“Is everything okay?” I asked him.

“Yeah, everything is fine, babe,” he answered.

He pulled me into his chest and wrapped an arm around me. We remained quiet for some time. I could tell by his breathing he wasn’t asleep yet. Something was bothering him.

“Edge is a shithead,” he suddenly said, irritation thick in his voice. “He knew you were mine the second he saw you. He pressed you to do something to see where your loyalty rested. He’s done shit like this in the past.”

What the hell? “Why would he do that?”

“To look out for me, even though we’re not close anymore. We grew up together before he was taken up to Northam as a prospect years and years ago. He’s actually a good guy beneath his manipulative ways.”

“So what he did down there, that was a test?”

“Yeah, Birdy, that was his fucked up way of testing you.”

That pissed me off. What a jerk! Despite his… oddly honourable intentions of looking out for his fellow Jackal, it didn’t make the situation any better. To be tricked sucked, especially when he was so damn convincing about it.

“Did you know he was going to do it?” I then asked suspiciously.

“No, I didn’t even know he was here. If I did, I wouldn’t have left you alone with them. They’ll be gone before morning, so don’t worry seeing him again.”

Thank God for that. “You seemed really angry at him.”

“We’ve been through a lot. Rough past I’d like to put behind.” In other words, don’t pry.

I didn’t.

He turned my face to him and gently kissed my lips. I closed my eyes and let him explore my mouth for a few minutes. He was always so gentle against my mouth, but his hands spoke a different story. He gripped my hip tightly, resisting the urge to roam.

Then he pulled back like he always did. His breaths were heavy and his body shook a little, but he was otherwise in control. He turned me back around and cuddled up to me.

“You’re insatiable,” he said into my ear. “Always taste so good.”

“You don’t taste so bad yourself,” I smiled.

He kissed my shoulder and ran his hand up and down my arm. I closed my eyes to the soft feel of him. How could such a scary man possess such a soft and tender side? I knew I was one of the very few people who got the chance to see this part of him.

“By the way,” he muttered, right before I fell asleep, “why the fuck is Logan goin’ on and on about you being an escort?”

I grinned and shook my head. That guy was such a moron.

Eleven

Why was he doing this?

It was evening and I was on the back of Remy’s bike following the rest of the Jackals to one of their bars. This whole set up smelled funny. Remy had been adamant I come with him to the party. It wasn’t the first time he’d asked me to go with him. I’d tell him no and he’d never push.

Until now.

It was right before I’d climbed on that I heard Fritz bitch and moan as he always did. “Time to play nice with the fucking enemies,” he spat on the ground as he threw on his helmet, tucking his mammoth long hair behind his back. “Don’t know why we don’t just jump them and murder the fuckers. It’s time to get our town back, for fuck’s sake. They’ve not only stolen our businesses, but our fucking pussy too! Tired of the same bitches hanging around here.”

“Shut up, Fritz,” Remy retorted. “You talk that way around them and we’re in for it. Last thing we need is a fight because of your crazy ass mouth.”

My face masked the panic I was feeling on the inside. Why the hell was he taking me to one of his peace gathering parties with the Scorpions? They’d been throwing them frequently as of lately as a means to keep the two gangs chilled. Darcy went on that once they were drunk they all got along like old school buds. It’d been the perfect way to ease tensions and attempt to put the past under the bridge. So what did I have to do with this?

The large bar we pulled into was old as hell, one of the first to open in town. It’d been later bought out by a Jackal and refurbished top to bottom. Upon walking inside, the bar was directly in your line of vision. The room itself, purposely vintage old with blood red walls and hardwood floors, was broken into several areas. There was a short walk up some steps into the seating area where timber squared tables were set up. Just beside the staircase was a dance floor, and it was crowded with Scorpions and women, drinking and dancing and doing other… interesting movements I would certainly not consider dance moves.

There was a corridor beside the bar area that extended to several other large rooms, and I could see Scorpions flowing in and out of these rooms looking dishevelled and barely zipped up at the pants. You didn’t have to be of above average intelligence to know what went on inside them.

Prez, who I immediately learned was not of the faithful type, gripped a woman that went walking by around the arm. He brought her roughly to his chest and said something into her ear I couldn’t hear. The girl, who couldn’t have been older than eighteen, widened her eyes in fear and nodded quickly at him. Still gripping her arm, he steered her down the corridor and into a room.

Remy leaned into my side. “Find a table up there and I’ll get us something to drink.”

He walked off to the bar and I squeezed past a throng of people. I climbed the few steps and, when I reached the top, wanted nothing more than to turn back around. Women were crowded around a few men in the very back, pressing themselves provocatively against them. My stomach turned in nausea, and I was glad as hell there was a free table at the front.

I took a seat and stared down at my knotted fingers for all of three seconds before my eyes brushed the entire room again. I wanted to throw my hands up in the air, scream all kinds of insults, and shake every damn person here! This was just overboard. And to think I’d felt the clubhouse parties were rowdy – this was something altogether different.

So this is what the Scorpions do, I glumly thought. This is the kind of shit I dodged. Thank fuck.

I could never, ever have participated in any of this. It wasn’t the objectification of every women here that made me queasy, it was their easy submission to every man that walked by.

Ugh. Why, Remy? Why did you bring me here?

I scanned the bar in search of him. To my horror, he wasn’t there. He’d just told me to wait so he could grab us some drinks.