“Damn right, you do, but just so you know, she’s not at your house. Kenny texted me earlier and said she’s at Outlaw Racks showing up all the men at the pool tables,” Horse chuckles.
“What the fuck?” I say more than ask as I take off for my bike. The thought of Jordan being surrounded does nothing but make me see red. She’s not for them to touch let alone be close to.
“I knew that would get his ass home,” I hear Horse say right before he burst out laughing with all my brothers following suit.
Yeah, laugh all you want. For the first time, I feel lighter and it’s time I show Jordan that I want her.
No more of this push and pull shit with her.
She’s mine.
Climbing on my bike, I start her up and take off to claim my honey.
You know a badger has to have his honey and that’s what Jordan is— she’s my honey.
Chapter Fifteen
Jordan
I don’t know how much time has passed since I started shooting pool. At first, I played a few rounds by myself, then Kenny came over for a game. Followed by Mac. Now it’s become a tournament. And each person who steps up to the plate ends up doing the walk of shame.
“Damn Jordan, where the hell did you learn to play like that?” Kenny asks, laughing as I sink the eight ball into the corner pocket using a trick shot.
I stand straight from where I’d been hunched over the table. Holding the pool stick between both hands, I shrug. “One of my cousin’s friends taught me.”
I’m not big on talking about the guys of the Emerald Isle MC. It’s not my place to bring their name up with someone without permission. Though I’m sure none of them would care if I told Kenny something as feeble as them teaching me to play a game of pool. Well, more like own the game.
“They taught you well, babe, like seriously. You’re like a pro,” Kenny says as she moves closer to me.
“I don’t know about that. The only time I ever played was when visiting my mom,” I mutter as I move to rack the balls back up.
“You wouldn’t know it by watching you play. Jordan, you know how many games you’ve won?” Kenny’s laughter must be contagious because by the time she stops, I’m grinning myself.
“I can’t help those men couldn’t seem to bank a shot,” I try to say with a straight face, though I can’t stop from smiling.
Since being here, I’ve been able to not only focus on something else but have fun. I haven’t dwelled on any of it.
“Damn, I have to say if Badger doesn’t stop you from working here, it’s gonna be a blast,” Kenny says as she waves her hand at the waitress who has been bringing me drinks throughout the day.
“Why would he have a say in me working here?” I ask as the grin leaves my face.
“Babe, have you seen yourself? No man wants his woman looking the way you do working in a bar. Especially men like ours.” Still grinning, Kenny doesn’t give me a chance to answer. Instead, she leaves me standing there.
I should follow her and find out what she means by all that. I don’t need to look in a mirror to know what I look like. What I see is a woman who is scarred from all the beatings she’s taken throughout life. As for men, I don’t have one, so it shouldn’t be any of Badger’s business if I work here.
Shaking my head, I grab the cue ball and line it up, ready to play this game against myself. As I lean forward, lining up my shot, my thoughts go from Badger to other darker things. Such as what’s coming up in two weeks.
See, no one except my dad and I know what’s in store for me when I turn twenty-five, which is in two weeks. In two weeks, I’ll have no choice but to disappear.
Maybe I should just get trashed tonight and find some stranger to go home with. At least then I won’t have to worry about having somewhere to go. I made my mind up that when I got here, I’d find somewhere else to stay.
I may not have experience with men, but I do know they don’t treat women with the push and pull I’ve felt with Badger.
If I were to go home with some stranger, let them have their way with me, I might be able to feel something besides this constant numbing pain.
But I know I can’t do it. The thought of someone else touching me repulses me to no end. Badger’s the only one who has ever made me feel something else.
“Did you think you could escape your life, bréagán gnéis?” I stand instantly at the voice that fills my nightmares along with my father’s. Knowing better than to show fear of him or to cause a scene, I force back the shocked terror of being in his presence.
Without looking up, I shake my head as I slowly turn to face him— Kayne. The man who controls all.
“I asked you a question, I suggest you answer it,” Kayne demands, stepping further into my space.
“No,” I murmur as I finally meet his eyes. Eyes of the monster that I wish nothing more than to escape. A monster who seals my fate to be just as he calls me, a sex toy, a whore. Though I’ve not done anything sexual with anyone, it’s what I’m fated to be under the disguise of the wedding band I’m to wear. All thanks to a spineless father who kisses this man’s ass. Well, his and his father Kean.
“I would have thought differently after speaking to your father,” he murmurs as he takes the pool stick from me. Placing it on the table, he draws me into him. I don’t want to make it worse on me than it will already be.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, glancing away. My eyes focus on Kenny, hoping she doesn’t look this way.
“Do you have any idea why I’m here?” he asks, and I shake my head in answer. “You know why, sweetheart. I’ve decided I’m tired of waiting. You’re coming with me tonight. The fact I found you in a bar surrounded by men tonight is nothing compared to the knowledge of finding you living with a man for the last three weeks.”
Panic consumes me and I focus back on him. How does he know about me living with Badger? I hadn’t gone anywhere in the last three weeks.
This was the first day I ventured out. Damnit, I’m fuckin’ stupid to leave. Better yet, I’m even dumber ‘cause now I’ve just made my life even harder.
“By the look in your eyes, I see you underestimate me. We’ll just have to change that.” Chuckling, Kayne lifts a hand to grip my chin.
“Please don’t do this,” I say quietly.
“But sweetheart, you’re to be my wife. I bought and paid a great amount for you. Now, since your father couldn’t contain you any longer, it’s time you come home, bréagán gnéis.” The way his eyes gleam in anticipation fills me with unadulterated trepidation that I wish I could let him put a bullet in me rather than go with him.
“I suggest you get your fuckin’ hands off my woman.” I don’t have to look behind me to know who that voice belongs to as he growls those words.
Badger’s here and he doesn’t sound happy.
Fuck my life.
Chapter Sixteen
Badger
Entering Outlaw Racks, my eyes find Jordan instantly and I begin to see red. I don’t know who the fucker is touching her, but he’s a dead man. From the way Jordan has her eyes cast to the side, I know something’s not right.