Page 28 of Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

“You heard him,” Whiskey intoned next. “You have already caused Tango enough trouble, and Liza too. Get over here. We’re taking you to the house, and you are not to come back here without one of us escorting you, understood?”

“What? You can’t do that! She… this is…” She turned so fast none of us saw it coming when the flat of her hand smacked right across my face leaving a burning redness behind in its wake. I stood there, breathing heavy, but refusing to touch her as Fox moved in quickly and snatched her up throwing her over his shoulder.

“I’m really sorry about that, Liza,” he ground out as he hauled her ass out of the room, still shrieking about how everything was my fault.

“Holy fuck!” Whiskey yelled out as he shook his head back and forth. “I honestly don’t know what the fuck is wrong with that woman, but we will be finding out.” He turned to me then. “Are you okay?” Just as he asked Tango came to me with a sandwich bag full of ice and placed it on my face.

“You okay, babe?” He asked gently. I nodded my head, still too stunned to speak at the moment. “Come here,” he said to me as he pulled out a chair, sat down, and then proceeded to pull me onto his lap. He kissed my shoulder and kept whispering over and over again how sorry he was.

“This isn’t your fault,” I told him.

“No, it’s not. Fox and I should have done something long ago about this shit. You have our apologies. We’ll keep Amy away. I already sent a message to Mech to remove her access to the clubhouse until we get her head on straight. She won’t be allowed here anymore without one of us by her side. I’m so sorry, Liza. Truly. I don’t understand what’s going on with her, but I promise we’ll figure it out.”

I waved him off. “Go, tend to your woman. I suggest you go to her next doctor visit with her and let them know she’s behaving oddly. There might be something wrong, hormonally speaking.” I smiled reassuringly at him as I told him this and he just looked so taken aback by my words.

“The fact that you’re concerned for her health after she hit you…” he took a breath before continuing. “I hope you know that none of this is his fault. We put this problem on his shoulders, he didn’t ask for it. I hope you don’t hold it against T.”

“Why on Earth would I do that?” I asked in all honesty. I knew this wasn’t Tango’s fault. I would never hold someone’s past relationships over their head anyway, but this hadn’t been a relationship. It had been one, long, series of miscommunications. Whiskey smiled at me then.

“Good to know. I better get going. No doubt, Fox has his hands full.”

Once everyone else was gone I moved a little so that I could get Tango to stop hiding out with his head dipped down behind my shoulder. When I finally got him to look me in the eye I smiled at him. “I hope you know I don’t blame you. I don’t think less of you. How could I? I told you about how the men who saw my scars turned me away even though that was a part of my past that was not my fault. I would never do that to someone else. You are an amazing man, and there’s no way I am going to let someone else’s actions and issues burry your greatness. You don’t bow your head, don’t take on her shit, and don’t think for one minute that I don’t know her drama is just that. Hers. It is not a reflection on you, Tango.”

His arms wrapped around me tightly as he breathed out the words, “Thank you.” He kissed my shoulder again. “You don’t know what it means to hear that you understand.”

“I do know, though.” I reminded him as the memories of the times when I was judged by my scars filtered to the surface. I unconsciously ran a finger over one of those scars and suddenly Tango’s hand was there closing over my own and squeezing slightly before he moved it out of the way and brought my arm up near his face as if he were about to kiss me there. I snatched my arm away.

“No!” The word left my mouth on an exhaled breath. Tango just smiled at me.

“I was just looking, babe. I’m going to fix these for you so that they can’t keep tainting your world. You had a tattoo under this one before. Would you want the same thing?” I shook my head. “Okay, then you’re going to think on it and tell me what you might want, and we’re going to come up with something beautiful to put over this, because you are more than these scars. You are far more than that moment you have suspended in time when you think on how they got there. I want to change those memories for you and make something better.” He leaned in and placed another sweet kiss right where my shoulder met my neck and then he sighed. “I think you’re probably the only woman who could understand my situation without judging me for it. I should have known you’d have a better perspective on things than other women would.”

Tango pulled the cold bag of ice away from my cheek. It was still red, no doubt, but I had a feeling it was just because of the ice now and not the smack. His fingers traced lightly over my cheek before they pulled away only to be replaced by his lips.

“So sorry you got hurt because of me, babe.”

“Not your fault,” I reiterated.

“Still, sorry. It shouldn’t have happened.”

“No, it shouldn’t have, but it’s done, and I’m tired of dwelling on it.” I put my fingers under his chin and lifted his face until his beautiful golden-green eyes were looking right into my own. Then, I leaned forward and ghosted my lips over his. It was just a tickle, a hint of affection. Then I sucked his top lip into my mouth between my lips, and licked it gently while eliciting a groan from Tango. It was about that time that he finally decided to throw caution to the wind and join in. His fingers dove into the hair at the nape of my neck, tugging my head into the position he wanted me in, and then he took my mouth with his in one of the most heated, sensual kisses I’ve had in my entire life. I would have stripped down right there and ridden him into oblivion if he hadn’t stopped me.

“Why the fuck are you so sticky?” He asked as he pulled away from me, his hands having a hard time releasing my hair that had been doused in seltzer water. I just laughed.

“Rabbit and I may have had a training incident behind the bar just before Amy showed up.” I snickered out my response as I recalled some of what happened before Tango interrupted my story.

“I definitely want to hear all about that later, but right now I need to get you back to our room.”

“I don’t think anyone will bother us back here right now,” I told him as he kissed me again.

“Nope, but I’d rather my brothers not watch our first time together.” I looked around then thinking I’d see someone else in the room. There was no one. “Cameras,” he stated.

“Oh! Rabbit is one smart bunny!” I laughed.

“He the one that told you to talk in here?” I nodded. “Good. Now, I’ll be able to hear first hand what she had to say to you, and so will Whiskey and Fox after she attempts to lie. Although, I think we caught enough of it for them to finally understand.”

“Most likely,” I agreed. “Now, enough about them, let’s go back to our room.” That was all she wrote, because he stood, flung me over his shoulder and carried me out of the break room and through the commons area to the boisterous hoots and hollers of the many men still gathered around. This was the sexy kind of caveman Alpha display that women swooned over in the movies. It wasn’t like the things that happened during my captivity with a different type of MC. There was nothing sexy about being kidnapped, tortured, and nearly raped. Nothing at all. I was thanking my lucky stars that my brother enlisted the help of Tango and the guys of Aces High MC this time. He hadn’t just saved my life with that decision. He’d saved my soul, and put me in the hands of people who would be able to help repair some of the damage that had been done. I wasn’t just talking about Tango’s offer to cover up my scars with new tattoos either. The entire club, minus Amy, had my back and bent over backwards to make me feel welcome and part of things here.

There were secrets a plenty, but they weren’t the kind that were there to hurt me. If anything the secrets the men kept were designed to make sure the women stayed safe, and I respected the hell out of that. More importantly though, I was about to go finally be able to indulge in my favorite past time, seeing Tango naked. I’d seen him dressed all the way down to his boxers before and the sight alone had left me wanting and more than willing. It seemed as though it was finally time to unveil his package, and get some relief for the relentless teasing I’d endured the past few weeks.

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