More motorcycles had pulled into the gas station, and he found himself meeting his woman as she came out of the restroom. Any other time he’d be happy she was walking slow and gingerly, but he could only focus on the sadness on her face. That wasn’t Seychelle. She lived in the moment. She would normally be looking around her, taking everything in, looking at him with joy and sharing the smallest detail.
His heart dropped. This wasn’t okay. Not by a long shot. He wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. “Babe, I’ve got to talk to Czar. Shouldn’t take long. Would you mind hanging with Maestro for a few minutes?”
Her stunning blue eyes searched his face, moved to the rest of his brethren, the few women, and then to where Maestro lounged beside one of the few tables outside.
“I’m good right here.” She patted the seat of his Harley. “Standing and walking around feels good on my sore bum.” She flashed a small grin at him, inviting him to share her predicament.
Savage framed her face with his hands. “I should have listened to you, baby, about the run. I was being selfish. I never thought of myself as being a selfish man, but I’m beginning to see I have more of that in me than I ever realized.”
She gave him a little frown. “You’re always so decisive, Savage. Why are you changing your mind about me going with you?”
“I don’t like what this is doing to us. Just give me a few minutes, Seychelle. I’ll be right back.” He brushed his lips gently over hers, trying to convey tenderness. Love. Trying to tell her no matter what, he stood with her.
She nodded, and Savage dropped his hands and walked away from her. He didn’t like the fact that Lana, Alena, Lissa and Scarlet sat at one of the small tables in the middle of the grass and his woman was by herself on the sidewalk near his bike. Deliberately, he didn’t look back, but he saw everything, and he carried that shit in his mind when he approached his president.
“Need to talk to you, Czar.”
“Sure,” Czar said readily.
Savage glanced at Reaper and Destroyer, the two men guarding Czar. “Private.”
Czar frowned, lifting his gaze beyond him to where Seychelle paced in front of the row of bikes and then nodded. He gestured along the walkway. “What’s up?”
“I want to take Seychelle back home. I’ll leave her with the other women and your brothers, the ones looking out for them, and I’ll meet you before midnight. I can take Maestro with me.”
“What’s wrong, Savage?”
“I don’t know, but something. Something huge, Czar. I’ve got a bad feeling, and I don’t ever ignore my gut. She’s not happy. She didn’t want to come in the first place. We’re not in sync, and for something like this to work, we need to be. She shouldn’t be here.”
Czar stood at the corner of the building, once more looking at Seychelle. “Ordinarily, I would say you would be right to leave her home, but you’re going to need her, Savage.”
Savage felt a sudden rush of adrenaline, the onset of his vicious temper. He turned away from his president, pushing down the swirling rage. “I wish everyone would quit telling me what I’m going to need. The truth is, only I can say what I’m going to need, and when. I do have some self-control, and over the years I’ve actually used it a time or two.”
“That’s true. I can’t argue with that. On the other hand, we have enemies coming at us from all sides again. We don’t even know who half of them are, Savage, and it’s your job to find out.”
“That’s another reason she shouldn’t be here. Do you really think she isn’t going to find out what the fuck I do to get that information? She had nightmares even after I took tremendous precautions after questioning Arnold. She’ll be right here with me. It isn’t like I’ll be able to go somewhere for a night before I see her. It’s best if she’s home waiting for me.”
Czar was silent for a few moments, his gaze still on Seychelle. Slowly, he shook his head. “That isn’t going to work this time.”
“It’s my body. My head. I can hold it together,” Savage snarled. Seychelle was his woman. Czar had the right to dictate club business, but this was stepping on relationship business. “Seychelle is in over her head, and both of us know it. She’s hanging on by a thread. You all but threatened her when I took her to your home. She’s a smart woman, and she caught on to what you were saying about club business and who she could trust and who she couldn’t. I’m telling you straight up, she isn’t ready for this. I want to take her home. You can count on me. I wouldn’t ever let the club down.”
Czar’s eyes were a deep, penetrating blue, like twin ice picks. “I never thought you would, Savage, but you put your claim on her, and that made her Torpedo Ink. She’s needed. Not just by you, and you will need her. I absolutely know that you will, but the club will need her too. So no, this isn’t just about your relationship. This is club business.”
Savage balled his fist and stepped toward Czar. “Like fucking hell, it is. Seychelle is my business. You don’t get to dictate to me what I do with my woman.”
Reaper and Destroyer moved closer, feeling the threat to Czar. It poured off Savage. Czar didn’t move. He just looked at Savage, waiting.
Maestro sauntered across the grass to Seychelle’s side. She flicked him a quick look from under her lashes but kept striding back and forth. Lana and Alena followed him at a much more leisurely pace. Seychelle could tell by the stealthy looks they were exchanging and the quick glances they were sneaking at Czar and Savage that what they were really after was information.
“Are you going to stop wasting energy?” Maestro demanded. “Stand still, for fuck’s sake, Seychelle.”
Of everyone in the Torpedo Ink club, Maestro reminded her the most of Savage. Sometimes Destroyer did as well, but he rarely spoke, so it was difficult to assess his personality.
“Did you want something?” Seychelle asked, coming to a stop in front of him but where she could keep an eye on her man. He seemed very tense. Angry, even, which didn’t make sense when he was talking with Czar. Just looking at him, anyone could see the danger pouring off him, warning anyone coming close to him to stay away. She wasn’t the only one to think that; Czar’s personal bodyguards had moved in protectively.
“What’s got Savage so upset that he’s threatening Czar?”
“Is that what he’s doing?” Seychelle asked, going for wide-eyed innocence. He definitely looked threatening, not that Czar was backing down.
“Yeah, I’d say Savage was getting close to decking him.”
“Isn’t there some kind of rule against decking the club president?” Seychelle lifted one eyebrow. Savage would have yanked her to him and delivered a smack to her butt. The moment she was sarcastic, he would have known she was giving him crap.
Lana and Alena overheard. They had walked right up to them, uncaring whether or not the conversation was private.
“I see you didn’t waste any time causing trouble,” Lana pointed out. “I was afraid this might happen. A rift between our top enforcer and our president. All over little old you. That must make you feel powerful.”