Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hannibal
I scan the room, wondering where the fuck Lola went, when I see her walk back in.
I relax until I see Elmo dragging Razzle in by her hair just behind her.
Slamming my bottle of beer on the pool table, I stalk over to them as the room quiets down.
I walk straight up to Lola, tugging her into my arms, kissing her lightly before pulling back.
“You good?”
“I’m okay, I promise.”
Tugging her under my arm, I watch as Elmo throws Razzle to the floor at my feet.
“What the fuck is going on?” I ask him as I feel people draw near.
“Caught Razzle here about to punch Lola. And just saying, she wasn’t aiming for her face.”
As his words sink in, white-hot fury washes over me.
I vaguely hear Lola saying my name.
I ignore her as I bend down, wrap my hand around Razzle’s throat, and lift her off the ground.
She claws at my hand as tears run down her face.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” I shake her when she doesn’t answer.
“She can’t speak when you’re choking her out, Hannibal.” Lola sighs.
I turn slowly to look at her.
She doesn’t look scared even though the people around us have backed up now they’re faced with my anger.
“I have no interest in hearing anything she says. She tried to hurt you, tried to hurt our son.”
I hear murmurs move around the room, but I block them out as I stare into Lola’s eyes.
She jumps in when she sees the expression on my face.
“She’s just doing what she’s always been allowed to do. I’m not defending her, I’m just stating a fact. She’s been given free rein to do whatever she wants to me. Now she knows that shit won’t fly, she won’t do it again.”
“Bullshit. She’ll just hide it better.”
“She’s turning blue, Hannibal.”
“I don’t fucking care!” I roar.
Lifting her hand to cup my jaw, she tips my head down so we are eye to eye.
“But I do. I need you here with me, not in a six-by-nine cell.”
I let my eyes drift closed for a moment as I try to calm myself down.
She needs me. Nothing else matters beyond that.
I toss Razzle to the ground, eliciting a scream from her.
Resting my forehead against Lola’s, I take a second to just breathe her in.
“I want to kill her.”
“I know. But it’s rude to play with your food.”
A surprised snort of laughter bursts out of me.
“Smart ass.”
Turning back to Elmo, who is watching us with an air of curiosity on his face, I give the order.
“Strip her, burn off the tattoo, and throw her out.”
“No! Please. I don’t have anywhere to go!” Razzle screams as Manny and Gunther step forward to help Elmo.
Gunther throws Razzle a look of disgust.
“Should have thought about that before you tried to touch an old lady. ?Bout time you learned your place.”
“But she’s always been fair game. Khan and Driller didn’t care. They found it funny. Hell, they were the ones usually egging me on. I was just doing what was expected of me.”
Lola shakes her head at her.
“The club might be all about the brotherhood, but the women make a sisterhood too, and you shit all over that every time you turned on me. You can blame Driller and Khan all you want, but we both know you got a sick satisfaction out of watching me brought low. Don’t worry, though, Razzle, you weren’t alone in your way of thinking. You were just the only one stupid enough to do it in plain sight.”
Lola’s words lead to muttering from the crowd.
I look around and see faces flushed with shame.
“Strip her.”
Nobody moves for a minute before Jolene and Jess, a couple of old ladies, move from the crowd and start ripping at her clothes as Gunter and Elmo hold her still.
Manny shakes his head and walks over to us, his eyes moving from me to Lola.
“Hey, Lola, you look like you could use a drink. You want a Coke or something?”
She looks startled for a minute, that he’s talking to her.
When she doesn’t answer he grins.
“I could make you a fancy mocktail, if you like.”
That perks her up.
“Actually, that sounds pretty good.”
“Awesome. Come to the bar when you’re done here, and I’ll get it ready for you.”
“Thanks, Manny,” she returns softly.
I let my gaze move from her to the others in the room watching her.
Everyone ignores a screaming Razzle being dragged away.
Byte and Snoopy, one of the older members, walk over as the crowd goes back to doing whatever they were doing before.
“Always hated that bitch,” Snoopy says in greeting.
“So it wasn’t your pasty ass I saw plowing into her at the weekend?” Byte drawls.
Lola snorts before burying her face against my arm.
“I’m old Byte. Can’t afford to be picky, and pussy is pussy. Oh, there’s Germ. That motherfucker owes me twenty bucks.” He starts to walk away before tossing out a “Later Prez, Lola” over his shoulder.
“Bye,” Lola whispers as Byte stares down at her.
“You saw that, right?”
“Saw what?”
“People being nice to me. Elmo, Manny, and Snoopy—kinda. Okay, Snoopy only said my name, but he didn’t sneer it, so it counts, right?”
“Right, doll,” I say softly, swallowing down my anger.
Byte looks just as pissed.
It’s good to see the mindset shifting, but the fact that she’s surprised by people being nice to her says it all.
“You wanna play pool with me, Lola?” Byte offers.
Her mouth drops open for a moment before she looks at me.
“Up to you.”
“Okay, sure, Byte. I’ll play.”
“Stay with Byte. I’ll go get you a mocktail, whatever the fuck that is, from Manny.”
She grins before letting Byte lead her away.
I glare at him, warning him he better watch her.
He salutes me, the dick, before bending down to talk to her.
“He’ll take care of her.”
I turn and find Repo watching them.
“He better.”
“You’re good for her.”
“So glad you approve, Repo.”
He bows and walks away.
“This club is full of fucking weirdos,” I grumble, heading to the bar and signaling for Manny.
“Make Lola one of those mocktails.”
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll bring it over.”
“Take it over to the pool table.”
Manny looks over and grins.
“He’s trying to teach her how to play?”
I look over and narrow my eyes.
The asshole is standing way too fucking close.
“Looks that way,” I grunt.
“He’s about to get schooled.” He laughs, making me look back at him.
“Huh?”
“Watch her. She might not come around much now, but back in the day, Havoc used to bring her around all the time.”
“And he taught her how to play?” I summarize.
“No, she taught him. Seriously, your girl’s a shark.”
I turn back to watch and grin.
“Interesting.”
“Pan! Get me another case of Corona,” he snaps at the prospect walking by.
“Fucking prospects are a pain in the ass,” he mutters as I head to the pool table to watch.
I move to an open table so I’m not in the way, but close enough that I can hear them talking.
“So, I don’t hit the black ball until the end, right?”
“Right, and only with the white ball.”
“Okay, seems easy enough. How do I know which balls to hit before that?” she asks innocently, but I don’t miss the devious expression on her face.
“Hit the white ball into the triangle of balls and we’ll see what you pot. We’ll take it from there.”
“Okay. Now?”
“Go for it.”
I watch her slide the cue back and forth between her fingers and feel my cock swell as I imagine her rubbing me instead.
She hits the balls with a loud crack, sending them scattering across the table, potting three stripes in the process.
“Lucky shot. That makes you stripes.”
“Pretty.” She smiles.
“Yeah,” he mutters, lining up a shot and narrowly missing.
“My turn?”
He nods as she moves around the table.
Spotting me, she bends over, giving me the perfect view of her shapely ass.
“It’s tricky with my belly in the way.”
“No pressure, Lola. It’s supposed to be fun. Just give it a shot.”
She nods her head before hitting the white ball against a red stripe, potting it easily.
“Nice. You’re a natural.”
“You think?” She smiles, moving around to take her next shot and potting that one too.
It isn’t until she’s potted the next three balls in a row that Byte narrows his eyes at her.
“Got something you wanna tell me, Lola?”
“Yeah, this is fun.”
He sighs and looks over at me.
“She’s a fucking shark. You didn’t warn me?”
“How was I supposed to know?”
Manny walks over and places a fruity-looking drink down on the table in front of me, along with a bottle of beer.
“Be grateful you didn’t put any wagers down. She never loses.”
He walks away just as Lola pots the black and hands Byte the pool cue with a smile.
“Thanks for the game. Do you want to play again? No pressure?” she teases.
He grumbles something about being fleeced and stomps off.
She shrugs and walks over to take the chair beside mine.
I drag it closer so I can lean down and talk to her.
“I can’t believe you hustled Byte.”
“In my defense, he was the one acting like I couldn’t play.”
“That was hot by the way. For a minute, I thought he might cry,” I joke.
“What can I say? I’m a woman of many talents.”
“That you are, doll. That you are.”
Elmo drops down in the chair opposite and steals my beer, drinking it down before I can protest.
“Razzle’s gone. Stripped her tattoo, though Jessie was nice enough to bandage it for her. Tossed her out with the rest of her shit and told her the next time she steps foot on Ravens’ soil, we’ll bury her under it.”
“Good. Bitch is lucky I didn’t kill her.”
Elmo grunts before his eyes move to Lola.
“You play pool?”
“I mean, I’m willing to give it a go.”
“Come on, I’ll teach you.” He stands up as I look at Lola and laugh.
“Make this one cry.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”