Page 15 of Devil's Vengeance

CHAPTER 10

MARIAH

“Who the fuck are you?” he demanded.

Before I could even open my mouth to answer, five furious women made indignant sounds at him.

“God, you’re such an asshole,” Riley snapped. “Who she is doesn’t matter. We’re leaving.”

“Damn it, Riley!”

She ignored him, heading out the front door without a backward glance. Sam took my arm, leading me after her, and we all exited the house en masse. Two men in vests waited for us out front. One of which was a familiar and very unwelcome presence. But I didn’t have time to worry about Chase right now. I was a little worried about being attacked by an angry MC president.

Riley stood on the sidewalk, silently seething, until Allie threw her arm around her shoulders and gave her a little shake. “Come on. We’ll have a few drinks, then you can tell me what’s climbed up Croy’s ass this time.”

It took a minute, but eventually Riley softened enough to nod. We split into two groups, with Sam and Lacey in a car with me and the prospect who’d offered me a ride home the other night behind the wheel, while Allie, Riley, and Quinn took the other car with Chase. I was grateful not to be trapped in a car with him, and by the time we arrived at the club, I was relaxed and ready to have fun. So was Riley, who had her arms loopedthrough her friends’ and a smile on her face. The club we headed into wasn’t overly crowded yet, and we found a table near the back to crowd around while the prospect, Gunner, was sent to get drinks. Chase found a section of wall to lean against, his arms crossed over his chest. He was far enough away not to be a bother, but close enough to keep an eye on us.

“Don’t mind him. It’s been his job to follow me around since I met Croy,” Riley grumbled, shooting Chase a dirty look. When he looked like he was trying hard not to smirk, she flipped him off. A smile ghosted across his face, but when he noticed me watching him, it was gone again and he looked away, scanning the club as it slowly filled instead.

“So, bestie, what’s the drama this time?” Allie decided after handing Riley a cocktail. Riley took a healthy swallow before answering, her expression sour.

“I’m not even pregnant and he’s acting like Reaper. No offense,” she said quickly to Quinn, who just snickered. “He wanted me to take like six guys with us, one for each of us. It’s ridiculous. I might as well stay at the clubhouse if I’m going to be surrounded by that many bikers. I just wanted a minute to breathe, damn it.”

My nose wrinkled. “Are they all that possessive?”

“Yes,” they all chorused together in annoyed tones, then burst out laughing.

“Do yourself a favor and don’t hang around one of them too long or they might look to make a claim,” Lacey warned. “Once they decide they’re going to keep you, they’ll follow through no matter how much you protest.”

Riley nodded her head in solemn agreement. “True. I told Croy several times that I wasn’t interested. He ignored me.”

Looking between them, I asked, “And you ended up with him anyway?”

Riley shrugged. “He ignored me because he knew I wanted him. I was just scared of being part of the club life. It took me a while to warm up to the idea.”

That sounded a little insane, to be honest. I mean, I read about it in my books, but I figured that was for the entertainment value. I didn't think they’d actually ignore what a woman wanted to stake their claim. My gazeimmediately flicked to Chase and narrowed. We had one hookup. If he even thought about getting possessive, I’d use every trick I learned in self defense to keep him away. No way was I letting myself get claimed by an asshole. I deserved better than that.

Granted, he’d have to be interested for that to even be a problem, but still. I was glad for the warning.

Once the topic of Riley’s security argument passed, the tension disappeared and things felt easy. Even though I had issues with Chase and he obviously didn’t like me, I trusted that he’d stop me from getting hurt, at the very least. He didn’t go through all that effort to get the rest of us out of that truck just to let someone snatch me again right under his nose.

After some dancing, we came back to the table to get more drinks. Allie started in about the security thing again, ranting about how her old man sends prospects to watch over her while she’s working and it scares off her clients. She was a photographer, and while she was good enough to sell her stuff to the magazines, she also did weddings and that kind of thing to pay the bills, and it pissed her off that the club was screwing with that.

“I mean, it’s stupid. Zayne and Caleb spent all that time teaching me to protect myself, but I can’t even go to work alone. I even have a conceal and carry, and still, that’s not good enough.”

Riley nodded. “There’s always someone at the hospital with me. I’m lucky though, because with HIPAA, they can’t follow me around inside. They seem content with me working on the same floor as Doc and sit in the parking garage instead. You’d think they had better things to do than follow us around.”

“Reaper said they’re going to open things up for more prospects soon,” Quinn inserted. She was more docile than the rest, sipping on her Sprite without getting all worked up, but she did agree that the bodyguard thing was a bit much. “How much do you want to bet they’ll be the ones taking over following us around so the guys can get back to work?”

“Ugh. You’re probably right,” Riley bemoaned. “I think Gunner is close to promoting, and Joe won’t be far behind him. They’ll need new guys to kick around.”

While they continued to rant, Lacey leaned close, amusement tinging her voice. “You look like you’re watching a Telenovela.”

I shot her a look that saidoh, come on, tipping my head toward the group. “This is better than any romance novel I’ve ever read. And this is real life.”

Chuckling, she nodded. “It is entertaining sometimes. How much do you want to bet each and every one of them will be naked underneath their men the minute they get back? They might complain now, but they’re all enamored to the point that it’s just sad how quickly they give in.”

“Hey! I heard that!” Allie complained. “It’s not like you don’t do what Brewer asks!”

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