Savage turned his death stare on Maestro and Lana. It was a shit thing for them to do to make Seychelle feel she wasn’t worth anything.
Czar’s head snapped up. He looked at Savage as if Savage had lost his mind. Savage shook his head. He would never tell his woman that. Not in a million years, and Czar should know that.
Before Czar could ask, Seychelle went on. “It appears you don’t need many of the other women, Czar.” Her cool blue eyes raked the president. “Nor did you have any problem telling the ones you chose to bring what to expect.”
Shit. Shit. Shit. She didn’t care in the least about throwing shit in Czar’s face. Her jacket might say PROPERTY OF on it, but she didn’t know exactly what that meant, and that was on him—not that she would have cared at that moment. She was looking for any reason to leave. One wrong misstep, and there was going to be a battle to end all battles; he could see the determination on her face.
She gave another twist to her wrist to try to get his fingers off hers. He tightened them, not willing to let her go. For all he knew, she might take it in her head to run. She definitely didn’t want his hands on her. She wasn’t fooling around either. Seychelle was her own person. He had a feeling if she could have, she would have marched right out from under the club’s watchful eyes and gone back to Sea Haven on her own.
He glanced at Czar’s set features. Czar read people better than anyone he knew. He had a gift for it. Right now, he was reading Seychelle. Like Savage, he was concerned that their little songbird was contemplating flying her cage. Czar sent Savage a look that clearly asked what the hell he’d done. Then Czar glanced over his shoulder at the two women with that same look on his face. They both squirmed as well. At least they knew Czar wanted Seychelle along. If he’d demanded she be there, their petty interference hadn’t been a good idea, and both of them knew it.
Savage remained quiet. He just wanted to get to their campsite and be alone with his woman. He needed to know what had been said to her. He needed to tell her what Czar had said to him. They had to be united as much as possible. She had to be hurt and scared. She needed to lean on him, and he had to show her she was his priority.
Hyde and Glitch had secured the campsite Czar had ordered, one in deep cover, one they could protect fairly easily. They’d scouted the site weeks earlier when they knew they were going to join the Diamondbacks on the run.
Once Czar had realized what might happen on the run and that Savage would most likely have to use his skills to extract information for the club, Czar wanted to give him as much comfort for Seychelle as possible. They both knew she might be needed every evening rather than just one. Their camping area was in the very corner under trees, with the rest of the club surrounding them on three sides. They had plenty of room, including a picnic table and an area where they could sleep privately, as well as a small firepit of their own if they wanted to use it.
Savage set up their gear while Seychelle watched him, keeping the picnic table between them at all times. She pulled off her gloves and heavy jacket, tossing them onto the table before undoing the tight weave she’d put in her hair. The wind had picked up, and as fast as she pulled her fingers through to tame the wavy platinum-and-gold hair, it got away from her and went wild, just the way he liked it best.
The other members of Torpedo Ink claimed various spots to set up their private quarters around them but at a far enough distance to give them privacy, something that was not ordinary by any means. He didn’t bother to tell Seychelle that, nor did he think she would care, not the way she was looking at him.
Once he had everything exactly where he wanted it and could get his hands on weapons anywhere in their campsite, he turned his attention to his woman. She had watched his every move, noting where every item was kept, alternating with scanning around to check out those camping beyond Torpedo Ink. That was much more difficult, because Czar had claimed a bit of territory for them to make it harder for any club to get to the women in the center. He was just as worried about Alena as he was about Seychelle.
The second Torpedo Ink chapter based in Trinity had surrounded their chapter, adding an additional protective ring. Originally their own club, the chapter was made up of men and women who had attended one of the schools Sorbacov had run. They had been trained as assassins to be used as assets for their country. Like the original members of Torpedo Ink, their families had been murdered. They had petitioned to join Torpedo Ink as a second chapter. The original members had voted them in.
“Babe, do you want to go first, or do you want me to?” Savage asked as he lifted the cooler onto the picnic table. “Czar had me so pissed I couldn’t see straight this afternoon, and I didn’t even notice you were upset. I should have.” He pulled out plates and put bread on them. “You want cheese or ham and cheese? I can fire up the grill if you prefer something hot.”
“I’m good with cheese. In case you’ve forgotten, I don’t eat meat.”
She was actually talking to him. That was a really good sign. She came around the picnic table to climb up onto the other side to get out the condiments to help him.
“Yeah, babe, I remember. Wanted to make sure you were paying attention.” He didn’t forget details like that.
“Why were you so angry with Czar?”
“He didn’t bring any of the other women. You didn’t want to come, and you were really uncomfortable. Contrary to popular belief, I can actually control myself and go without someone who is not you blowing me for a couple of days. I wanted to take you home and then come back. Czar, instead of acting like a brother, acted like the president of the club and insisted you stay. He said it wasn’t only me that needed you, whatever the fuck that means.”
He slapped the thin slices of cheese on the bread and handed her the plate. “He was adamant. I told him I thought it was bullshit when he wasn’t risking anyone else’s woman.”
“But you didn’t defy him,” Seychelle said, her voice very low.
His gaze jumped to her face, fury rising for a split second. He shoved it down. The anger was at himself. She didn’t sound judgmental. That was on him. He hadn’t told Czar to go fuck himself as he wanted to do. Like he’d been doing since he was a toddler, he followed his decree. He put his woman squarely in the path of whatever danger they were in. He couldn’t even be angry with Czar. It had been his choice to go along with his president’s ruling.
“No, I’m so used to always doing what Czar says because he has this sixth sense. Just the way we developed our psychic abilities, he developed his until they were razor-sharp. He sees things, knows things. He’s never steered us wrong.”
“Did he say why he thought I needed to be here?”
Savage shifted his weight onto the table and shook his head. “I don’t think he knows. It was that way when we were kids down in the basement. I remember this one time there was this little girl. She was with another faction. We all kind of liked her. Lana and Alena were summoned upstairs, and so was the girl. They were going to be given to some asshole friend of Sorbacov who loved using the crop on little girls before he raped them. It wasn’t the first time Lana and this girl had taken the crop. They were so small, but Sorbacov didn’t care. Alena had never had the experience. We wanted to kill the fucker. Anyway, this girl said she was the new girl and took Alena’s place.”