Chapter 15 The Queen’s Gambit
Chapter fifteen
The Queen's Gambit
Roxy
I’d survived another day of tourists and their kids begging to see the cowboys.
The boys had a staff meeting this morning, but that didn’t stop the tourists from whining when no one showed up.
A few of the families left disappointed, but Angelica had always made a point of not guaranteeing a sighting.
It kept the mystery alive. The two high school girls who worked the evening shift would be here soon.
Unless their bus was late, it was no longer my problem.
I was wiping down the tables. The corset was pinching me more than usual today. I couldn’t wait to take the uniform off and breathe in nothing but my underwear. Dinner was lukewarm mac and cheese—if the temperamental microwave didn’t quit on me first. Sounded like the perfect end to the day.
Bri sighed near the door—the universal sign for boy problems. I buried the chuckle that desperately wanted to escape my chest. Bri was an only child, and while the saloon was close-knit, she didn’t have anyone to talk to.
I wanted to keep my promise to check in with her, like a pseudo-older-but-definitely-not-wiser sister.
“Hey,” I called out to her. She wiggled around the tables, phone still in her hand. “If you want to talk, I’ll listen,” I threw out there. “Sometimes, it’s easier to let go of your troubles with a stranger.”
Her eyebrow lifted. Sighing again, she pulled out a chair from the table I’d been wiping down.
“There’s this boy,” she started. Bri looked up at me through her eyelashes.
“He wanted me to sneak out last night, but I told him no.” Her shoulders sagged, waiting for the lecture she thought I was going to deliver.
I’d always chosen the bad boy, and I was the last person to take the moral high ground when I had a cemetery full of regrets.
“Is that him?” I tipped my chin toward her phone.
“Yeah. He won’t stop. I told him I wasn’t interested anymore if he was just going to make me break curfew.”
“You should be proud of yourself. You’re seeing the bullshit and calling it what it is. That’s more than most girls your age.” I smiled, hoping I was delivering something that would empower her. “I was always knee-deep in the wrong guy before I realized I was sinking in quicksand.”
“Yeah.” She sighed again. “Uncle Grant dished out some advice that made sense. He said boys who don’t care if I’m in trouble are not worth my time. The right one wouldn’t want to see me hurt.”
“That is good advice.” My face lifted, surprised.
Bri giggled, watching me. “I refuse to call him Cactus, and I’m cute enough, he lets me get away with it. I bet you could.”
I’d heard her, but I pretended I hadn’t.
I didn’t want to know Cactus’s real name was Grant.
Fuck, I didn’t want to think of him as a man.
It was easier to see him as a biker, all sharp edges.
I could walk away from the biker. Not so much the man.
He would demand things I wasn’t sure I understood.
“Don’t settle for what you think is just enough. You deserve better than that.”
“You going to settle for my uncle?” Bri giggled again, ignoring her phone as it continued to beep with incoming texts.
I’d spent enough time with Cactus to know he wasn’t just someone you settled for. If I let him, he would consume me. Protect me, but not love me. He wasn’t capable of love when he used control. I wouldn’t break my bad boy rule for the experience, knowing I would leave anyway.
The bell above the door spared me from answering as it dinged, signaling someone walking into the saloon. Bri took off to get them seated, and I breathed a sigh of relief that I wouldn’t have to answer her. I didn’t want to have to come up with some version of the truth when I was lying to myself.
“Well, aren’t you a sweet young thing?”
That voice lived in the back of my brain, degrading me in my weakest moments. Ripper was here, and Bri was too close to him.
The bleach bottle was still in my hand when I shot up, feet already moving. There were eight of them. Ripper, a few of the officers, and in the very back was Jimmy, wearing his prospect cut. Coward. At one time, I’d thought he was my forever. Watching him now, all I felt was fury.
Ripper raised his hand—slow, deliberate.
My stomach churned. “Don’t touch her,” I yelled, hoping Angelica would hear me from the back.
Bri backed up, but she didn’t have very far to go before she bumped into the nearest table.
“Well, lookie what the cat dragged out. Roxy.” Ripper was exactly as I remembered him. His dirty-blonde hair looked like it hadn’t been washed for days. A white shirt, almost gray, stretched tightly across his beer belly. His natural, repugnant scent would fill my nose if I got too close.
I put Bri behind my back, holding the spray bottle like a dangerous weapon. If it came to it, I’d blind him, taking my chances. “This is Saint’s Outlaws’ territory.” I was bluffing, but Ripper wouldn’t know any different. I wanted to put fear into him.
“Yeah, but you’re my property, and we’ve come to collect.”
“It’ll be a cold day in hell before I leave with you voluntarily.
” I tapped Bri’s leg, still holding the bottle.
I needed her to send a text for reinforcements.
The only way to get Ripper to see straight was to call the Saints.
They’d have some alpha chest-bumping brawl, and I’d sneak out the back. No goodbyes as I ran.
He took a step closer, and I sprayed the bleach mixture on his shirt. “You need to leave. The town instantly clocks outsiders.”
“She’s right.” Angelica walked into the dining room from the kitchen. “If you’re hungry, you’re more than welcome to eat before you leave.” She moved to pull a few tables together, like this was a regular rush.
“I’ll help her,” I whispered to Bri. “Why don’t you go get the menus?
” We both knew the menus weren’t in the kitchen, but if I could get Bri out of here, then I’d take all the hits.
Angelica and I locked eyes. This was bad, and I’d brought trouble to her door.
Just like Cactus warned. He’d seen the storm coming.
“Gentlemen, if you’re staying for lunch, we have your table ready.
” Angelica waved her arm over the two she’d stuck together.
She was always in control, and this was no exception, but I was hoping I’d see just a tiny break.
Something that would make me feel human.
I was trying not to freak the fuck out, but it was taking an enormous effort not to shake.
“I’ve never been interested in mamas and their babies, but you could change my mind,” Ripper chuckled as he sat at the head of the table. The rest of the idiots made nuisances of themselves, cackling like old ladies. Ironically, Jimmy was the only one who didn’t laugh.
“I don’t suggest you say that again. The only thing on the menu is the food.
” She nodded toward where we kept a stack of menus, and I took the hint.
If we pretended they were customers, we might buy enough time until the Saints arrived.
There was no way Angelica hadn’t called Scorpion already.
If not, then Bri surely would have texted her father.
“Can I get you anything to drink? We have water and soda: regular, diet—“
“I don’t fucking want soda.” Slick, the treasurer, threw his knife into the wall. It stuck in the wood slats of the saloon, sticking straight out.
“That won’t scare me, but if you continue to make asses of yourselves, I will include a redecorating fee.
Pick a drink.” Angelica didn’t show an ounce of weakness, her tone slicing through their childish antics.
She was standing far enough from the table that none of them could reach out and grab her.
“How about I get you to slurp my dick down?”
Angelica said nothing as she raised the bar gate, sliding underneath. She picked up the soda gun, clicking a switch. I watched her shoot soda all over Slick, not stopping until the gun sputtered empty. “You needed a cooldown.”
“You bitch!” He charged toward her, but she stood her ground, clicking another button of the soda gun and holding it up. He didn’t stop, reaching for her, but she fired, nailing him in the face with red juice.
“We serve that to good boys when their parents say it’s okay.”
Crank, the enforcer, stood, flipping the table behind him. He threw the chair against the wall, and we all watched as splintered pieces flew around the room.
I stared in horror as more chairs met the walls of destruction. There was nothing I could do that wouldn’t draw attention to myself. I picked my brain for any sliver of an idea, but I couldn’t come up with anything under pressure.
I’d forgotten the rest of the bikers in the room as Ripper started laughing hysterically. He’d stood from his chair and was heading directly toward me. He advanced, but I kept taking steps backward to keep the distance between us. “Jimmy, you wouldn’t deny your president, would you?” he cackled.
“No, sir.” Any love I felt for Jimmy died a slow, painful death. He was weak, and this had proven it.
“You won’t get close enough to touch me.” I took another step, but I hit the front of the back bar. It only caused Ripper to laugh some more. He placed his hands on either side of me, grabbing the bar before he leaned down, smelling me. I froze at the intrusion into my personal space.
His body odor invaded my nose, waking me up. “This is Saint’s Outlaws territory. You need to leave before you can’t come back from this,” I whispered.
“Fuck the Saints.” He leaned forward, running his nose underneath my ear.
His breath smelled of old coffee. I didn’t fight.
Instead, I brought my knee up, planning on driving it hard into his dick.
He predicted the move, grabbing my leg to hold me in place, pushing his dick against me. “See, I always knew you wanted me.”
I gave in, freezing as I listened to the sounds of the saloon being destroyed. This was my fault. I deserved this, I thought, swallowing. I tuned out. The sounds faded into a buzz between my ears.
No, I won’t give in. Not today.
I nuzzled his neck with my nose, giving him a false sense of security. He moaned, and my stomach wanted to revolt violently. I trampled it down as I moved to suckle his earlobe. This was only a distraction, and I needed to keep focused on what mattered—safety and the saloon.
“We’d be good together, Rox,” he moaned.
It was all the encouragement I needed. I wouldn’t allow myself to get caught in whatever game this was.
He didn’t own me. My teeth clamped down, but when he pulled away, I held on tighter.
The earlobe tore. I had actually done it.
As the adrenaline kicked in, my hands shook.
Clenching them into fists, I didn’t let anyone see me fall apart. I would later.
“Well, fuck me sideways.”
Scorpion.
The Saints were here.