“Is that why you and Rake have been friends for so long?”
“Are you getting Ronan a lap dance? He looks bored,” Tracker says, glancing over my head. “He’s pulling out his phone. Probably texting Steph.”
“She must have vodka-flavored nipples, I swear,” I grumble. “And we need some male strippers here.”
“Why? So you women can have ladies’ night and perve on soft dick?” Rake smirks, pulling a chocolate bar out of his jeans pocket.
“That’s exactly why,” I say, reaching out my hand. “And I want some of that.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I was kidnapped.”
“Don’t worry, they would have returned you soon enough,” Tracker adds, chuckling.
“Well,” I say, nose in the air. “I’m glad we’re at the point where we can laugh and joke about it. All of you crying over me was getting old.”
We all share a grin.
Rake gives me some of his chocolate bar, then we turn and watch boobs.
I get Ronan a lap dance, but he doesn’t seem interested. I don’t like seeing any of the men unhappy.
Plan one might have failed, but I always have a backup plan.
I duck my head in the car, hiding as I see him leaving her house. I can’t believe my eyes. I wait until he’s gone, then get out and walk up the pathway to her front door. I’d come to Steph’s house with cupcakes, hoping to surprise her and maybe talk about whatever she’s hiding that is stopping her from being with Ronan, but then I saw him leaving her house. It seems this is a little closer to home than we thought. I knock on her door, but when I find it open, I decide to just walk in. She comes out of her room in the middle of redressing herself, her eyes widening in shock as she sees me.
“Faye, what are you doing here?” she asks, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Well, you said you loved girl time, so I brought you some cupcakes as a surprise,” I tell her, picking one out of the box in my left hand and showing her the delicious pink icing on vanilla.
“Oh,” she says, looking uncomfortable. “Now isn’t really a good time.”
I throw the cupcake at her face, and it hits her right between the eyes. “What the fuck? Faye?”
“What a waste of a cupcake,” I murmur, getting out another one, but this time taking a huge bite out of it. “Now, Steph, you are going to sit the fuck down and tell me the truth about why Eric Black was just leaving your house.”
She wipes the icing off her face and sits. She looks anywhere except at me. She exhales, and then inhales. I finish the cupcake, waiting for her to explain what exactly her game is. We brought this bitch into our clubhouse, we treated her like family, and the whole time she was possibly here as a spy for Eric.
“How do you know Eric?” she asks quietly.
I pause, studying her. Does she really not know? What if she’s actually innocent? Maybe I should stop my mental plans on beating the shit out of her until I figure that out.
“How do you know him?” I ask, flashing her a look that dares her to do anything except answer my question.
“I only just met him,” she says, a dreamy smile on her face. “He’s so different from any man I’ve met before. I know you want me with Ronan, but I just don’t feel like I do when I’m with Eric. I’m sorry, Faye. I know it makes me a bad person, but I’m just following my heart.”
I think over all the new information. “Did Eric encourage you to go out for lunch with me?”
She tilts her head to the side, like a cute German shepherd puppy, and nods. “He said I should have more girlfriends and that you sounded nice. He suggested I go to the clubhouse, because it would be good for me to have strong women as friends.”
“I see,” I whisper, putting the box on the table and wondering what the best way to handle this situation is. I decide to go for full honesty.
“Here’s the thing, Steph. Eric isn’t who you think he is.”
“What do you mean?” she asks skeptically, brow furrowing.
“He’s Sin’s brother,” I say, pausing, and then deciding to clarify. “Sin, as in my husband and the Wind Dragons’ president.” She’s met him before, but I don’t think she’s the sharpest tool in the shed. “Eric is the one who orchestrated my kidnapping.”
I pause again, this time just for some dramatic flair. “You’re fucking my enemy, Steph.”
And my ex-boyfriend, but she doesn’t need to know that. “Do you know what that makes you?”
“What?” she whispers, looking shocked.
“Well, besides stupid, it also makes you my enemy. And that’s not a position I’d advise you to take. How did he explain being shot?”
“He said he was shot at work. His store was held up,” she says, looking miserable and on the verge of tears. “Oh my god, how stupid am I? He even told me I should plan a get-together with all of my friends at my house. Do you think he wanted to try and hurt you again? I’m so fucking sorry, Faye. I didn’t know, I swear.”
A great actress, or just a dumb girl believing anything a man tells her?
Either way, a little threatening couldn’t hurt. “When are you seeing him next?”
“We have dinner plans tomorrow night,” she says, swallowing hard, her lower lip trembling. “I ended things with Ronan over a psychotic kidnapper? I really know how to pick them.”