This is their life, their club.
I want to restore what they willingly gave up in order to save me.
“If things go south, you fucking run and you take my bike.” Sin points at it, giving me a dark look that says I better damn well obey. I agreed to it, to defer them as if I were a prospect or something.
Heaving a sigh, I nod, and Sin takes that reluctant acquiescence as good enough, moving ahead of me to lead the way into the house.
We open the door to see the kitchen and sitting room being torn apart.
Crown stands in the center of the sitting room, arms crossed over his chest, face set in a resolute frown. Cat waits nearby, hands locked together in front of him like a bodyguard or something. He turns his rust-red eyes my way as I move up beside him, planting my hands on my hips.
“What the fuck are you doing to my house?” I demand, and Cat raises both brows in my direction.
“Far as I’m concerned, this is the vice president’s house,” he tells me, but I refuse to stand down, even when some of the men in the room with us snicker. But I won’t be made a fool of. And I won’t allow my men to be made fools of either.
“Yes, well, it’s okay to be mistaken sometimes. The important part is that you can admit when you’re wrong.”
“Girl,” Cat says, gritting his teeth as he gives me a dark look. If I were still ‘just’ his daughter and not Beast’s wife, I have a feeling that he’d have popped me in the mouth for that one. “Don’t make me call your husband to get you under control.”
I laugh at that.
The room goes mostly silent.
I can feel Sin stiffen up behind me. He puts a hand on my shoulder, but I ignore him. I ignore Crown’s look of pleading, too. No amount of admonishment from my men will keep me quiet right now. I can’t allow Cat to hate me forever.
“This is my house,” I repeat, my voice ringing with authority. “I know you don’t give a shit who I’m fucking or what I’m doing on my own time. I feel the same about you.” I point at the mess that the Daybreakers have already made of the room. “You can search this house top to bottom if you want—every nook and cranny. Hell, open up the walls if you need to, but when you’re done, I want it all put back. That’s my right.”
My father’s face is synonymous with thunder, a quiet rumbling that precedes a lightning strike.
I am really testing him right now.
But I’m also not out of line and he knows it. As a club wife, my house is my own. I have every right to demand this sort of thing. It’s written into our culture: the household is the woman’s domain. I’m staking claim here.
“If you were Crown’s wife, I might consider it,” Cat says, sneering down at me. “Since you’re not, I suggest you get the fuck out of my sight before my goodwill disappears.”
I stare my father down, unafraid even though I should be.
He killed his son. If necessary, he will kill me, too.
“This is my house,” I repeat, and I don’t care if I’ve said it a thousand times. I’ll keep repeating it until everyone around me understands.
Footsteps behind me bring both Beast and Grainger into the room. Grainger stays beside Sin while Beast moves up beside me.
“Bring your old lady to heel before I do it for you,” Cat suggests, looking at Beast and acting as if I don’t even exist anymore. It’s enough to put me into a quiet fury.
“If you touch her …” Beast begins, and I feel the tension in the room ratchet up a notch.
“This is her house,” Crown declares, before any gauntlets can be thrown. Cat looks back at him, along with several of the other men in the room. The VP isn’t looking at any of them though, just me. His moss green eyes find mine, dark with conviction. “Respectfully, Boss, what do you care if Beast and I want to share an old lady?”
My father turns a look on the man who used to be his righthand. If he were smart about it, he’d keep Crown closer still. There isn’t another person in the entire club who cares for Cat the way Crown does. He truly respects and loves the man.
“Announcing that you’re neutered to the entire club, eh?” Cat asks, turning back to look at Sin and Grainger. The expression on his face darkens even further, sending chills down my spine. Grainger is right (again): if my father gets a chance to catch his officers in a lie and kill them, he will.
I’ll lose all four of my men in one go.
