“I can just take a taxi,” I tell him. “Don’t worry about it, Tracker.”
He shakes his head. “We always have someone here sober just in case. You’re not going home alone in a taxi, Bailey.”
Apparently his word is law, because he turns his back to me and yells out for one of his men. I hear a rumble of motorcycles and turn my head toward the parking lot, where ten bikes pull in. Just how many men did they have in their MC? When Tracker and Arrow stand in front of Anna and Lana, as if protecting them, I have to wonder what the hell is going on. The tension in the air spikes as the men get off their bikes and approach us.
Irish grabs me and puts me behind him.
“Don’t say anything, and do as you’re told,” he commands me quietly. I nod, fear rendering me speechless. It’s clear that this is no macho posturing—something’s going down, something serious. I make myself as invisible as I can, sinking behind Irish and holding my arms around myself. Did stuff like this happen a lot? What am I supposed to do in these situations?
The other men advance until they’re mere feet in front of Irish and the rest, who are now standing shoulder to shoulder in front of me and the other girls.
“Any reason you’re at our club?” Arrow asks, in a calm yet deadly tone. I slowly peep around Irish and see that these men aren’t Wind Dragons. They have a different emblem on their cuts, and I’ve never seen any of them before.
“Just in the neighborhood,” one man says, stepping in front of the rest of his men. He looks to be in his early forties, with dark hair and olive skin. He looks over each man, before stopping on Arrow.
“Yeah, our neighborhood,” Tracker replies, sounding pissed off. “Get the fuck out of here, unless you want to have a problem.”
The club doors open and Adam comes out with a bald guy—Wolf, I think I heard one of the guys call him. Adam looks around almost frantically until he sees me, then storms in my direction, taking his place next to Irish, right in front of me. Wolf stands on the other side, next to Arrow.
I’m suddenly wishing I’d taken my ass home when Lana offered.
“We have a fucking problem, all right,” the man roars, staring daggers at . . . Adam? I can only imagine what Adam did. “You don’t have enough whores in your club? You need to fuck my old lady?”
Fuck.
Adam slept with the man’s woman? Is he crazy? Is this who he’s turned into? A walking dick? I feel like slapping Adam myself. When he was with me, as young as we were, he claimed he was always loyal. I saw him flirt, sure, and I saw women trying to get his attention plenty of times. It made me jealous as hell, but I never saw him act on it.
In high school, the rumors of his cheating followed us around and I’d get angry with each one, not knowing in my youth and inexperience how to handle the situation or my emotions. Looking back, I know I added a lot of unnecessary drama to our relationship. I had trust issues, and Adam had a huge ego. Apparently that hasn’t changed, plus Rake’s life is like a free-for-all, smorgasbord of pussy. And this is the man I once thought I’d marry? I can’t help but feel disappointed.
Focus on the issue at hand, Bailey.
I can actually feel all the Wind Dragons look in Adam’s direction.
“I haven’t fucked anyone who mentioned being an old lady,” Adam replies, looking the man in the eye. “If you can’t control your bitch, pretty sure that’s not my fuckin’ problem.”
I cringe, then look at Anna and Lana, who are wearing similar expressions on their faces. The men are outnumbered, but they don’t seem scared in the least. I, on the other hand, want to run back into Rift and hide. From the corner of my eye, I see Arrow saying something to Anna under his breath and her slight nod in response. I’m too busy watching them to see the man from the other MC step forward and throw the first punch at Tracker. Adam pushes me backward, and then Anna grabs my arm and pulls me back into the club, Lana by our sides. She yells for the bouncers, telling them to lock the club doors so no one can get in and out. Her demands are met instantly.
“What do we do now?” I ask, unable to hide the panic in my voice. “Just watch them get beaten up?”
I look outside to see Adam punch a man in the face and then in the stomach.
“They’ll be fine,” Anna replies confidently. “It’s only two against each of them. They can handle it.”
Lana nods her head, not looking as confident as Anna but still standing strong. “They’ll be fine. And now they don’t have to worry about us being safe, so they can concentrate on kicking those dickheads’ asses. Knock him on his ass, Tracker!”
Christ.
What happened to the innocent little Lana I knew in high school?
I take a few steps away from the glass door and wrap my arms around myself.
I really just want to be at home with Cara right now. I didn’t sign up for this.
NINE
THE cops eventually show up and everyone is taken in. With the camera footage from the club, Anna tells me it will show who started the fight, so “our” men will be fine. Sin rocks up with his wife, Faye, who heads to the police station to sort the men out. Sin takes the rest of us home, fuming the whole way about how he wasn’t there when “shit” went down. To me, it sounds like he’s just angry he missed out on a fight.
“They’re lucky none of you got hurt,” he rumbles, fingers clenching on the steering wheel. “All this because Rake fucked someone’s old lady? I guess it was only a matter of time before his dick got us all into trouble.”