Chapter 34 Stan
THIRTY-FOUR
STAN
I should have expected it.
The minute I heard the scream outside the bunkhouse, I jolted out of the haze I’d been existing in—a happy, warm haze that only my thoughts marred because comfort took on another meaning with Kitty tucked into my side.
The scream had her jolting awake too.
But even when it cascaded into a torrent of giggles, I was on my feet, gun in hand, as I raced through the living area and damn near dragged off the front door in my rush to reach the yard.
That was where I saw her.
I’d known the Frasier sisters for two fucking days and I’d already accepted that the younger siblings were going to be the bane of my existence.
Tonight, Raisin was the troublemaker.
Mingling with a bunch of women who’d gotten lost on the way to their closet so they’d skipped a few layers, drinking shots of tequila off the back of someone’s pickup truck, she watched on while two brothers staggered in a circle, hands pulled up in fists.
“She’s mine,” one of the fuckers hollered.
“No, she ain’t,” the other spat as he bounced on the balls of his feet.
Somehow, I goddamn knew that the ‘she’ in this equation was my future sister-in-law.
Something she confirmed by yelling, “I’m my own woman and I choose neither of you!”
The catcalling clubwhores toasted her with another round of shots and some screeched, “Fuck men! Screw the patri—hiccup—archy!”
Not willing to take any of this shit, I fired a shot into the air.
Because I was on an MC compound, that did fuck all.
So I shot at the idiots’ feet until they danced to my goddamn tune.
“ENOUGH,” I raged as the music came to a screeching halt.
When that earned me a bunch of guns turned in my face, I glowered at Raisin, who had the fucking audacity of lifting a bottle in a toast.
“Slàinte!”
“What the hell are you doing out of your bed?”
Raisin wiggled the tequila at me again. “You my daddy and no one told me?”
“Are you freakin’ crazy, RAISIN?” Kitty raged mid-stomp, dust swirling at her heels as she reached her sister’s side and began dragging her away from the group.
Infuriated that she’d left the relative safety of the bunkhouse, I found myself on the brink of snapping at her when I noticed all she wore was my goddamn shirt and very little else.
“You want to keep your fucking eyes,” I roared at the jeering crowd that gathered around us, “you’ll stop looking at my woman.”
“Your woman?” one of the bikers hooted. “Since when?”
“Since fucking now.”
The rage pummeling my system was electrifying. Honestly, I felt so goddamn alive that it made me wonder if I truly hadn’t been half-dead before.
Adrenaline made my muscles bunch like I was the fucking Hulk.
“Kitty, you and Raisin in the bunkhouse?” I asked without looking back.
“We are.”
“The hell’s going on out here? Some of us dipshits wanna sleep.”
Recognizing the voice, I saw Dagger storming toward us while yanking on his cut.
“Two of your brothers are fighting over my sister-in-law.”
That stalled his stomping. He slowed down and dragged a packet of cigarettes from his back pocket. “You got married and told no one?”
“Didn’t realize you guys were the fucking Vatican and needed a marriage certificate to stake a claim.”
The biker’s lips quirked as he slipped a cigarette between them.
Taking that as him shutting the fuck up, I beckoned, “Come here, duci. It’s safe.”
“No harm will come to you, Kitty.”
Sensing her hesitance despite Dagger’s reassurance, I held out my hand for her. The moment she reached my side, her fingers bridged mine.
Grateful that I was paranoid by nature, I lifted our joined hands.
His brow arched when he saw a ring on her ring finger.
The ring that was too big and that I’d lodged into place with one of her own.
While she slept.
Even as I vowed to replace her ring immediately and that this would be the last time she had anything other than a precious metal against her skin, both of Dagger’s brows spiked closer to his hairline.
At my side, Kitty tensed, clearly seeing what Dagger was, but she didn’t argue. For once.
“They’re kin, you hear me?” My tone darkened. “You get your brothers to back the fuck off or they’ll be dealing with me.”
Dagger narrowed his eyes. “Why didn’t you tell us she was yours?”
“I told Lucifer she was family. Anyway, it was none of your fucking business who my woman is. We’re allies, not best buds.”
Jaw working, he groused to his men, “Lower your weapons.”
Over three dozen safeties clicked on. That none of them expressed the dissatisfaction etched into their expressions and each obeyed told me how tightly Wolfe held the reins on his MC.
“Go back to the bunkhouse, Kitty. I’ll be in shortly.”
“Are you—”
“I’ll be in shortly,” I repeated, again without looking back at her. “Lock the door behind you when you get inside.”
I sensed her hover for a millisecond but heard her rush off to comply. The door banged shut, abating my tension.
“She was coming onto us,” snapped one of the brothers who’d been stepping up to the plate.
“I don’t give a damn if Raisin did or didn’t. I’m telling you that you don’t fuck with my family. You know we back that shit up. I wouldn’t sniff around your women, so you leave mine the hell alone.”
Dagger raised his hands. It didn’t placate me. “Everyone, get your asses back inside.”
A tense silence blanketed the crowd, but not once did Dagger take his eyes off mine.
That he had the situation under control as they headed off, bitching and whining with every step, eventually leaving us alone in the yard, only confirmed my suspicions about Wolfe’s reign.
“If my men are right—”
“I’m sure they are,” I concurred, pointing my gun at the ground. “I never said my family wasn’t trouble.”
“I know how that goes,” Dagger surprised me by grumbling. Then, he angled his chin at the bunkhouse. “That was some ring.”
“‘Go big or go home’ is a Valentini motto.”
“Should I give her my congratulations?” he mocked. “Seeing as she looked as surprised as I was to find out you were engaged to her when that ring sure as fuck wasn’t on her finger in Wolfe’s office…” When I just stared at him, he shook his head. “You’re one cold sonuvabitch, Valentini.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“Who travels around with a ring like that?”
One who had a weekend away planned out.
Avoiding the question, I asked, “What the hell’s going on, Dagger?”
“It’s a party—”
“Not talking about that. What’s with the attitude coming from Wolfe? You’d think we were the fucking Italians the way you’ve treated us.”
In my world, there was no worse sin than being Italian.
Dagger, smart man, knew it too. He cringed. “Not your problem. Nature of the business.”
“Just tell me. How can we fix what we didn’t know we fucking broke?”
“Red’s made its way down here.”
Suddenly exhausted, I rubbed my eyes. “Say no more.”
He winced. “Yeah.”
“Fucking drug.”
“Sounds like regret, Valentini. Didn’t think I’d hear that from you. We make guns. You make drugs. Someone ends up dead. It’s what people do.”
“Doesn’t mean we have to like it.”
Dagger’s nod was solemn. “Wolfe’s on edge.”
“Why?”
“You know how hard it is to keep a bunch of reprobates off a drug that keeps them hard the whole night through when they’re surrounded by free pussy?”
I conceded that with a grimace. “Maybe I should apologize.”
“Don’t bother.” Dagger snorted. “We gonna have problems with the Irish?”
“Not if you don’t say anything about them being here.”
He scratched his chin. “This a shotgun wedding or something?”
“I wish.”
That had him cackling. “Like that, huh?”
“Like that.”
Respect gleamed in his eyes. “Any news on the plane?”
“Maybe. I’ll let you know if the repairs pan out.”
“Lucifer will be upset you didn’t get to enjoy the party she’s hosting for you,” Dagger mused. “You’re welcome to partake.”
“It’s fine. I have enough trouble indoors,” I told him dryly.
“Don’t envy you with two sisters-in-law like that.” He whistled between his teeth. “Got my hands full with one girl and there are four dads and three Old Men to keep her busy.”
“Tell me about it.” I grunted, though I was relieved for us to part on more amicable terms. “See you in the morning, Dagger. And look, if you lost someone because of Red, because of me… I’m really fucking sorry.”
He had no idea how sorry.
No one, not even Kitty, did.