Chapter 25
DIESEL
“She had the nerve to yell at me to get away from the fuckin’ cage.” I pull my smokes out of my cut and light up. The nice buzz I had goin’ before the fights has turned into a pounding headache. “After she tells me to go out and support the fighters.”
“‘Cause you were distracting Martina,” Blood says. “She said support them, like sit in the bleachers, not bang on the cage during the fight.”
“Whatever.” I shake my head. “I wanted her to know I was there.”
“Right, thinking about yourself,” Smoke adds. “You would’ve done the same if somebody was messing with one of your fighters.”
I draw deep on my cig, then mumble, “I wasn’t messin’ with her. Just wanted her to know I was there for her.”
“In other words, messin’ with her,” Smoke deadpans.
“You better get your shit together.” Blood shifts in his chair. “‘Cause you and her are gonna be working out in the same gym, and I’m not gonna put up with any bullshit drama.”
“Don’t worry. She’ll work out with Maxie, and I’ll take care of my fighters, ‘cause she don’t mean nothing to me. No drama, no bullshit.”
My eyes travel to the entrance just as Maxie enters with Martina. The women surround her with hugs and congratulations, and I’m happy for her. In truth, I’d been keeping eyes on the door just waiting for this moment.
What I wasn’t expecting was the way my heart jacks up in my chest at the very sight of her. My dick always reacted, but this is different.
Shit, does she have to look so hot in the skin-tight jeans molding her perfect ass and the Harlots’ tank top? And, of course, Jared the prospect comes from around the bar to give her a congratulatory hug. Which is way too close and lasts way too long.
“Fuck!”
“Yeah, right?” Blood laughs. “Tell me again how she doesn’t mean anything to you.”
“What?”
“Your fuckin’ tongue is hanging out like a cartoon wolf, and your fists are clenched, itching to knock the prospect into next week.”
“Blow me.”
“You’re saying that to the wrong person, brother.” Bolt shoulder-butts me, and I think about knocking his ass onto the floor.
I flip him off instead, then grip my bottle of beer tighter than necessary.
“Just end the suspense and talk to her,” Smoke suggests.
“She ain’t interested. She didn’t even fight me when I said we had to end it.”
“So you’re blaming her for your idea to kick her to the curb?” Blood’s right-on statement annoys the shit outta me.
“Forget it.”
“How long are you gonna torture yourself and us?” Blood asks. “Just go talk to her.”
“We should lay another bet on him,” Smoke jokes. “I can always use an extra fifty.”
“Very fuckin’ funny.” I push away from the table.
“For fuck’s sake, just go talk to her.”
I storm away from the table with one thing on my mind: get Martina alone and find out what the fuck is going on. And this time I would get right to the point.
The women are still congregated around the door, so I push my way through and wedge myself in front of Martina. “We need to talk.”
“What about congrats on her win?” Maxie interjects, and I throw her a death glare, which has no effect on her.
“You did good in the cage,” I mumble low enough for Martina to hear.
“Thanks.”
“We still need to talk,” I repeat.
“You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to,” Marisol adds.
“We did talk when you got home from the hospital.”
“Well, we need to talk again.”
“About?”
The cluster of women go quiet, and all eyes are on me. I have to admit, I’m a little scared. They’re all in excellent shape, and each of them can defend themselves, so if they all worked together, they could take me down without breaking a sweat.
“Maybe if you asked her nicely, instead of ordering her around.” Marisol raises her brow.
“Martina, could I please speak to you in private?” I draw in a deep breath, then press my lips together and wait.
“See, that wasn’t so hard,” Marisol adds, then looks at Martina. “Only if you want to.”
Martina glances between me and the women. “It’s all right.” Then she nods to me, and I lead her to the back of the club.
When we get to the private rooms, she digs in her heels. “Ohhh, no, you said talk.”
“Right.” I wave my arm toward the noisy club. “We can’t talk out there without the Bastards getting in my business or the Harlots sticking in their two cents.”
“True.”
I nod to the bouncer, and he slides the keycard over the lock. The door pops open, and I guide her inside.
She perches on the edge of the leather couch, and I keep a safe distance on the same couch.
We stare at each other for a few minutes as I take in her perfect tawny skin, big brown eyes and thick shiny hair. She’s a natural beauty who doesn’t need makeup or slutty clothes. Although the way that Harlots tank top is hugging her tits is mouthwatering.
“I don’t know what you think we still have to say to each other. You made yourself clear when you spoke to Smoke in your apartment and last week when you told me we were over.”
“That was all wrong.”
“I heard what you said to Smoke and what you said to me. You were very definite.”
“And that didn’t bother you?”
She cocks her head, and I smell trouble. “Did you want it to bother me?”
I shrug. “Maybe.”
“Let me get this straight, you spit out bullshit and then get mad ‘cause I didn’t what . . . scream and cry and beg for you to want me?”
“When you put it like that, I sound like a douche.”
“Exactly.” She pushes off the couch and turns toward the door.
I jump up and block her path. “No fuckin’ way are you leaving.”
“Are you going to physically stop me?” She stands right up to me, even though I outweigh her by a hundred pounds.
Fuckin’ amazing.
I point to the couch. “Sit the fuck down so we can figure this out.”
“You can’t boss me around. I fight for the Harlots, not you.”
“You might fight for the Harlots, but it’s the Royal Bastards who fund the fight club.”
“And the Harlots fighting are your biggest moneymakers, so I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. Maybe even seventy-thirty in the Harlots’ favor.”
Shit, why did I have to fall for a woman with brains and a quick tongue?
We’re so close, I can feel the heat of her anger, and the scent of her perfume. Spicy citrus. Just like her.
We glare at each other for a few minutes, and my dick brain tells me to pull her into my arms and fuck her stupid right here on the leather couch, but that would be like putting a Band-Aid on a hemorrhage.
I step away from her again and motion to the couch. She sits, and I put distance between us, because getting close to her is dangerous and irresistible, and right now, I have to stay on point and make sure we both understand each other.
“Let’s start over.” I shift on the cushion. “I know I made some mistakes.”
“What freaked me out was how you talked about me to Smoke that morning. I know I shouldn’t have been listening, but you can’t deny you did say those things.”
“I just told him what he wanted to hear.”
“But if you really had feelings for me, you would’ve stood up for me or for us.”
“I was confused.” I drag my fingers through my hair. “Shit, don’t you ever get confused?”
“Of course, but I think I’ve known the way I feel about you from that first night right here in this room.”
“C’mon, really? You were scared shit of me.”
“Yes and no. As fierce as you were, you didn’t force me to do anything, and even after we got each other worked up, when I said no, you listened.”
“I’m not that guy. I’ve never had to force a woman into sex.”
“Then the way you let me stay and sleep on the couch, even though you weren’t getting sex. Most guys would’ve been really pissed.”
“Gotta admit, my dick was pretty pissed off at me.” I laugh around my words. “So pissed off, I had to take a cold shower.”
“I know.” She waggles her eyebrows.
“You know?”
“Whoops, did I just say that?”
I cock my head. “You were spying on me in the shower?”
“Guilty.”
“I knew you liked to watch.”
“Maybe, but then we finally got together, and you sell us out to Smoke. I left, figuring you weren’t interested, then you end up coming back to save me. Then, after all that, you turn me away again with the excuse that you’re not good enough for me.”
“Well, I’m not.”
“We haven’t had what most would call a traditional relationship, but if you didn’t mean the things you said to Smoke or to me, why did you say them?”
I stare at the ceiling for a few minutes. “‘Cause I was . . . afraid.”
“Afraid? You’re six-three, two hundred and twenty pounds. What the hell could you be afraid of?”
“You.”
“Me?”
“You turning me out. Telling me to go to hell or, worse, laughing in my face.”
“And what about the things you said to Smoke?”
“Ahhh, shit, I figured he’d laugh his ass off too. Then he’d say what the fuck was I thinking that a girl like you would be interested in me. I didn’t feel like listening to him, so I blew him off with trash talk.”
“You’re very complicated for an outlaw.”
“Look, I don’t know where this is headed, but I wanna be with you.”
“I want to be with you too, but . . . I can’t take any chances when it comes to trust. My bullshit meter has been tested, and one more fail might just wreck me.”
“All I can tell you is . . .” He moves closer and wraps his arms around my waist. “I know I’ve never felt this way about another woman.”
“Not even the first two wives?”
“Especially not the first two wives, or the one who claimed I was the baby daddy.”
“That’s weird and sweet at the same time.” I motion around the room. “Kinda funny we’re back here where it all started.”
A frown clouds his face. “This isn’t gonna work.”