Page 25 of Trouble

“Oh, fuck no!” I yelled. She must have somehow heard me above the music because the minute I stormed forward, she swirled around and our eyes met above the crowd of horny assholes who had seen far too much of my woman for my liking. “Get off that stage!”I yelled. She had the nerve to smile and shake her head. All the while, she never missed a step in her routine. I heard some of the girls working the floor giggling as I damn near ran to the stage.

Just as I got to the stage, I heard some asshole shout, “Milk Duds, over here!” I turned, clocked the bastard with my eyes and then in three steps I clocked him with my fist.

“I ever hear another fucker call her that, I will end you!” I yelled and despite the loud sound system, the song was at a quiet moment, so they all heard me. Then, I jumped up on stage, threw my woman over my shoulder and walked through the back of the stage where a curtained area led to a sort of waiting area before you could get to the dressing room. I was pissed off all over again that no one even tried to stop me from manhandling Trinity the way I had. “Where the fuck is your security?”

“I’m sorry!” Her giggle as she said that led me to believe she was not, in fact, sorry. “Did you want them to intervene, so you could punch someone else?”

That stopped me in my tracks and I gently put Trinity back down on the ground. Her body slid all the way down mine andlit me on fire from the inside out. “What the hell were you doing up there?”

“Filling in because several girls quit and moved on while the club was shut down in the wake of everything that happened.”

“So, you had to get up there and get naked?” My voice was half anger and half heat as I stared down into eyes that weren’t angry with me. She was fucking amused. Her smirk only grew into a full-blown smile as she stood there.

“I’m not naked, asshole.” She threw her hands down in front of her body from chest to waist to indicate the little bit of fabric that adorned her nipples and crotch. One wrong move and her pussy lips would be talking to the crowd.

“This is too close to naked for my comfort. Not to mention Hollywood’s scarred for life now. He’s probably downed all the liquor in the bar to get over you dancing damn near nude toI Touch Myself. Jesus, woman!”

She laughed at me. “Hopefully, he paid for all those drinks, which will make it worthwhile on the bottom line for the night. Hollywood being traumatized by seeing me, I understand, but why are you upset?”

“I came here to ask you out on a date.”

The smile slipped from her face so abruptly it almost made me sick to my stomach with what she might say next. “I get it. We went through something and it made you feel protective or whatever, but-”

“Nuh-uh!” I shook my head, backed her up to the wall, and caged her in with my arms as I leaned in close. “Nope. We’re not fucking doing that. Did our time on that mountain bring us into some new, weird space of understanding? Sure. I was coming foryouthat day! Do you understand? Dropping those bastards was a happy accident while I was there to get toyou!Hollywood could have gone after you while I led the cops away, but that’s not what I wanted. It wasn’t what I needed,” I corrected. “Ineeded to know you were safe and that had everything to do with the fact that I have wanted you in my life since you were 18 years old and started parading in and out of the clubhouse looking all beautiful while you looked for Bishop or Hollywood. I wanted you there looking for me.” She rolled her big, beautiful eyes at me and smiled a fake, placating smile of someone who thought I was lying to myself. “Not lying, sweetness. You can talk to Bishop about how long I’ve been pining away for you.”

“You’re the one who-”

Once again, I cut her off there. “We both know I fell for Natalie’s shit in the heat of the moment, fresh off my visit with Sweet where he told me if I stepped a toe over the line again, my patch would be history. He refused to tell me anything other than that my accuser was a female who was closely linked to the club.”

“So that meant it was me?”

“It did when someone else told me that they overheard you talking about it.”

“What a bitch!” Trinity hissed. I had to agree.

“She fucked things up for me then. I fucked them up for us later. I stupidly listened to Bishop and Hollywood and gave you space after your mom died and all that shit came out about Natalie.”

“You looked at me like I was your worst enemy every time I was in your presence, for years after that!” She shouted at me.

“I looked at you like that because I was angry that I couldn’t make you mine, especially when you dated that dickwad who skipped town.” Her eyes narrowed down to thin slits as she puffed up her still barely covered chest.

“Did you run him out of town?”

“I let him drive out of town, the fucking bastard.”

“You had no right!” She shouted angrily.

“He was picking up some girl down by the college, and you weren’t in love with the cocksucker anyway. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to drive away.” I yelled back. Before I even realized what was happening, her arms were around my neck and our mouths fused together. I picked her up and carried her out of the room, down the hall, and straight into her office.

“Looks like we’re not needed here,” I heard my club brother, Steel, say as someone shuffled past us.

“Clean up when you’re done,” his wife called out as I slammed the door shut behind them with my booted foot. I pushed Trinity’s body up against the door and flicked the lock, but made damn sure not to pull away from that kiss.

CHAPTER 17

OFFICE SPACE

TRINITY

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