Page 43 of Outlaw Xmas
Cara came rushing up to him, grabbing his arm to spin him back around. “It’s either your family or the club.”
A jolt of white-hot anger shot through him. He whirled around and put his face close to hers. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ ask me to choose,” he hissed.
Moving back, Cara glared at him. “You can’t go. We have to be at my parents’ tonight.”
He glowered at her, burning rage seeping through all his pores. “What the fuck did you say?”
Cara crossed her arms and lifted her chin. Her defiant gaze met his. “I said you can’t go.”
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed his money clip and keys from the side table. From the corner of his eye, he saw her watching him. He went over to the door and turned the knob. Turning slightly, he swept his gaze over her frowning face.
“Don’t you ever tell me what to do, woman.” Cara started to say something, but he cut her off. “You need to fuckin’ respect me. I don’t tolerate that shit from anyone, even you.”
“And running off to the club and abandoning your family is treating me with respect?”
The vein in his temple pulsed. “I’m not abandoning anyone. You know I have to go tonight.”
“I don’t know that.” She continued to glare at him and it just made him madder.
Afraid he’d put his fist through one of the walls, he shoved his hand in his pocket. “Then you should. We’ve been together long enough for you to know I’m VP and there’s shit I have to do.” He held his hand up, silencing her. “Don’t say another fuckin’ word. I’m not one of your goddamn clients you can tell what to do. I’m outta here.”
He stepped out and slammed the door behind him. When he jumped onto his Harley, his whole body trembled with fury. He’d planned on taking the SUV, but he was so pissed he needed the frosty air to cool him off.Cara went too damn far. Abandoning my family. Fuck her!
The frigid wind roared around, chilling his skin beneath his jacket. In his haste to get away, he’d forgotten to tie back his hair, and the wind whipped the strands against his face and blew them above his head. Instead of cursing the cold, he embraced it as it revitalized him. His breath rose before him in puffs of moisture, and he squinted against the blinding glare of sunlight bouncing off the pristine snow.
By the time he arrived at the clubhouse, his nose was numb, his hair wet, and his fingers were almost white from gripping the handlebars. The warmth of the great room seemed suffocating after coming in from the bitter, energizing cold.
“Hey, brother,” Throttle greeted him as Hawk went over to the bar and grabbed several napkins, running them over his hair. “Did you ride your Harley over here?”
“Yeah. It was fuckin’ awesome.” Hawk drained the shot Rusty put in front of him, then held up three fingers to the prospect, indicating he wanted a triple. Rusty nodded and in less than ten seconds, Hawk grasped a larger glass of Jack.
The great room was beginning to fill up as brothers from all over Insurgents’ territory filed in. Steel strode in with Goldie and Diablo, and the trio came over to Hawk and Throttle.
“How was the ride?” Hawk asked.
“The drive was good. We couldn’t take the bikes because the snow was fucking insane in the San Juan Mountains,” Steel said as he sat next to Hawk.
“Heard the Deadly Demons and the Satan’s Pistons aren’t involved in the drug shit threatening the territory,” Diablo said, grabbing a handful of pretzels from a bowl on the bar.
“Damn straight,” Rock said as he joined the group.
Hawk nodded and looked at his phone as it vibrated. It was Cara. He slipped it back in his pocket. There was no fucking way he was ready to talk to her.Asking me to choose was not the way to go, babe.
A portly man with long blond hair came over to Hawk and high-fived him. “Long time, brother,” he said.
“Rollo. How the fuck have you been?” Hawk handed the brother a bottle of Coors.
“Can’t complain. I hear the pussy’s real good around here.” He brought the bottle to his lips.
Hawk, Throttle, and Rock laughed. “That’s what we hear too, but you’re gonna have to ask one of the brothers who isn’t hitched,” Throttle said.
“That’s right. You all went and did some stupid shit and got old ladies.” Turning to Steel, he pointed to Goldie and Diablo. “What about you guys? Are you pussy-whipped?”
Goldie shook his head. “Hitched, but not pussy-whipped.”
As the men talked, Hawk saw Banger heading his way. They bumped fists, and Banger said his greetings to the Night Rebels brothers. Several of the club girls came in and out of the kitchen, bringing in trays of food that they set down on a long table.
“Your club women fix the grub?” Goldie asked.
