“What the fuck?” I hear Adam growl. I pull away from Talon and look up into the angry eyes of Adam, Arrow, and Tracker.
Fuck.
His gaze doesn’t leave mine. A muscle in his jaw repeatedly tenses, and his hands are clenched to fists.
He looks pissed.
And I mean pissed.
Yeah, tonight was one huge fucking mistake.
Adam didn’t want me around his family, and no matter what Anna said, tonight shouldn’t have happened. I don’t want to cause a rift between the two of them. And I don’t want to fight with Adam, because I just know that old shit is going to resurface. That’s the last thing I need. And, I definitely shouldn’t have kissed Talon knowing he has some beef with Adam.
I should have sat my ass at home and played Monopoly with Cara, Tia, and Rhett.
“Pretty sure I told you to stay away from my family,” Adam growls at me. He glances next to me, his mouth tightening at Talon. “And you. I let you live because of Anna, but don’t fuckin’ push me.”
Talon simply raises an eyebrow, looking . . . amused? Are these men all insane? “I’m sitting here enjoying the company of a beautiful woman who isn’t with any of the men in your club. I fail to see what you’re so fucking angry about, Rake.”
Anna stands up, her face pale. “Rake, wait. I’m the one who—”
“Stay out of this, Anna,” Adam growls, eyes steady on me. The way he is—his body posture, the menace pouring off him—it’s like the Adam I used to know times a hundred.
I don’t miss the way Arrow scowls at Adam’s tone when addressing Anna, and takes a protective step in her direction.
That right there is what I wish I had.
But no one is going to protect me.
I see the sexy bald guy from the bar storm up to us. “Take this outside, now. Or Reid will be here to kick everyone’s ass.”
Arrow looks at the man, who takes a step back. Yeah, I wouldn’t want to mess with Arrow either. Still, I guess the men respect Reid and his bar, because they grab their women and make an exit. Thinking I’m now free to jump in a taxi and get the hell out of here, I jump in surprise when Adam grabs me by the upper arm and pulls me to his side.
“Let go of me,” I say so only he can hear.
“Not a chance,” he growls under his breath. “You came back here, into my fuckin’ territory, with my people, now you and I are going to have a little chat.”
“You don’t own this bar,” I say snidely, narrowing my eyes on him. “How is this your territory? Just let me go. I’ll go home and we’ll pretend this never happened.”
“Yeah? Think I’m going to forget you kissing a guy I can’t fuckin’ stand any time soon? You know nothing about loyalty, do you? Maybe hanging with Anna and them will be good, maybe you’ll even learn something.”
He’s such a dick.
I kick him in the shins. He looks down at me but doesn’t even flinch, so either it didn’t hurt, or he’s just not giving me the satisfaction of knowing that it did.
“Mature, Bailey.”
“So much bad shit to say about me, yet you’re still holding on to me. Why?”
“Like I said, we need to talk.”
“Talking is the last thing we need to do,” I fire back. The time for talking is over.
“Bailey!” Talon calls, taking my attention away from Rake. Rake stiffens as he approaches us. He and Talon stare at each other, the tension between them making the air feel thick and uncomfortable. I can tell that this has to do with more than me. I try to pull my arm from Adam’s grip, but he just holds on tighter. Slice steps up next to Talon, having his back if anything goes wrong, I guess.
“Do we have a problem here?” Adam asks.
Talon tilts his head to the side. “You tell me.”
“Rake, let’s go!” Arrow calls out, turning to Anna and saying something in her ear. Was he doing Anna’s bidding? Something about that amuses me, the big, scary-as-hell man trying to appease his woman.
“Let me go,” I mutter, tired of their posturing. “I need to go home.”
They both look down at me, as if they only just remembered that I’m here.
“I’ll take you home,” Adam commands, then looks at Talon. “This isn’t over. I don’t want to ever see you near her again, do you fuckin’ understand me?”
Talon however, ignores him and looks at me. “You can go with him, or I can take you. Say the word.”
The air thickens again.
Shit.
I don’t want a fight to break out because of me, and I don’t want Talon to think I like him more than I do. He’s a nice guy, but I have no intention of sleeping with him, or dating him.
“Thank you, Talon,” I tell him. “I’ll be fine. I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”
Talon nods slightly, his eyes telling me that if I need him, all I have to do is speak out.
But I don’t.
I wave ’bye as Adam pulls me to his bike.
Talon and Slice don’t leave though—they stand there watching.
I’m handed a helmet, which I put on. Adam makes sure our hands don’t touch.
“Get on,” Adam demands, without bothering to help me up. I’ve never been on a bike before, and I’m pretty sure he knows this.
“I’ve never ridden on the back of a bike before,” I admit quietly, not knowing how to feel about it. Is it safe? As a single parent, I can’t exactly afford to do anything reckless. My daughter needs me, and if she doesn’t have me, she has no one.