Chapter 11
Bane
“Did you tell her?” Ash asks over the phone.
He had gotten called to an emergency Chamber leader meeting early this morning and was still there.
I pace in the gym, sweaty from my workout. “I only reinforced that she wasn’t leaving.”
“Why didn’t you tell her that the Council voted that she stays?”
“I think we need to wait a bit before we break that news to her.” I wipe the sweat off my brow with the back of my hand. “I made some progress, though. I got her to feel again, Ash.”
“How did you get her to feel, Bane?” His gravelly voice is low with threat.
I chuckle. “Calm down, Papa Bear. I meant she expressed emotion.” Well, it was the briefest of flashes, but a win’s a win. “I think if we break her bubble right now—that there are no allies in the Council to convince you to let her leave—she won’t take it well.”
“She has to know sooner or later. Better to rip the band-aid off.”
“With anyone else, I’d agree, but Slade…”
“Yeah, Slade is a different story right now.” He sighs deeply. “I need to go. Make sure Cutt or no one else touches her.”
“Got it,” I say, even though the thought of me touching Slade does all sorts of things to my dick.
I ignore the satisfaction that has thrummed in me all morning at the thought of being the only one who caused her to emotionally react.
I also ignore how my body and cock reacted when I called her baby and the feel of her soft cheek under my rough, callused palm.
Like most warm-blooded males, I love sex, and even though Slade is nothing like the women I normally fuck, there is something about her that makes my dick harden to steel without her even trying.
But then I saw her wedding ring, and the reminder that she’s someone else’s was a kick to my balls. I’m no cheating man, and how Slade’s dad, Wolf, constantly stepped out on Tyla…well, I’d never do that to Slade. I’d never pursue her to make her a cheater.
“Slade is off-limits, Bane,” Ash warns in a harsh tone. “Even from you.”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?” I snarl. “I’m not thinking with my dick here.”
Well, that’s not entirely true.
“Just stating facts, brother.”
“You don’t need to warn me off, Ash, for fuck’s sakes.”
Again, that doesn’t feel entirely true.
He grumbles under his breath, then says more clearly, “You’ve been the only one to get a reaction from her—not even her brothers have been able to break through the thick walls where she has caged her emotions.
Keep doing what you’re doing in that regard, Bane.
But tell Digits to dig harder. Dig more, and dig faster. ”
“He’s already working around the clock with everything on his plate, Ash.”
“Fucker won’t accept any help.”
“You know how he is when it comes to his equipment. But he knows how important it is to find anything about Slade from these past years.”
“We need to know everything,” he stresses, then pauses briefly. “If you’re making progress, you could try.”
“Yeah, Slade’s a real open book with me,” I scoff. “If I try to manipulate and trick it out of her, she’ll see that coming. Not only is she smart, but she’s mistrustful.”
I think of the gut-punch feeling that happened when she said she didn’t trust me.
Of course, I knew she didn’t trust me or any of us here. She’s like a caged feral cat.
One who has had something horrible happen to her.
Memories of her reaction yesterday morning after my mentioning being ‘chained and tortured,’ and how she jerked when I touched her today make dread swirl in my gut and rage dump into my veins.
“I need to go. We’ll talk more when I get back later.” Ash disconnects the call, and I stare at my phone in my hand.
As I ruminate on everything Slade, darkness swells within me, along with an odd protective possessiveness.
The protectiveness doesn’t alarm me—it’s in my nature to protect and defend—but the possessiveness is something I’ve never felt before for any woman. And it’s alarming as fuck.
I hear the door to the gym open and turn to see who dares invade my brooding.
Pix stands there with her straight blonde hair down like it always is, dressed in jeans, a short-sleeved black shirt, boots, and her cut—the armor of any biker.
She and Slade are the only two women here who don’t wear a stitch of makeup.
“Everything okay, Pix?”
She never comes into the gym—she gets her workouts in nature’s playground and on the dark, dirty streets.
She crosses her arms, looking at me. “Just seeing it with my own eyes.”
I frown. “What?”
“You up at the crack of dawn again today and already got a workout in.”
It’s not that I slept in until almost noon like half the damn clubhouse, but yeah, I have been up earlier than usual.
“I ordered the Prospects guarding Slade to call me when she gets up and leaves her room,” I explain.
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Is something on your mind, Pix?”
Her look sours. “She’s not Club Pussy. Slade is no whore.”
What the fuck is with everyone today?
Pix has a…strong distaste for the Club Pussy. However, like them or hate them, they’re part of the fabric of an MC lifestyle for the Brothers who want to indulge.
“I know that,” I grit and fist my hands. “Have I done something that makes you think I’m disrespecting Slade?”
“She’s married.”
I balk. The reaction is instantaneous and involuntary.
Pix sees it and smiles. “Good talk, Bane.”
Then she pivots on her heel and leaves.
And I’m left wondering what the hell just happened.