Page 82 of Pulse

“Sure am. Spec told me I couldn’t drive them anymore after he caught me racing one of the prospects.” Her grin didn’t hold an ounce of repentance.

“Okay, so…”

“Harp, that man is on my shit list. Until he’s off it, I don’t have to do a damn thing he says.”

“Okay, now you’re speaking my language.” Talia laughed for the first time that morning, and damn, it felt good. Leave it to these women to pull her away from her anxiety.

“Okay,” Harper said with a shrug. “It’s your funeral.”

“Nah.” Talia shook her head. “It won’t be your funeral. It might be your ass, though. I could see that man giving you a serious spanking after this.”

Liv climbed on an ATV and then peered over her shoulder with a sassy grin. “All the more reason to go for a ride, wouldn’t you say?” She winked and then faced forward. “Hop on, Tal.”

“Well, if I’m going to get my ass thrown off the property, I might as well go out with a bang.” She started for the ATV when Harper stopped her with a hand on her arm.

“It’s gonna be okay. I don’t know all the details, but I know this family. They can’t be broken.”

She was sweet, but Harper had no idea what her ol’ man was learning right then. “Thanks, but I’m afraid I put some pretty big cracks in the foundation the other day.”

“Cracks can be filled in. Our guys are experts at it. Have a little faith.” Harper gave Talia a quick hug before climbing on her own ATV.

Cracks could be fixed, but if Spec’s reaction indicated how the meeting would go, she wouldn’t hold her breath waiting for the welcome wagon to arrive.

THE VIBE IN the clubhouse was shit. There was no other word for it. No one spoke or ragged on each other like usual. Pulse’sbrothers sat there casting side-eyed glances his way. Spec and Curly were the only two who knew the details, but everyone else knew they were there for something serious involving him.

Being the center of attention sucked.

He might as well have a neon sign flashing over his head and blinking the word ‘asshole.’

A phone chimed, breaking the thick silence. Jinx, who sat directly across the oval table from Pulse and who happened to be next to Spec, flipped his phone over. The big guy’s familiar laugh boomed into the quiet room.

“Shit, brother, I knew you were in the doghouse, but I didn’t realize your woman cut you off. No wonder you’ve been in a shit mood the past few days. Whaddya do?”

Spec sent Jinx a glare that would have incinerated most men on the spot, but not the club’s resident jokester.

“Wait, don’t tell me. Let me guess. You ran over one of her five-hundred-dollar shoes with your bike?”

The scowl deepened.

“No? Okay, you left the toilet seat up?”

Spec extended one middle finger into the air.

“Okay, that’s not it either. Did you bring her the wrong Starbucks order?”

Tracker snickered. “How are your balls feeling today, man?”

That had Ty chuckling as well, and soon everyone was laughing and calling out ridiculous reasons Liv would be pissed at Spec. Now, it resembled the chapel before any typical church session.

For everyone except Spec, whose face was practically smoking, and Pulse, who couldn’t unglue his tongue from the roof of his mouth to participate.

When Curly arrived and asked Pulse to tell his story, he’d probably open his mouth to speak and hurl all over the table.How had Talia had the balls to talk to Spec and Curly on her own?

She was so fucking impressive.

The worst part was the way his brain kept running to the worst-case scenario, which didn’t even involve someone pulling out a gun and shooting him point-blank. No, the worst case for him would be seeing a table full of horrified and disgusted eyes staring at him as though they didn’t know him.

Knowing his brothers saw his past as a betrayal would be a million times worse than any physical vengeance the club could dish out.

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