Page 58 of Tripp

Slowly walking toward the two of them, Tripp shoved her aside as I approached. “Get the hell away from him,” I seethed, trying to convince myself not to tackle her and beat the hell out of her once and for all. For as much as I wanted to teach her drunk ass a lesson, this wasn’t the time or place. I didn’t want to make a scene, nor did I want the women behind me to think badly of me.

“Or what?” She tried to put her hands back on Tripp, even though he took a few more steps away from her. Before I could answer or even reach her, a blur of blonde hair pushed past me and headed straight for Arianna. Grabbing her by the back of her hair, Adelaide pulled her toward the door, Arianna stumbling behind her the entire way, trying to catch her footing.

“Get off me, you crazy bitch!” she yelled, trying to dislodge herself from Adelaide’s hold. But it was useless; she was simply no match.

Adelaide was stronger than she looked. I laughed out loud as she finally tossed Arianna out on her ass, screaming, “Don’t ever show your ugly face around here again or you’ll regret it!” before she slammed the door on her. Turning toward us, she threw up her hands and said, “Anyone else need disposing of?”

We all burst out laughing at what she’d done. She saw the look on my face and decided to step in on my behalf, and I’d be forever grateful to her for doing so. She winked at me and said, “I got your back, sweetheart.”

When Tripp drew me into his side, he kissed me before saying, “I told you they were cool chicks.”

“They certainly are,” I agreed.

All of a sudden a serious look shrouded his face. “Do you want me to fire her? I know you said you didn’t want to see anyone lose their job, but I think she’s only gonna get worse. Especially after tonight.”

That time I didn’t have to think too long before answering. “I think it’s time. After the shit she pulled tonight, she’s gone too far.”

“Okay, consider it done. Now how about we get outta here so I can ravage you properly.” The seductive tremor in his voice instantly made me wet, the ache that had been present the entire day kicking into overdrive.

“How can I say no to that?”

“You can’t.” He reached for my hand and pulled me toward the exit. Once outside, we walked right into another commotion. At first I thought Arianna still hadn’t left, causing one last scene before she was finally booted off the property.

But as we approached, I saw a few of the men crowding the gates, a car on the other side with a woman blaring on the horn. It was obvious she wanted to come inside, but for who I had no idea.

Not until she laid eyes on Tripp.

I would have liked to say that the rest of the evening passed without incident, but I would’ve been lying.

Tripp

Mindlessly walking toward the gates, I tried to dispel the image in front of me, but no amount of blinking or wishing would make her disappear.

“Tripp,” Rachel shouted. “Tripp, tell them to let me in.”

My only response was to shake my head, releasing Reece’s hand as I prepared myself for one helluva scene. I had to make sure she was real. That she was really there. Only then would I summon up the anger necessary to tell her to go to hell.

“How the fuck did you find me?” Out of all the questions rattling around inside my confused brain, that was the one that chose to escape. Peering at her through the bars, gripping the metal tightly while I pushed angered breaths from my mouth, I shouted again, “How did you find me?”

“I . . . I remember you telling me about this place.” Even in the dim light of the lot I could see her pupils were dilated. She had an issue with drugs back when we were together, but I always chose to look the other way because it hadn’t affected me. Well, not until I found her fucking some guy, her lapse in judgement surely a side effect of the drugs. Or maybe it was simply because she’d been a selfish bitch.Yeah, let’s go with that second one.

Other than her eyes, she appeared okay, even though I knew she wasn’t. “What are you doin’ here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

Looking at Rachel now, I realized I’d never loved her. She was simply someone I’d fucked and had a good laugh with on occasion.

“What could you possibly have to talk to me about? I haven’t seen you in over a year. What could be so damn important that you just show up here out of the blue?” I backed up and turned away from her, fully intending on hightailing it back inside the security of the clubhouse to bark orders at someone to make sure she left without further incident. But I didn’t make it that far. The next words out of her mouth froze me to my spot, disabling any thoughts from forming, let alone allowing my body to flee as I’d initially intended.

“Your son.”

I whipped around so fast I was surprised I didn’t fall over. The weight of her words crushed me. No way. It wasn’t true. She wasn’t pregnant when I left her. Or was she? I had no idea, but then again why would I have even bothered to ask? She’d cheated, and the guy I’d found her with probably wasn’t the first. If she’d popped out a kid, what were the chances that he was mine? Slim. The chances just had to be slim. Otherwise, I had no idea what I was gonna do.

Instead of confronting Rachel with her ridiculous allegation, I sought out Reece. I didn’t have to look too far, seeing as how she was standing next to Sully, the look on her face utter disbelief. We’d just started our relationship; how would she handle me having a son all of a sudden? That was a lot to ask of someone. I clearly had deep feelings for her if I was more concerned about what she thought than what I was goin’ through.

Striding toward the woman who’d taken over my entire world, I reached for her but she simply shook her head and stepped back. I could hear Rachel shouting something behind me, but all of my focus was on Reece. The look in her eyes told me she was confused and . . . was that embarrassment?

“Reece.” Her name was the only word I could form. I had no idea what to say, but I knew damn well I needed her to talk to me, to tell me what was goin’ through that head of hers. I could only imagine, but I refused to give in to my own paranoia. Maybe it wasn’t that bad . . . or maybe it was worse.

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