice grew huskier with every word. It killed me to see his arm around Goldie, his hand against the bareness of her waist. Somehow I kept the smile on my face, even through the slight quivering of my bottom lip.
His gaze moved over me, taking in the short, clingy sundress that I wore, his eyes lingering on my breasts. Everything fit me a little tighter these days, so that when my nipples tightened against the material it was noticeable. I hated him at that moment, because his slight smirk revealed that he knew I was reacting to him. I always had.
Was he not going to talk to me? After a minute of waiting for a response, I swung around and rushed off to the restroom. I didn't want anyone to see how crushed I was over his cold indifference. I told myself that I deserved it, but still it hurt, especially to have to bear it in front of the club's watchful eyes. Before I left the room I'd seen some of the looks on his brother's faces, expressions that revealed that they knew what I was feeling. The fact that they couldn't look me in the eye told me a lot.
I made it to the bathroom, closed the door, and leaned against it for a minute to pull myself together. God, this was going to be harder than I’d thought. I had to get out of there. I went to the sink and splashed some cold water over my face, using a paper towel to pat it dry. A churning in my belly warned me that I could easily toss up my breakfast. My complexion was so pale that I pinched my cheeks to get some color into them.
The door opened and I looked in the mirror to see Sax walk in. My pulse jumped as I took in his expression, and I wondered what was going on. "I think you have the wrong restroom." I heard the nervousness in my voice.
"Don't need to take a piss." His tone was emotionless, but it still did something to me.
"Then what do you need, Sax?" I turned to face him, leaning against the counter. "It can't be sex. You seem to have that covered, with the way you and Goldie were all over each other." I prayed that he didn't hear the jealousy in my words.
He grinned, and I knew that he had. "Jealous, Baby?"
I squared my shoulders. "Why would I be jealous? We're both free to fuck whoever we want." I flinched at the callousness of my comment. It wasn't like me, and the way that Sax's face darkened revealed that he didn't like it. "What I mean is—"
"I know what you mean, Holly." He stepped further into the room. "I've spent the good part of a year getting over you so I could move on. Today I plan to move on with Goldie, and any of the other club whores who want my dick."
I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to come. The thought of Sax with any woman was killing me. "You hate me."
He nodded slowly. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Then what are you doing here? Are you here to punish me?"
His eyes moved lazily up and down my body, causing my core to clench with arousal and my panties to become wet.
"Maybe before I move on with someone else I want more of what I had last night."
Oh, God, so did I but not like this. He hated me, but I couldn't help but hope that they were just words said because I'd hurt him, that he didn't really mean them. I still loved Sax, so much, and I knew that there would never be anyone else for me.
My heart jumped as I remembered how he'd fucked me the night before. It had been different. More raw and primal than what I was used to with him. We'd always had an active, intense sexual relationship, but in the past he'd been more considerate of me. Last nigh
t he'd taken what he'd wanted, setting me on fire with his desperate kind of invasion of my body.
He stepped closer to me, but I had nowhere to go. Would I stop him? Was I strong enough to deny him? I found myself breathing hard in anticipation, both fearful and excited. "What if I don't want it?"
My question didn't stop Sax, and before I knew it he had me trapped against the counter with his arms on either side of me. We were so close that I could feel the heat rolling off his body, could breathe in the warm whiskey on his breath. When I couldn't stand it any longer I raised my eyes to his. My lips parted, and a tiny sound escaped me. His dark gaze dropped to my mouth, and I dragged my bottom lip between my teeth. His nostrils flared in response, and his expression flushed with hunger.
I waited for him to grab me and ravish me like he had the night before, but something seemed to be holding him back. I knew he was aroused. The air was thick with it. I watched emotion flicker in his eyes and saw the indecision there. He was fighting against what he wanted to do and what he needed to do.
"Can't make up my mind if I want to fuck you or strangle you."
Tears filled my eyes. "I'm sorry." I was sorry that I'd ruined us with my selfishness and deceit.
He moved the few inches separating us and unexpectedly rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. "Me, too, Babe." The words were whispered against my lips. "Sorry I wasn't enough for you. Sorry I didn't give you the baby you wanted." There was so much anguish in his voice that it tore me up inside. The tears were flowing now, my mouth trembling as I fought to hold back sobs. When he spoke again I could barely hear him. "Have a good life, Babe. I'll try to leave you alone."
With that he turned and left, and I crumbled. I was such a fool. How was I going to live without him? If I could have gone back to undo the damage that I’d done, I would have. Maybe Sax would have forgiven me in time. I hadn't really given him a chance. I'd just taken the coward's way out, left him a note, and taken off.
SAX (Desert Rebels MC Book 4) Page 5
