Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Cassie
Idon't know Koa, so I shouldn't be hurt by him tossing me aside. Almost literally. He was so damn gentle when he pushed me away.
"Don't pout, little girl. He needs to help Maddox," Spider growls, standing behind the couch still.
I fucking hate how he calls me that. Maybe if he were using it as a term of endearment, like Koa calling me baby, I'd appreciate it more.
No, this man is condescending and rude. I don't know why the hell Koa was spouting shit about the four of them claiming me when it's clear Maddox and Spider want the opposite.
I decide it's best to keep my mouth shut rather than picking a fight with the chiseled man. I'm all out of sorts and don't need a verbal sparring match when there's a literal fistfight happening across the room.
With a cringe, I pull my legs up onto the couch to snuggle in and watch the chaos. Now that I'm not needing to play club slut, maybe I can figure out what the hell is going on here.
What I notice confuses me. There's a scary-looking man staring at Maddy with a grin on his face.
What throws me is how nonchalant he is while two men are beating each other up beside him.
The two brawlers are wearing a cut different from the Shadows, so they must be his men. Why isn't he stopping them?
The next thing that stands out to me is Maddy's posture. He's tense and ready to throw down, yet he's holding himself back from taking care of the clear disrespect happening in his clubhouse.
Just as one of the fighters moves to bash the other into the bar top, Ripper punches the falling man to the ground. "You put one fucking dent in our bar, and I'll lock you in the goddamn basement until you rot."
"Whoa, hey now, Ripper." The scary man who was talking to Maddy steps in. "No need to cause a scene."
"Is he serious?" I murmur, mostly to myself, but Spider hears.
"No talking," he growls low, squeezing the back of the couch until it creaks.
Shuffling away from Spider, I watch the rest unfold. Maddy shifts to place his shoulder between the man and Ripper. He's protective of someone, at least.
"Party is over," Maddy growls, showing off his Shade persona.
It strikes me as he gets the other club guys and their women to leave that I have no idea who the real Maddox is.
Minutes feel like hours as the tension slowly exits the room. Even after the unwelcome crowd departs, it's another fifteen minutes before Maddox, Koa, and Ripper, along with a few other large men in Shadows cuts, stomp back into the main room.
"They're gone," Maddy states with a firm nod, locking eyes with everyone as if to reassure them. Then, to my utter surprise, women old and young around my age come flooding in from the hallway Koa took me down.
"Those bastards are always breaking shit." A graying woman scowls, then shuffles through people and furniture. When she comes to the broken table, she stiffens, face turning thunderous. Honestly, I'd be more afraid of her than those men.
"That was me," Maddy admits, walking forward to guide the old woman away from the shattered wood. "I'll replace it, Betsy. You can take a breath."
As they head toward me and the lineup of comfortable couches, a low murmuring of chatter starts up. Slowly, as if the people were waiting for something to happen at first, laughter and loudness ensue. This time there's no undercurrent of hostility or fakeness. Just club life.
"Why, who is this poor girl who got stuck out here during that bullshit?" Besty asks as Maddy helps her down onto the couch opposite me.
"Nobody," he grunts.
I hide my hurt pretty well if I do say so myself. My legs stay crossed, and I keep my arms loose in my lap even though I want to cross them. I even conceal my rage and tilt my head back to look at Spider.
"What?" Spider huffs, apparently not liking my attention.
Well, fuck him. Blinking up at his stupidly handsome face, I whisper, "Can I speak now, sir?"
Oh fuck…
His eyes flash like a wild fucking predator and his nostrils flare. A full flush of need runs through me at his reaction to that one word. I just meant to mess with him, maybe egg him on so I didn't have to think about Maddox. I never thought...
"What did I say about sass?" Spider grits out through clenched teeth. Then, he dismisses me and looks up at Maddox. "I'm done here."
Before he can take more than a few steps away, I jump and leap over the back of the couch. Shorts undone, lipstick smudged, and a fuckload of anxiety nipping at my heels, I grab onto the back of his shirt.
"Oh! Me too. Show me the way out. Please," I tack on because I know he's the least likely one to do as I ask.
The angry glare he pins me with stops me in my tracks, forcing me to release his shirt.
I may be strong and sassy, but I know when to step down.
Right now, Spider is giving off all the don't fuck with me vibes.
Something like regret flashes across his features, but it disappears with his words that slice like the crack of a whip.
"Get the fuck away from me."
Then he's gone. When I turn around, Maddy's nowhere to be found either. Only the old woman with a knowing look greets me.
"Don't cry over shit that isn't real, girl."
Before I can process her strange words, Ripper appears at my side. His intensity and closeness surround me, leaving me a little breathless. "Let's go," he says, grabbing my forearm.
I was lost for a moment, and he found me. At least somebody will help me get the fuck out of here.
That hope is squashed not forty seconds later when Ripper drags me into an office and stops me right in front of the jackass I came to throttle. Motorcycle joke. See, I can belong here.
"The fuck are you smiling at, Cassidy?" Maddox asks in a bored tone, not once glancing up from his paperwork.
Huffing, I yank my wrist away from Ripper and cross my arms. "You lost the right to know what jokes I'm making in my head, you fucking dick."
The door slamming behind us makes me jump. Koa saunters into the room, looking a little concerned and pale. Ripper rumbles out a strange sound and, to my surprise, wraps an arm around my waist and just...holds me.
"I already told you that you're ours. Let the big man prove my point," Koa murmurs, sounding exhausted as he flops himself into a chair. He must have caught my frown.
My confusion with Ripper holding me turns into worry for Koa. "Are you okay, Koa?" Why do I care?
"I'm just fine, baby," he says softly, even giving me a small smile. His reassurance doesn't do much to make me feel better, and Maddox makes it worse when I catch him rolling his eyes at us.
"I need all of you to leave," Maddy growls out.
He avoids making eye contact with me, aiming his command at Ripper. Who knows what their silent stare means, but one moment I'm glaring at the man I love and the next I'm being pulled away from him. How many more times can I take this before it's irreparable?