Another murmur of voices rose.
“‘Kay,” Trip said next. “Got five minutes to spill your fuckin’ guts. Start talkin’.”
“Here to claim Reilly.”
A chorus of loud voices rose around the table and Reilly had no idea whose belonged to whom. None of it sounded friendly, though. It sounded more like an angry mob.
Someone—she assumed Trip—slammed the gavel on the wood table several times to quiet everyone down.
Once the room went silent, Rev continued, “I want her. I’m claimin’ her and if you need to beat my fuckin’ brains out so I can have her, willin’ to take it like a fuckin’ man.”
Oh shit! He had given her no indication he was going to say that. Not that it surprised her, but still…
That was a huge sacrifice to throw out there.
Reilly smashed her ear tighter against the door. Why was there so much silence?
She finally breathed again when Trip spoke next. “How ‘bout that? We were just discussin’ with Deke here the fact that Reese asked to have her cut from the list. She was lettin’ her free. But apparently, she ain’t free ‘cause she already belongs to you. That right?”
Reilly’s heart was now pounding in her throat as she waited for Rev’s answer. When it came, it was loud and confident. “Yeah, that’s right.”
“Curious ‘bout when that happened? Since you don’t got a time machine to go into the future after she’s removed from the list or even to know she was bein’ removed from the list. That means you two already had to be hookin’ up and hidin’ it. That also right?”
“Yeah.”
Reilly clenched her teeth together and pressed a hand to the door, wishing she could burst in there and make her demands. Rev had warned her to stay out of it and that he would handle it, but it was a damn struggle not to get involved.
This involved her future. Her relationship. Everything.
“Means you broke a club rule while it was still in place,” Judge grumbled.
“Yeah. And it was fuckin’ worth it. Whatever I gotta do to pay for breakin’ that rule, I’ll do it. What I won’t do is accept anyone not allowin’ me to claim her. The woman’s gonna wear my cut, whether you want it or not.”
Someone whistled low. Maybe Ozzy, she wasn’t sure.
“Damn.” That sounded like Deacon even though he already knew this was going to happen tonight. He was the only one sitting at that table already aware of the situation.
“You got some fuckin’ balls, brother,” Cage, the road captain, said.
“If you even have a cut for her to wear after this,” Sig, the club VP, reminded him.
Trip took over again. “You weren’t fuckin’ lyin’ when you said you’ve been hookin’ up with a woman and spendin’ a lot of time at her place. Just forgot to mention who that woman was.” He didn’t sound happy. He actually sounded like he was getting more pissed by the minute. That wasn’t a good sign. Both Sig and Trip had really short fuses and it didn’t take much to ignite them.
She stared at the doorknob, tempted.
As she stood and began to reach for it, she jumped when she heard a footstep behind her.
She swung around and tried to put on her best innocent face. She almost bent over in relief when she saw it was Whip. She was afraid it might be Scar sneaking around. She could see that prospect grabbing her by the collar and dragging her inside the meeting room to tattle on her.
Asshole. Being an ex-con he should know the code: Snitches get stitches!
Whip would never rat her out.
“You supposed to be here?” he whispered.
She put her finger to her lips and made a face.
“Ain’t smart.”
“Why are you up here?” She was getting anxious because talking to Whip meant she was missing out on the conversation happening inside that room.
“Why you up here?”
She grimaced. At this point, there was no reason to lie to Whip. Especially since they worked together. “Because Rev and I are… And…”
Whip grinned. “No shit. Already knew that. Ain’t hard to see how you two look at each other ever since you both returned from your trips. Or should that be singular since you both left and returned at the same time?”
“Did we?” she whispered.
“Also hard to miss that every time you bend over at work, Rev’s watchin’ and then sportin’ wood afterward.”
“He is?”
Whip shot her a look that clearly said, I ain’t buyin’ your bullshit act.
“And you didn’t say a word?” She grabbed his face and planted a kiss on his cheek. “You’re the best, Whip.”
He grinned, then got serious. “Now, get the fuck off these stairs before your ass gets caught and it causes more headaches for your ol’ man.”
“Like I said… the best.”
As she reluctantly moved down the steps, she heard Whip open the door at the top of the stairway and go inside, closing it behind him.
She wondered briefly why he was being called in front of the executive committee but that wasn’t her business.
Not your business, Reilly, she reminded herself.
She finished descending the stairs and walked across the first floor of The Barn and directly to the bar.
Easy was casually leaning against it, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette and drinking a beer. He shot her a surprised look. “Why the fuck were you upstairs?”
“I wasn’t,” she answered, going behind the bar.
Easy’s eyes slid over from the stairway she just came down back to her. “I’m pretty fuckin’ sure those steps lead up to the second floor.”
Reilly shrugged. “They do, but I wasn’t up there.”
He blinked, then finally said, “Got it,” before taking a long pull from his beer.
She finished making herself a Jack and Coke and came around the bar to sit next to where he was leaning.
She sucked down a third of the super strong drink.
Easy jerked his chin at the cup in her hand. “That to celebrate, or drown your problems?”
“Guess I’ll know soon enough.”
“Jack’s good for either occasion,” Easy said, lifting his beer bottle. She tapped her plastic cup against it and they both took a drink.
Her phone vibrating had her putting down her cup and scrambling to yank it from her back pocket.
She read Rev’s text: Where R U?
She quickly texted back: Downstairs at the bar.
She heard the heavy footsteps rushing down the thick, rough-cut wood stairs.
When he hit the bottom, it looked like it took everything he had not to sprint over to her.
But The Barn was full of the brothers who weren’t on the committee, some of the prospects and even a couple of sweet butts. Mostly playing pool, throwing darts, drinking and smoking.
The atmosphere was relaxed, unlike Reilly.
Even though he didn’t run to her, he power-walked and almost didn’t stop even when he practically knocked her off the chair. He grabbed a handful of her hair and used it to tip her head back before giving her a long, deep kiss.
He was claiming her right there. He’d done it at the table, now he was doing the same in front of everyone else. Whistles, hollers and hoots came from several directions.