“I don’t have a clue what’s going on. Everyone around me does, but I don’t. Still, Savage is insistent that I do as he asks and use my talent to help all of you when I’m treated like an outsider.” She shook her head. “I can’t be that person anymore. I’ve lost who I am. It makes me feel weak, and I’m disgusted with myself. I’ve become someone I don’t like very much.”
Maestro shook his head. “A woman trusts her man, she does what he says. It’s that simple. She doesn’t cause drama like this in the middle of one of the most dangerous runs we’ve ever been on, especially when her man needs her the most.”
Savage wanted to leap across the picnic table and take his brother down, feel the satisfying thud of fists hitting flesh. He must have made a sound, because Reaper turned and Czar stood, but Seychelle was there before the men. She glided in between Savage and Maestro, one small palm on Savage’s chest, but she faced Maestro.
“How dare you think you know me to reprimand me. You’re the idiot that gave Savage the idea he should use another woman to give him a blow job when he was with me. That’s called cheating, in case you’re not smart enough to understand at least that much in a relationship between a man and a woman. You think you know so much, but you don’t have a clue. It’s too bad that you helped lose your brother the best thing he ever had.”
“I fucking have not lost you. You aren’t leaving me,” Savage decreed. He all but snarled it, glaring at first her and then Maestro.
Seychelle was unfazed by Savage’s glare. If anything, she was calmer than all of them. Distant. As if she had made up her mind, and all the questions and answers in the world weren’t really going to make a difference.
She shifted her gaze toward Czar. “You were aware I needed Savage, that I asked him to stay with me, yet you insisted he go with you and the club. Why?”
“He was needed in his role to extract the information we needed.”
“Every one of you is capable of getting the information you needed. Even him.” She jerked her chin toward Maestro. “He clearly isn’t in a committed relationship, and if he is, he doesn’t give a damn about his woman. Why not have him get the information for you? Why insist that Savage put his relationship on the line? Was it some kind of loyalty test?”
She was magnificent. Savage would have thought he couldn’t admire or respect her any more, but she just stood up to both club members, the president and Maestro, who could put the fear of the devil into anyone. Seychelle certainly wasn’t intimidated.
“No, honey, it wasn’t a test of loyalty. I didn’t realize what was happening to you. I still am not certain what was going on. He kept asking for more time, but Code had uncovered information that led us to believe members of our club and several other clubs were in danger. We needed the names of those in danger and also any others who might be able to point us toward who wants all of us dead. We have to shut this down.” As always, when Czar spoke, he did so calmly, his eyes that piercing silver that seemed to look right through you.
Savage remained absolutely still, with the exception of one hand. He had to connect with Seychelle, and she had made that first move, giving him the opportunity. She came close to him. Put her hand on him. Right over his heart. He put his palm over hers. Gently. Barely touching her, trying not to be possessive. Trying not to make her feel like his prisoner. Just needing that connection. She didn’t move her hand, and he closed his eyes and let the rush of electricity heat his blood and slide over his skin like armor.
“You’re right that all of us were trained to extract information from prisoners, but Savage is without equal in this department. He’s fast, and he can get the job done without killing the prisoner or harming them to the point that we’d have to kill them. In this case, Tawny, a woman, was the person we needed information from. That made it even more difficult. We needed his expertise. It was my call. There were so many lives at stake, and I had set up the meeting. I knew we didn’t have a lot of time. I should have considered something might be going on and asked first.”
Seychelle nodded her head and sighed, leaning back so her weight was partially on Savage. His arm slid around her waist to lock her to him.
“I was in trouble, Czar. Brandon Campbell planted one of his suggestions in my head, and I needed my fiancé to help me. I never, not once, asked him for anything. I asked him to stay and help me. He didn’t. He went off with you. He would again, every time, because he is Torpedo Ink. I will always come in second to the club.”
“It isn’t like that,” Czar said. “This was my fault.”
Seychelle shook her head. “It is exactly like that, and you know it. I didn’t want to come here. He insisted I come.”
“He wanted to take you home. I refused. I knew we were going to need you. I still think it’s imperative you’re here,” Czar said.
Seychelle looked at him steadily. “It was obvious, just like the night I sang in the bar, that something was wrong. All of you know what it is, and you clearly brought me along because you need me to perform some task for you. I’m not a club member. You’re using me. He uses me. What exactly am I getting out of this? Because I don’t know.”
“None of us really knew for certain,” Czar said. “It isn’t a matter of using you.”
“Of course it is. Don’t kid yourself. None of them like me for Savage. They’ve said as much, so don’t try to tell me different. I don’t like any of you. I don’t want to help any of you. You treat me like an outsider and encourage my partner to screw other women. Hell, you’re probably laughing behind my back. I don’t know. I don’t care. I’m tired, and I want out.”
Savage tightened his arm around her, locking her to him. He bent his head and brushed a kiss on top of her hair, waiting for Czar to sort through the mess. She had a right to feel the way she did. He couldn’t fault her on anything she said. Still, he wasn’t letting her go.
“What do you think about all this, Savage? You’ve had time to assess it,” Czar asked, his voice quiet in the darkness.
“Seychelle is right. I am Torpedo Ink, and I always will be. But I’m Seychelle’s partner. She’s my other half. I should have made certain she was safe before I did anything else. She’s my first priority. I could have made that clear to you and taken the time to help her. If necessary, the club could have helped her.”
Czar nodded. “Exactly. Relationships are difficult when you’ve never seen them before. We were raised without parents, Seychelle. We had no patterns to follow. We learn as we go, so mistakes are made all the time. You have to be patient, but Savage, you have to listen to her. She does come first.”
“Why am I the only person not included when you tell everyone what’s going on?” Seychelle asked Czar.
Savage’s heart nearly stopped beating and then accelerated. Involuntarily, his arm tightened to the point she had to reach up and touch his face.
“Too tight, I can’t breathe.” She looked up at him. “It’s you. Not the club. You’re hiding something from me.”
“We don’t talk about club business,” Czar said, backing Savage up.