Page 7 of Ruled By Wizard

Her hands shook as she put the van into Drive. Letting her fury get the better of her, she cut in front of another vehicle as she pulled onto the road.

Flipping off the driver who blasted his horn, she pressed down on the accelerator, wanting to get as far away from Wizard as possible before she gave in to the murderous rage the biker seemed determined to stoke in her.

Natalia hadn’t known she was capable of hating a man so much until she’d had the misfortune of encountering Wizard. Anytime he came within her vicinity, he set her hackles rising.

They never should have met in the first place, she fumed. The chances of her ever meeting the president of The Last Riders had been practically zero—at least until she had found out her favorite employee, Arden, was moonlighting at The Last Riders’ clubhouse.

In hindsight, she should have gathered all of Arden’s friends for an intervention. Unfortunately, she knew it was already too late by the time Arden’s brother had called her, trying to reach his sister.

Going to the clubhouse had been an eye-opening experience. Her sweet employee had been surrounded by bikers having sex right out in the open. Hiding her dismay, Natalia had delivered Luc’s message while trying not to stare at Wizard, who stood buck naked in their midst. The nude woman who must have been responsible for his flaccid cock had tried to hide behind his back.

What shocked Natalia most was the overwhelming urge to scratch the woman’s eyes out.

Then and there, she’d decided she needed to stay the hell away from Wizard. He was the type of man she liked to call a destroyer. Men like him destroyed every dream a woman had by ruining her for any man who came after. Combine that with the fact that Wizard was a dominant alpha male—something so obvious even a blind woman would have recognized it—and they were a disaster waiting to happen.

Natalia was a dominant alpha woman herself. The two of them would constantly battle for control. Neither would win, and the relationship would end with them standing in the middle of a toxic battlefield.

Too many men had tried—and failed—to exert their dominance over her as their relationships progressed, inevitably leaving her heartbroken when they abandoned her for a woman who would give in to whatever demands they made.

Pride of ownership never failed to fill Natalia as she reached her restaurant. She had shed too many tears and worked too many backbreaking hours to achieve her success to pretend she needed a man’s shoulder to lean on.

Still upset at Wizard for crashing her date, she started making garlic knots, taking her frustration out on the dough. She was unaware of the furtive glances her employees were sending her.

After removing a fresh batch of dough from the mixer, she was pounding it when Arden entered through the back door to clock in.

“How did your lunch date go?” she asked, coming to stand on the opposite side of the stainless-steel prep table.

Natalia punched the dough viciously.

“Comme de la merde. Your friend showed up!” Picking up fresh garlic, she smashed it into the dough.

Arden took a hasty step back. “Which friend?”

“Wizard!” Natalia snapped as she cut the dough into twenty-four portions.

“Uh …” Arden eyed the bench scraper warily and retreated another step. “He’s not really my friend. He’s Doom’s.”

“You married Doom. That makes him your friend, too.” Natalia picked up a piece of dough, viciously twisting it into a knot.

Arden watched her cautiously. “What did he do?”

“The gros con thought Rocco was my boyfriend! He told Miles I was cheating on him!”

Reaching for another piece of dough, Natalia caught Arden’s expression. Her hands went to her hips.

“Why did he think Rocco was my boyfriend?”

“I didn’t directly tell him Rocco was your boyfriend. Doom was asking about you and Rocco, so I told him you two had been together for a long time.” Arden’s lips twitched. “You have been together for a long time.”

Natalia didn’t laugh at Arden’s attempt at humor.

“Why was Doom asking personal questions about me?”

“For Wizard. He has it bad for you.”

Natalia didn’t take the revelation as a compliment.

“That imbecile has it bad for every woman. He thinks his cock is God’s gift to women.”