"Why now?" Colton asked, leaning back in his chair. "After all this time of being quiet?"
"Who the hell knows?" Cole grumbled, running his hand over his head.
"We've beefed up our presence at Grinders and the tattoo shop. Nothing to worry about now, just wanted to give everyone a heads up."
"What about our brothels?"
Demon shook his head. "They're too far outside of Vegas, and too isolated. Be hard for anyone to scope them out without being seen." He looked over at me with a smirk. "That's it for now, Brothers. Let's go celebrate with our new VP!"
When he scooted back his chair, we all followed.
Chapter 7
Holly
When you had a baby, you had to be prepared for things to not go according to plan. I’d intended to leave right after seeing the men heading off to church, but Ava had chosen that time to have a messy bowel movement and I'd had to take her back upstairs to give her a bath. Annabelle had offered to do it, but she'd had Ava all night and I hadn't wanted to take advantage. She was already going to be taking Ava in the evenings when I worked, so she'd have plenty of time with my daughter.
Smelling fresh and clean, Ava and I headed back downstairs. It was obvious from the noise from below that the men were out of church, and I nearly stumbled when I glanced over at the bar and saw Sax with his arm around Goldie. The woman looked too comfortable against him, and I saw from her appearance that she'd already embraced the club slut persona as if she'd been born into it.
My heart lurched painfully at the sight. How was I supposed to deal with this? Especially after what had happened between us the night before? I was still slightly sore from his pounding. I hadn't been intimate with anyone since the attack that had caused this whole mess between me and Sax. Well, it wasn't exactly true that the attack had been responsible for the mess we were in--I was the reason we were no longer together.
When I'd found out that I was pregnant I hadn't been able to bear the thought that the baby might not be Sax’s. Was it possible that Ava was his daughter? Yes. And it made me sick every time I thought about my deceit. Even if she were his, once he found out what I'd done he would never trust me again. Losing Sax had been the price I'd had to pay for having a child.
A girlish giggle drew my gaze to the bitch that was plastered against Sax. Goldie was a pretty girl, and she was rocking the low-riding short shorts and crop top that exposed her midriff and the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. Her hair was pulled up, exposing her neck. Sax's eyes met mine just as he turned slightly to run his nose along her flesh.
I looked away quickly, fighting back tears, and made my way back to where most of the old ladies were sitting. Somehow I found a smile in me as everyone welcomed me back to the table. There was something about their expressions and the atmosphere in the room that made me feel as if something big was going on.
"Let me have that baby!"
I automatically handed Ava off to a smiling Bobbie. "Next time she does a mess like that you can change her. I had to give her a bath."
"I don't care," Bobbie said, nuzzling Ava beneath her chin and making her squeal. "She smells so good!"
"That's because she's new." JoJo and everyone else laughed at her comment.
"You missed the excitement." I looked at Annie for her to continue. "Sax is the club's new VP."
I'd already made it clear to the girls that we weren't going to walk around on eggshells when it came to talking about Sax. Somehow I'd convinced them that I was over him and starting a new life with Ava. That was a big, fat lie, but a necessary one. I tried but couldn’t bring myself to look back toward the bar, where it was obvious now that a celebration was going on. God, I knew that I would need to congratulate him. It was the right thing to do.
"Let me go congratulate him before I leave." I turned before anyone responded.
I took several calming breaths as I made my way over to him. He was surrounded by his brothers and all of the club girls, the center of their congratulations. Jealousy slammed through me, but I was determined to get through this. I could fake it when I needed to. Reid and Loco saw me approaching and moved aside to make room for me up against the bar. Goldie seemed to cling closer to Sax when she noticed me, a possessive look in her eyes that I didn’t miss.
"Hey, honey, come over to congratulate our new VP?"
I barely acknowledged Dancer's comment.
Finally, Sax turned toward me, but he didn't speak. He stared down at me with hard eyes and a tightness to his mouth that revealed his displeasure with my appearance. "I just heard the good news and, um, wanted to congratulate you." My voice grew huskier with every word. It killed me to see his arm around Goldie, his hand against the bareness of her waist. Somehow I kept the smile on my face, even through the slight quivering of my bottom lip.
His gaze moved over me, taking in the short, clingy sundress that I wore, his eyes lingering on my breasts. Everything fit me a little tighter these days, so that when my nipples tightened against the material it was noticeable. I hated him at that moment, because his slight smirk revealed that he knew I was reacting to him. I always had.
Was he not going to talk to me? After a minute of waiting for a response, I swung around and rushed off to the restroom. I didn't want anyone to see how crushed I was over his cold indifference. I told myself that I deserved it, but still it hurt, especially to have to bear it in front of the club's watchful eyes. Before I left the room I'd seen some of the looks on his brother's faces, expressions that revealed that they knew what I was feeling. The fact that they couldn't look me in the eye told me a lot.
I made it to the bathroom, closed the door, and leaned against it for a minute to pull myself together. God, this was going to be harder than I’d thought. I had to get out of there. I went to the sink and splashed some cold water over my face, using a paper towel to pat it dry. A churning in my belly warned me that I could easily toss up my breakfast. My complexion was so pale that I pinched my cheeks to get some color into them.
The door opened and I looked in the mirror to see Sax walk in. My pulse jumped as I took in his expression, and I wondered what was going on. "I think you have the wrong restroom." I heard the nervousness in my voice.
"Don't need to take a piss." His tone was emotionless, but it still did something to me.
"Then what do you need, Sax?" I turned to face him, leaning against the counter. "It can't be sex. You seem to have that covered, with the way you and Goldie were all over each other." I prayed that he didn't hear the jealousy in my words.
He grinned, and I knew that he had. "Jealous, Baby?"
I squared my shoulders. "Why would I be jealous? We're both free to fuck whoever we want." I flinched at the callousness of my comment. It wasn't like me, and the way that Sax's face darkened revealed that he didn't like it. "What I mean is—"
"I know what you mean, Holly." He stepped further into the room. "I've spent the good part of a year getting over you so I could move on. Today I plan to move on with Goldie, and any of the other club whores who want my dick."
I swallowed hard, fighting back the tears that threatened to come. The thought of Sax with any woman was killing me. "You hate me."