Page 10 of Tripp

“Calm the hell down!” I shouted to my brother, putting more pressure on him to stay still. Finally he did, reaching for his drink and draining the rest of it before tossing the empty beer bottle at Ryder. Thankfully our Sergeant-at-Arms ducked at the last minute.

“Isn’t it your duty to make sure there’s no chaos in the club?” I asked, glaring at Ryder. He knew damn well any mention of Edana was a sore subject, the guilt that consumed my brother on a daily basis over everything that had happened to her borderline debilitating.

“What? Like keeping the peace and shit?” He laughed, shaking his head in disbelief at the idea.

“Yeah, you ass.”

“Like that’ll ever happen.” Ryder slumped back in the booth, baiting Hawke with the narrowing of his eyes. It was as if he wanted to fight with him.

Deciding to change the topic, I coaxed Breck into telling me more about his outburst. “So, is someone not doing their part babysitting our prisoner?”

“No. Everyone is doin’ their part.”

“So what the hell is the problem?”

Tapping the table as a distraction, Breck glanced to Ryder before speaking. “Marek feels we’re not inflicting enough pain on Psych.” From the tone of his voice I knew the subject bothered him. Breck had no problem inflicting pain on someone when necessary, especially to the likes of that fucker, but I knew he didn’t get off on that shit either. None of us did. Well, apparently Marek did, but could I blame him? The man had every right to inflict as much agony on Psych Brooks as possible, but at some point he had to let go and move on.

“He’s draggin’ this shit out. It’s not good. Not for him or any of us.”

Bingo.

Leaning forward, I gave Breck my best advice. “Look, this whole situation with Psych will be done whenever Marek deems it so. He’s working through some shit, not only for himself, but for Sully.” Resting back against my seat, I finished with, “We’re just gonna have to be patient. He can’t prolong it forever. Have you seen Psych’s condition? If I were a betting man, I’d give him a few more days at best.”

Swallowing the rest of my drink, I shoved it toward Ryder. “You can suck on my ice cubes if you want. I’m sure there’s some scotch left on them.” The corner of my lip twitched in amusement watching his reaction.

“Fuck you,” he grated, grabbing two of the cubes from the glass and throwing them at me. I dodged them, but Hawke hadn’t been so lucky.

“What the fuck?” he yelled, tossing them right back at Ryder. A hint of a grin appeared on my brother’s face, but it was gone before anyone else saw it. At least they weren’t tackling each other to the ground.

The thing with men that many women didn’t understand was that we could argue, and even go to blows, but a few minutes later it was done with. We were all brothers and, as such, we had each other’s backs. Sure, we got on each other’s nerves, and sometimes a battle ensued, but we didn’t hold grudges. When it was done, it was done.

With the exception of Trigger and Stone. Trigger still harbored some ill feelings toward Stone for going against code and gettin’ with his niece. Their relationship wasn’t as bad as it once was, especially after Riley was born, but anger still reared up every now and again when Trigger spoke to the club’s VP.

The antics at our table took my mind offher. Slightly. Peering around the club, I still didn’t catch a glimpse of her. I wondered if she left for the evening. All of a sudden, thoughts of where she lived, how she got there, and if she was being careful bombarded me. Why I cared about the safety of a woman I’d never met baffled me, but the questions and concerns were present nonetheless. After ten minutes, I decided to put my crazy thoughts to rest.

Straddling a stool at the bar, I waved Carla over. “Did the new girl leave already?” I tried to appear as disinterested as possible, but her smile told me she knew I was anything but. I averted my eyes but her silence pulled my attention back to her. “What?”

“I told you she was quite somethin’, didn’t I?” She smiled bigger at my intrigue. I didn’t answer. Instead, I raised a brow in irritation. Carla laughed. “No, she didn’t leave yet. I believe she’s in the back room giving a private dance.”

My hands instantly clenched the edge of the bar, the look on my face surely telling Carla that I was less than pleased with the news. Although I couldn’t explain why, not to her and certainly not to myself.

Rising from my seat, I walked across the open area and headed toward the private rooms. Only one was in use at the moment, the green sign above the door reading ‘Occupied.’ Every step closer had me on edge, my heart racing so fast I swore it was gonna beat right out of my goddamn chest if I didn’t get a fuckin’ grip.

I was ten feet away when I heard a man shouting. Then I heard a woman’s screams, pleading with him to get off her. And I knew I only had seconds before something horrific happened to her, if it hadn’t already. Not stopping to check if the door was unlocked, my shoulder hit the thick wood and splintered the frame.

Berating myself for ever taking my eyes off her in the first place, a mistake I would never make again, I rushed into the room and threw myself at the man pinning her to the ground. My sheer size, mixed with my surprise attack, was enough to knock the guy to the ground in no time, wailing on him with my fists while he did his best to defend himself. He tried to throw a punch, but all that got him was a broken wrist. My rage poured from me in droves, the adrenaline coursing through my veins hyping my need to end the fucker. My fists were still flying at him when hands grabbed at me from behind, tugging me backward to get me to stop.

“Tripp!” Ryder shouted. “Come on.” I tried to shrug him off, but he wasn’t the only one pulling at me; my brother was helping to diffuse the situation as well.

“Bro, he’s right. Come on. You did what you needed to. It’s over.” Hawke had no idea what was going on, but he knew I would never attack someone without a damn good reason. It took me a few extra seconds to calm down enough to hop to my feet, leaving the other guy on the floor still breathing. Unfortunately.

Gripping my hair, I turned around and found the woman I’d rescued cowering in the corner, her knees pulled tightly to her chest as she buried her head from view. I could see her body trembling from clear across the room and I wanted nothing more than to protect her, to soothe her worries and comfort her. A stranger. A woman I’d seen for the first time on stage, dancing for a crowd of men. A woman who willingly came into this room with a stranger because she wanted to make extra money. A woman who would put herself into this very same situation again in the future.

Not if I have anything to say about it.

Disregarding my crazy thought, I moved toward her with my hands held in front of me to show her I meant no harm. The commotion caught the attention of not only my men but Carla and the guy we had working security that evening.

“Oh my God!” Carla cried. “What happened?” She took a step toward the woman, but I stopped her.

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