I smiled tightly and nodded.
“Secondly, I get that a woman like you might not be entirely comfortable with our way of life, which means this will rub off on Cade, put some ideas in his head. That is not happening. I’m not having some piece of ass fucking with my club, so you got any problems with what you see or hear, you don’t say a word, you fucking pack that tight ass back to the city.”
Steg’s tone brokered no argument, it was not cruel exactly, but firm. But the way he was ordering me around, trying to delve into my relationship pissed me right off, my anger outweighed my intimidation of this man. I stood, my chair squeaking as I pushed it back.
“I don’t think you have any right to command me how to act within my relationship, especially since you don’t know me worth a damn. Cade loves this club, I would never fuck with that. He makes his own choices and I’m sure as shit not going to be some whiny girlfriend who nags him twenty-four seven. If you tried to get to know me before spouting out this crap, you might have figured that out.”
Steg arched an eyebrow and gave me a dangerous look. “Since you’re new to the club and what you did for Bull, I’ll give you a pass for that little outburst.”
He stood and slowly stepped towards me, getting close enough that I felt his breath on my face. I refused to step back, jutting my chin and meeting those cold expressionless eyes.
“You are an Old Lady, which means you are off limits to the boys and we give you some form of respect.” He paused. “But you ever talk to the fucking President of this charter like that again, you’ll wish you didn’t.”
He didn’t say another word, just tagged a beer and walked out. I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Fuck, well he just decided to wave his dick around. It was starting to dawn on me how different life in the club was going to be, it was like a whole new set of rules, where women were obviously expected to serve food and suck dick. Cade cared for me, obviously. But the burn from the unreturned “I love you” was still scorching the back of my throat.
“Gwen, what the fuck?” Cade’s voice shook me out of yet another mental battle. He was in front of me and hauled my body flush with his. He looked pissed. “Saw Steg and Evie walk out, what did they say to you?” He sounded ready to explode, and I knew he’d go out and rip into them both if I mentioned either of my little talks.
I stroked his face, smiling hopefully convincingly. “Nothing, Cade, they were just properly introducing themselves since the whole time I’ve been with you we haven’t officially met.” This was the truth, just not the grizzly details. Cade wasn’t buying it.
“Bullshit,” he growled. “Evie’s a tough bitch, she’s more likely to scratch your eyes out than roll out the welcome wagon. And Steg is too far up his own ass to talk to someone without an ulterior motive. What the fuck did they say, Gwen?”
I gave him a peck on the lips, which he barely responded to, he just kept frowning at me. “It was nothing, Cade, seriously.”
He didn’t look convinced so I kissed him again, this time running my tongue across the seam of his lips.
“Didn’t you promise you were going to have a different kind of breakfast than the one you just ate?” I whispered, nibbling his ear.
He was still frowning, but I felt his hard on pressing into me. Without warning, he threw me over his shoulder. I let out a surprised gasp and he swatted me hard on the backside.
“Know you’re not telling me the full story, Gwen. I’ll leave it for now, I’d much rather bury my face inside you than talk about either of those snakes anyway.”
Without another word, he carried me to his room.
All the lights were on as Cade and I approached my house, it was late and I was shattered. After Cade and I spent a couple of hours in his room at the compound, we spent the rest of the day there. Cade and the boys had “church” for a while, which gave me a chance to hang out with Lizzie, who was super cool, and Evie who still scared me just a little.
Surprisingly, I had an awesome day, leaving out the conversation with the hard ass President of a motorcycle club and the one from his equally hard ass Old Lady. I got along with all the guys really well, and despite their appearances, they treated me with nothing but respect, which maybe had to do with Cade glaring at anyone who talked to me.
Although they were friendly, there seemed like there was a bit of tension in the air, someone was always watching the cameras on the gate. Cade was on his phone a lot and Steg was locked away in “church” for most of the day. It worried me, knowing Cade had said there was conflict with another club. I knew better than to ask Cade for any more information, he was intent on telling me as little as possible. I was still determined to ask him later, using a couple of tactics that I had up my sleeve, or down my shirt.
I hopped off the bike and started towards the door when Cade pulled me back.
“You okay with them now, baby?” he asked, nodding towards the house.
My heart melted a little with his concern, maybe he didn’t love me, but my biker was still pretty sweet to me.
“Yeah, I’m good actually. I just reacted a little crazy this morning, I’ve got so much going through my head it just threw me. I’m actually really happy for them, but where does that leave Brock? I know Amy cares about him, and he’s obviously into her.”
If his behavior today was anything to go by, he definitely cared for Amy and he was pissed at the turn of events. He spent the entire day drinking and barking at anyone that dared talk to him.
Cade let out a sigh and looked up, as if asking for divine intervention. “Babe, I hate dealing with this chick shit. I know Amy has Brock tied up in knots, and I can’t have my brother unfocused. She needs to sort her shit.”
I nodded, feeling protective over both my brother and my best friend, not wanting either of them to get hurt. But I also didn’t want this fucking this up for Cade and his brother.
“This is a tangled web. You regret hitching your horse to my wagon now?” I asked, half joking.
Cade grabbed my neck, eyes serious. “I thank the gods every day I wake up next to you, baby, this shit will sort itself out. Nothing would make me regret putting you on the back of my bike,” he declared fiercely before kissing the bejesus out of me. “Now let’s get this over with.” Cade walked me to the door.
Amy and Ian were sitting in the kitchen, suspiciously far apart. I felt the tension in the air. They both looked up as we walked in.
“Gwen!” Amy came running over, hugging me tightly after I stepped away from Cade.
“I am so sorry you had to find out like you did, Gwennie, we should have told you a while ago, but things were fucked up,” she blurted in a rush, looking upset.
“I’m sorry too, Amy. I should have never pushed you this morning, that was a bitch move. I was just taken by surprise, but I’m happy, if you two are happy?” I glanced between Amy and Ian, who were not even peeking at each other.
I gave them a look. “Things changed? You looked pretty into each other this morning,” I teased, but neither of them cracked a smile.
Ian stood. “Look, sis, we’ve just got some things to sort out, which is between the two of us before you say anything.” My brother knew me too well, I had just been about to interrupt to play couple’s therapist.