Chapter 4 – Gabe
GABE
“What the fuck is this?” Jake shouts, pointing down at the stage where my daughter, his wife-to-be, has just been called up front and center.
“Oh, come on, brother. It’s a bachelorette party. You had to know they’d want to do something special for her,” Hawk says, smiling. “It’s a little harmless fun. Let her have her moment.”
Jake still doesn’t look too happy about the situation, but he is visibly attempting to tamp down his temper.
The music scratches off and the MC comes over the mic, asking for the rest of the bridal party to come to the stage.
Hawk is rubbing his hands together with glee while the rest of us are trying to hold our shit together.
“Listen. If you guys could just keep your shit together for four and a half minutes and let them have their dance, I’d appreciate it. You’d seriously be helping a brother out.”
“You knew about this?” I ask, irritated. Hawk knows how protective Jake is of Avery. Since she was shot, his protective instincts have been through the roof. Some of his reaction is out of guilt, since she was shot trying to protect him, but that’s their shit to work out.
Hawk is smiling like a fucking loon in the corner of the room. Jake spins on him, walking him back against the wall, pointing his finger in Hawk’s chest. “The fuck did you do?” Jake takes his job of watching over her seriously. Not so sure it’s a good thing for Hawk, though.
Hawk throws his hands up in surrender, still laughing. “Relax. You have to calm down. I just need all of you to keep your shit together for a little while longer. Come on, guys. Help a brother win a bet.”
“What?” The room erupts in unison.
“What do you mean, all of us?” Declan’s head snaps in Hawk’s direction.
“That’s why they’re all up there. It’s just one dance,” Hawk explains.
The music kicks back on, and the guy in front of Linzie stands, lifting her leg. As I watch, she pulls the front of her dress in and closes the gap to keep her modesty. I’m pleased he at least considered keeping her panties from being seen by the audience. I can handle this.
It’s just a dance. No big deal. Guys get lap dances all the time. Same thing. At least these guys have most of their clothes on. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is fucking fine.
Everything is anything but fine.
When the dancer rubbing up on my woman leans down, bends her knee over his shoulder, leans into her neck like he’s kissing her and starts thrusting his hips.
I start to lose it. From this angle, he looks like he’s fucking my woman on stage, and when he looks up at the suite where we’re standing, he smiles, and Linzie throws her head back and laughs.
I’m going to kill the son of a bitch.
“What fucking bet, Hawk? With who? Is Parisi in on this?” Jake shoots off questions in rapid succession. I’m too wrapped up in the scene on the stage to pay very close attention. If Jake kills him, it’ll be Hawk’s own fault.
“No, man. Me and Sadie have a bet,” Hawk says, catching his breath. “They were always going to pull Avery up for a dance. The guy won’t actually touch her.”
“He’s got his hands all over her Hawk!”
“I mean, he’s not actually doing anything to her. It just looks like it. It’s an act, man,” he explains. “It’s supposed to get the chicks hot and bothered, but they don’t actually—” Jake’s hand cuts his words off as he grips Hawk’s throat.
“Jake,” I warn. “You can’t kill him. Not here. I don’t want to owe Parisi another favor for cleaning up a murder scene.”
“Pres?” Hawk chokes out, his brows creased in disbelief.
“You put yourself in this situation, Hawk. Jake gets to choose your punishment.”
“No. You don’t get it.” He tries again. “Let me breathe, dude.” Jake releases him enough to let him speak.
“Sadie said there was no way any of us could keep our cool while some stranger was dancing all over our women. I said we could. The idea was to get the girls hot and bothered … don’t choke me!
” Jake tightens his grip again, but Hawk is pushing it back just enough to keep talking.
“Sadie wanted to make us all jealous. If we react, Sadie wins. If we don’t, I win. ”
“And what do we get out of it?” Mason—being a prospect and normally staying out of shit where Hawk’s involved—asks. He looks pretty fucking mad for someone who hasn’t claimed his woman yet.
“The women claim the sex is better when we’re jealous,” Hawk explains, as if that will wipe away his transgressions.
“You think good sex is going to get you out of an ass whoopin’?” Jake growls. “I can fuck my woman any night, and it’s fucking phenomenal every time.”
I curse under my breath.
“Sorry, Pres,” Jake tosses over his shoulder. “The point is, I don’t need this shit-stirrer allowing another man to touch what’s mine, trying to make me jealous to have great sex with my fiancé.”
“Maybe you don’t,” Hawk says. Jake pinches his throat again, making Hawk squeak. “But they said it’s better. Meaning to them.” He smiles. “The women talk about how good the sex is when their men go all caveman on them.”
They talk about it.
“That should be incentive enough to keep your cool until we get back home for the night. Right?” Hawk tries again to sway everyone in his favor.
“What do you get out of all this?” Declan asks. The vein in his neck is pulsing hard enough I can see it from here. Dec nods to Jake to loosen his hold. Jake lets him go but doesn’t back up.
Taking a deep breath, Hawk answers. “If I win the bet, Sadie has to do whatever I want without complaint. I get her full submission,” Hawk says proudly.
“It’s her thing, but it doesn’t always come easy.
She gets inside her head. If she loses the bet, she has no choice. She agreed to let go.” He shrugs.
“And if she wins?” I ask, raising a quizzical brow. If I know Sadie, she’s got something up her sleeve for him, and it’s nothing as meaningful or private as what he just shared.
“The same thing. My complete submission.”
“What are the limits?” Mason asks. “In the bedroom? Is it only a sexual thing? Or do you have to submit for the entire night for whatever the other wants?”
“Uh, sex,” Hawk states, sounding unsure. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure we agreed to it being in the bedroom and limited to a sexual thing.”
I catch Mason’s smirk. He’s thinking what I’m thinking. Sadie has other plans if she wins, and I’m thinking I’m going to help her do it just to watch this asshole suffer.
“And if you win, the submission happens tonight?” Jake looks at me. He’s catching on. Declan has too. He gives a curt nod.
“Any night of our choosing,” Hawk says. “But if I win, hell yes, it’s happening tonight.”
Oh, he’s fucked.
Jake looks to me for permission. I nod my consent. Before Hawk can blink, Jake’s fist smashes into his face, making his nose bleed. Hawk shouts a curse. Jake lets his ass drop to the floor, not offering to help him up, and we all storm downstairs to collect our women.
By the time we reach the main floor, our women have all stepped down from the stage. We pass a smirking Vincenzo on our way to meet them at their seats. The fucker knew about this, I’m certain of it.
One by one the girls start to pull their chairs out, and one by one we pull their arms and start marching their asses out of the club, grabbing their coats on the way out.
“Fun’s over,” I call out to the group. “Let’s get them home.”
When we reach the SUVs, Declan takes Violet by the hand, shaking his head. “You ride home with me on the back of the bike.”
“But it’s freezing out tonight, Declan,” Violet complains.
Declan, not so quietly, says, “Enjoy the cold on the way home because once we get there, your ass is going to be hot as fuck for that little stunt you pulled.”
“I didn’t do anything!” She whines. “I just sat there. I didn’t plan to go on stage. They called us up there. What did you want me to do?”
He stomps closer, his hand firmly gripping her hair, tilting her head back, he says, “You shouldn’t have gone up there and let another man touch what’s mine.
” His mouth slams down on hers, and Sadie starts cackling.
She is full-on bent over laughing next to the SUV as Hawk steps up beside her, shaking his head and cussing.
“Oh, this is fucking great!” Sadie shouts. “Poor Hawk. I’m going to enjoy the shit out of this.”
“It’s all good, Sapphire. I’m always willing to be your sex slave. You don’t have to win a bet for that to happen.” Hawk smiles, gripping Sadie around the waist.
“Oh, you didn’t say this was only about submission in sex. You said that whoever wins, the other has to submit to whatever we want for a night. No arguments.” Sadie’s smile is wide and vicious. Hawk’s eyes narrow, and the lights click on.
“Fuuuck,” he grumbles. “What are you going to make me do?”
“It’s a need-to-know situation, and you don’t need to know just yet.” Hawk shakes his head in defeat.
Jake puts Avery in the SUV with Jayde and has Blake ride his bike back to the clubhouse.
Hawk tosses Sadie onto his bike. She slides her skirt up, teasing him.
“You may have won, but I’m still spanking your ass for that dress and for getting me punched in the face. ” Sadie throws her head back, laughing.
“Worth it!” She shouts as he starts up his bike.
He and Declan take off behind Jake’s SUV.
Everly and Mason are having a private conversation at the back door of their SUV.
One she doesn’t seem to be too happy about.
She follows Andi into the back seat. Linzie pulls away from me, moving toward the front passenger seat to sit beside Mason. I reach out and grab her hand.
“And what do you have to say for yourself?” I ask. Her eyes narrow as she glares at me. She pulls her hand away, crossing her arms over herself.
“I don’t owe you an explanation. I had a great time, and now I’m going home to bed. Alone.”
“You’re staying at the clubhouse tonight. Or else you can climb on the back of my bike, and I’ll take you home, but you’re not driving home once we get back to the yard. You’ve been drinking tonight.”
“I’ll have Trevor take me home,” she quips, thinking she’s won.
I lean back on my heels, crossing my arms over my chest. “Trevor’s already in bed. I told him to cover your shift in the morning. He went to bed early in order to be able to get up at four in the fucking morning.”
“You had no right!” She shouts.
“Sure, I did. He’s my prospect. I can tell him to do whatever I want.
And he’ll do it if he wants to earn this patch I’m wearing on my back.
” I move in close, gripping Linzie’s hips and pulling her into me.
“So, you’re going to stay at the clubhouse, or I’m taking you home.
You decide. Either way, you’ll be sleeping with me tonight. ”
She gasps, and I take advantage, kissing her hard—punishingly. Our tongues tangle for dominance, but eventually, she gives in and melts into my body with a soft whimper. When I pull back, her eyes are still closed, and her cheeks flushed. I kiss her forehead, and her eyes blink open.
Something flashes in her eyes—anger, hurt. I’m not sure.
“Come on, Vixen. Let’s get you out of this cold.”
Linzie pulls out of my hold and storms her way over, getting into the seat and slamming the door shut.
I shake my head at the woman’s stubbornness.
That’s all right. I know just what to do with a fiery woman like Linzie when she’s all worked up.
But maybe not tonight. I want her sober when I take her again so she can’t use the excuse of alcohol to explain us away.
Catching Mason at the window, I warn him, “You take Linzie and Andi back to the clubhouse no matter what her stubborn ass says, you got me?” Mason agrees. Linzie huffs. She’s cute with her arms crossed, all pissed off, glaring out the window to avoid looking at me.
“I’ll see you soon, baby.” Linzie’s middle finger comes up in response and I laugh. My woman is something else.