Page 46 of German

Mouse, pouring sweat, turned to me with murder in his eyes.Before I could stab the motherfucker to death, Slade came barreling up the stairs and stepped between us.“What’s going on here, Brother?”

“German?”Maddy called from inside the bathroom, her voice full of terror and the smallest twinge of hope.

Rushing forward, I sheathed my blade.Kicking open the door the rest of the way, I pulled a trembling Maddy into my arms.Holding her against my chest, I closed my eyes for a second and breathed in her sweet, strawberry scent.Silently, I thanked whoever may be above she was safe.If I’d lost her, I would have lost myself as well.

“What happened?”I demanded, after pulling back to inspect her for any signs of trauma.

Maddy’s eyes darted toward all the imposing men standing around her waiting for an answer.Swallowing, she said in a small voice, “The bathroom door jammed.”

* * *

Maddy

“What happened?”German demanded, pulling back to inspect me for any signs of trauma.

My eyes darted toward all the imposing men standing around me.I might not be someone’s Old Lady, but I knew how serious this situation was.

Even worse, I knew German was outnumbered in someone else’s Club.With zero chance of fighting back against all this manpower, I wasn’t setting him up for a beating.Or worse.

Swallowing, I said, “The bathroom door jammed.”

German’s eyes narrowed.“What?”

My gaze shot over to Bruno who was still breathing hard, and I shivered.“The door jammed.Bruno must have heard me yelling for help.When he couldn’t pry it open, I guess he decided to break it down.”

The story was ridiculous, and an obvious fabrication, but I wasn’t about to start trouble with the Raiders.Trouble German would be responsible for dealing with.Sure, the Club might back the Devils' representative, given how predatory Mouse had behaved toward me all night.But I wasn’t taking the chance.

Slade’s shrewd eyes took in my face and the battered door.“That door’s been sticking for weeks.I should have dealt with it before the party.Sorry about that, Lexi.”

Putting on my sweetest smile I could muster under the circumstances, I said, “I’m fine.It’s okay.”

German’s expression was volcanic, but he didn’t explode.“I think we’d better get going.We’ve been on the road all day and Lexi needs to get off her feet.”

Slade’s face was as smooth as a sheet of glass, not reflecting a single emotion when he replied, “Sounds good.Why don’t you stop by tomorrow?We’re taking a ride as a Club to Lake Saguaro.I know Sarah and Chrissy would appreciate the company.”

German glanced at me before saying, “I’ll get back to you in the morning.”

We left directly after that.The ride home was as silent as a grave.As soon as we keyed back into the motel room, German bolted the door, demanding, “What really happened with Mouse?”

There was no point in beating around the bush.“When I checked my phone, I saw I had several missed calls from my father.Sarah suggested I stay upstairs to call him back because of all the noise, and told Bruno to wait with me until I was done.When I stepped out of the bathroom, Mouse was waiting for me instead.”

“Did he touch you?”German asked, his fists ragefully opening and closing at his sides.

“He tried, but I locked him out of the bathroom before he could do anything,” I answered, attempting to sanitize my language so as not to inflame matters further.

“I’ll kill him!”German growled, his eyes telling me this was no idle threat.

Shaking my head, I grabbed the man by the arms and pleaded, “No!It’s done.Please, German.Let it go.I just want this all to be over.”

Stilling, the hard man looked softly down at me.“Why did you lie for that motherfucker?”

I threw my hands skyward.“Because you were so angry.If I’d told the truth, you would have murdered Mouse and his Club would have had to retaliate against you no matter how justified you’d been in doing it.”

“He deserved a beating for what he tried to do!”German bitterly returned.

“Yes,hedid.Butyoudidn’t!And that’s who would have paid the price if I’d have told the truth about what Mouse had done.”

His beautiful brown eyes teemed with anger at my words, however honest they were.“He needs to pay for what he did, Maddy.”

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