“She’s got no one.”
“And that makes it okay?” I ask Dane.
He lets out a steady breath. “No, it doesn’t. But without the club she has nothing.”
I hate the empathy in his eyes, as if he relates to her. Dane is nothing like Tasha. Nothing.
“Maybe she should try to keep her opinions to herself, then,” I mutter.
“Hey,” Dane squeezes my knee, “don’t let her get to you.”
My lips purse as I watch her saunter over to Rhett, running her manicured fingers up his inked skin. Red-hot jealousy unfurls in my stomach, and I lurch forward, but Dane holds me back, leaning in to whisper, “Look.”
Rhett glares down at her, roughly removing her hand from his arm. Tasha’s lips curl in disgust. “Seriously?” I hear her whine. “You’re going to pass up a chance to fuck me for… her?” Her eyes cut to me, and before I know it, I’m up off the bench and storming toward her.
“Oh shit,” someone rasps as I grab her by the hair and yank her backward. Her shrieks of pain fill the clubhouse.
“You’re done.” I drag her toward the doors. “So done.”
“Get the hell off me, bitch, you can’t—”
“Sadie Ray,” Dad bellows across the room. “Put her down, right this instant.”
Snickers ring out around me, everyone watching with amusement as I shove Tasha. She staggers backward, hissing at me like a snake.
“You fucking bit—”
“Okay, Tash, let’s go take a walk.” Rosita and Jada crowd her toward the door, forming a barrier between her and me.
“Get her out of here,” I snap, anger zipping through me like wildfire.
“Go cool off.” Rosita shoots me a disappointed look, and part of me wants to go at her too. They’re defending her… Tasha. After she came at me, spewing her cruel words and blatantly trying to get a rise out of me.
I feel Rhett at my back. He doesn’t touch me, but his presence is enough to make me move, and I slink over to the bar, perching on one of the stools.
“You good?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I clench my fist again, focusing on the way my muscles expand and contract.
“She’s not worth it.”
My brow lifts, and he lets out a smooth chuckle.
“You’re better than her,” he says, as if it’s the simplest thing.
I feel eyes on me, and I know if I turn around that half the club is probably watching me, wondering what I’ll do next.
“Maybe I slightly overreacted. But she touched you and—”
“You were jealous,” he deadpans.
“Apparently my hormones are territorial.”
He leans closer. “Just your hormones?”
A small smile tips the corner of my mouth.
“Can I trust you not to attack any more of the women?” Dad asks, coming up to rest his arms on the bar beside me.
“She’s a bitch.”
“Tash is a little misguided, yes. But she’s not a bad girl. She needs the club, Sadie Ray.”
“What are you saying?” I balk.
“You need to play nice.”
“Seriously? She needs to learn to keep—”
“I’ll talk to her. I’ll let her know not to come sniffing around Rhett or Stray anymore.” He blows out a strained breath, rubbing a hand down his jaw. “No more bitch fights.”
“Fine.” I flash him a saccharine smile as he pushes off the bar.
“And no more skinny dipping in the river.” His jaw tics. “You’re going to send me to an early grave if you’re not careful.”
“Is that all?”
“Oh, I have a growing list of things we need to talk about, but we’ve got bigger problems right now.” He glances at Rhett. “Keep an eye on her. I’m trusting you to keep her out of trouble.”
“Yeah, Prez. You got it.”
“Fucking kids,” he mutters as he walks away just as a loud boom rocks through the place and screams fill the clubhouse, glass shattering everywhere.
“The fuck?” Rhett plasters himself against me, shielding me from the devastation.
Everyone seems to hold their breath as we wait for another explosion, but nothing comes.
“Is everyone okay?” Dad yells, surveying the damage. Aside from the shelves holding all the drinks shattering and a couple of windows blown out, everything seems okay.
But then shouts come from outside and dread races down my spine.
“What now?” Dad mutters as he unsheathes his pistol and storms out of the clubhouse.
27
Rhett
I hold Sadie against me, my arms in a vise-like grip around her body as I shield her from the source of the explosion, keeping my word to Ray.
I will always protect her.
“Fuck. Are you okay?” I breathe, looking down at her and pulling her wild curls away from her face.
She’s pale, her eyes wide in fear.
We both know that whatever that was, it was a warning. They can get into our compound if they want.
And they can get to her.
Fear races down my spine, my entire body noticeably shuddering with it.
“Y-yeah, I’m okay. Y-you—where’s Dane and Wes?” she asks, stepping up on her toes to look over my shoulder.
“They were right—” I look over at the last place I saw them, but they’re no longer there. “Uh…”
“They went outside. They fucking went outside, Rhett,” she cries, her body trembling as the realization hits her.
She darts around me, but I catch her waist. “No, princess.”
“But they might be hurt. They might need me.”
“Or there might be another bomb, and it might hit their intended target,” I growl in her ear, fear like I’ve never known before flooding me.
“Fuck. I hate this.”
“The feeling is mutual, princess,” I mutter as I stare through the blown-out window in the hope that Dane might just walk past like nothing ever happened and he was taking a piss.
I even look for Noble. Asshole.
“We need to find them, Rhett. Please.”
She turns to me, her huge, dark eyes laced with fear and full of tears. “I-if they’ve been—” A sob swallows her words, and something inside my chest cracks open at the sound.
Sadie doesn’t break down. Ever.
She’s strong. So fucking strong. So seeing her like this fucking wrecks me.
“Okay,” I agree, unable to deny that I also need to see that my best friend is alive and able to continue giving me shit.
We hang back as the rest of the club head outside behind Ray and Micky, and leaving the other old ladies and girlfriends behind, I tuck Sadie into my side and follow, praying to anyone that will listen that both of them are okay.
The scene before us as we step outside is one of pure devastation.
The vehicle that went up is obliterated, parts thrown across the yard, the main chassis still on fire. There are bodies strewn around the place and my stomach twists. There’s no way we haven’t lost any brothers in all of this.
I just hope it’s not the one I so desperately need to find.