Tony’s gaze was steady on hers. “Savage has a pretty rough reputation, and I’d say it was earned. Maybe everyone’s looking out for you.”
She didn’t answer him. What was there to say? She didn’t want to give these men any advantage over Savage, and she had no idea what they were after.
“You know if he plans on going on the run this weekend with his club? You going with him?” Tony kept watching her, as if he could somehow get her to answer him if he stared at her intently enough.
Seychelle looked beyond him to the building he’d just come out of. A real estate office. She even knew the couple who sold homes and properties. They were a wonderful older husband-and-wife team and very successful at what they did.
“Are you buying a home here?” She was very uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. She wasn’t about to talk about Savage, her relationship with him or anything to do with his club. Fortunately, she really didn’t know anything about his club.
“Looking,” he said vaguely. “You have an amazing voice. There’s something very soothing about it. I almost felt you could reach right into all of us and control our emotions. That’s how beautiful your voice is. Torpedo Ink is lucky to have you singing in their band.”
Her phone vibrated, and she pulled it from her back pocket. Savage. Of course. She glanced across the street. Hyde was just outside the door of the Floating Hat.
Babe, get in the car. Be casual. Just drive away. Hyde will catch up.
“I’m not sure what to say to that. Thank you for the compliment, but I’m just a regular singer, nothing special. I don’t actually sing with the band all the time, just every now and then, when I feel like it. They’re unbelievable musicians, and it’s a privilege to sing with them.” She glanced at her watch. “It was really nice to meet you, Tony, but I’ve got an appointment I can’t miss. I got a little carried away with shopping today and let the time get away from me.”
Deliberately, she gave a little laugh and indicated the packages in the back seat of the MINI Cooper, even as she pulled open the door to the driver’s seat. Slipping in, she immediately started the car, not wanting to take a chance that Tony might stop her. He looked for a moment like he might step up to the window, but then he backed to the sidewalk. He lifted his head and looked down the street.
As she pulled the MINI Cooper onto the street, she noticed two more Diamondbacks, both in jeans, wearing their cuts. They were on the other side of the Floating Hat. Two others were across the street from the tea shop. Hyde was surrounded and alone. Should she just leave him? She drove up the street and around the corner, where she pulled over.
Hyde is cut off from his bike, surrounded by Diamondbacks. I could go back and do the innocent act, get him into the tea shop or something.
Seychelle found herself holding her breath. She wasn’t cut out to be a biker babe. She had absolutely no idea what one did in these circumstances.
Drive on home, Seychelle. Lana and Alena are in town at the moment, and they will handle this. Don’t want the Diamondbacks to know you’re with us yet.
They were asking questions about us. About the run. Whether I was going with you. He talked a lot about my voice and controlling emotions with it.
For the first time there was a long pause before Savage texted back. Get home, meaning the big house. A couple of the boys will pick up your protection and I’ll meet you there.
Savage paced back and forth, seriously pissed that he’d let his woman go into town without him. He’d been uneasy from the moment he’d left her. He knew something was wrong. Hell, every member of Torpedo Ink could feel the tension winding tighter between the Diamondback and Venomous clubs, and they were caught in the middle. The Diamondbacks wanted to get something—anything—on Torpedo Ink to make certain they were in their pocket.
Members of the Diamondbacks came to the coast occasionally and checked in with Czar. They frequented the bar with their old ladies on the nights the band played more often than they had before, but they didn’t make their presence known in large numbers. They didn’t want law enforcement to suddenly sit up and take notice that something might be up, such as a war between two clubs.
Savage really didn’t like that Seychelle was anywhere on the Diamondbacks’ radar. It was bad enough that Torpedo Ink had to worry about Alena, but now with this new play, he was extremely worried. So was Czar. Neither could figure out what the reason could be.
The comment about her voice controlling emotions had to have come from Brandon Campbell. No Diamondback would have figured that out on their own. They wouldn’t even believe in psychic gifts, and if they did, they wouldn’t admit it out loud. He had known from the beginning that Brandon was going to be a vindictive little shit, but Little Miss Trouble just didn’t listen to him. She smiled and went her own way. Why was Brandon getting involved, and how had he? He wouldn’t just walk up to a Diamondback and give him that kind of information, not without them laughing their asses off at him.
He heard the garage door and motorcycles peeling off, going back up the drive. He glanced down at his phone. His brothers had seen his woman safely home. He listened to doors opening and heard the rustle of bags as she came through the side door carrying the things she’d purchased. He should have gone to help her, but he enjoyed the sounds of her coming home, knowing his woman was in the house.
Her scent drifted into the bedroom. A delicate wild strawberry that settled the tension swirling in his gut. He stood, feet apart, one hand on top of the thick wooden post at the end of the bed. It was solid. His brothers, when they made furniture, always made it solid. There were no half-assed measures. His fingers unerringly found the rings embedded in the wood, deep, nearly impossible to pull out. Definitely no half-assed measures. He didn’t have to look to see where the rings were. He knew.
Seychelle came through the doorway, looked up and saw him. Her face lit up. That look. It clawed at him every time. Wrecked him. She put her packages in the corner and smiled at him, her dimple showing, the corners of her mouth turning up in that innocent, genuine smile. The blue in her eyes went sea blue. Sapphire. It was impossible not to see love there. Soft. Shining for him.
“Hi, honey.”
He could hear love in her voice, stroking over his skin. His heart clenched hard in his chest. He had never expected to have her.
“Is Hyde all right? I hated to just leave him there.”
Seychelle. She would have waded right through the Diamondbacks, uncaring of any danger to herself to help out a man she barely knew. It was no wonder she twisted him up inside.
“He’s just fine, baby. Lana and Alena were headed to the tea shop. They took care of it. Acted like they didn’t even notice the Diamondbacks until they had Hyde safely on his way. Flirted a little and then went into the shop. No problem.”
She started toward him and he held up his hand to stop her. “Strip. Everything off, Seychelle. Then go outside to the verandah facing the bluffs and bend over the rail and wait for me. Have your legs spread wide. Farther than shoulder-width apart.”
She halted in the middle of the bedroom floor, looking a little shocked, but at the same time, he could see the flare of excitement in her eyes. It was impossible to hide that from him. He’d seen it that first time in the alley, when he’d taken her cigarettes and he’d spun her around and turned her toward the wall, lifted her skirt and slapped her bottom. She’d obeyed him. She’d let him spank her without calling out for help. And she’d been aroused. He’d known then that she was far too compatible for a man like him. There was no way he was going to be able to resist her.