Page 17 of Pink Poison

Fucking Priests.

Those rat bastards took me down and set the entire fucking club on fire. They succeeded in their mission, too. It was a massacre that only left the new patches and the prospects—though most of them pussied out before they patched in. If it weren’t for Mack and Graves, I’d have been buried six feet deep with a sad little cross as a headstone. It’s taken us just as long to rebuild, but we did that shit. We’re better than ever, damn near unstoppable with someone like Kash in our ranks now. He may be younger than us, but the little asshole knows his shit. Then again, I suppose being a fan of explosives helps him in that department.

“–id you hear me?” Graves asks, breaking mythoughts.

“Fuck no.” I huff a laugh as I blow out a ring of smoke. “Lost in my head again.”

He nudges my shoulder. “You good?”

Frowning, I look my friend in the eye. Concern draws over his features, pulling at the fragile strings of my heart.

“All good, I’m just—”

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Shawn.” He snubs his cigarette on the sole of his boot before tossing it somewhere in the dark parking lot. “You can talk to me, brother.”

Clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, I flip him off. “Don’t first name me, man,” I snort. “I was going to say I’m just happy to be here—alive.”

“Me too, brother.” His voice cracks with more emotion than I’ve heard from him in years. “Me too.”

Shaking my head, I toss my burnt out cigarette to the ground and stomp on it for good measure. “Let’s get the fuck outta here.” I jerk my head towards our bikes. “Kash has it handled.”

Chapter six

Kash

My brothers leave the bar after Stone shares a few words with the cute chick behind the bar. I can’t stop the smile that unfolds over my face at his inability to give a single shit about her. It’s not like I could blame him after his earlier encounter with the sexy blonde from Mo’s.Stevie.The guys have mentioned her a few times, mostly when Mack is trashed or simply not around, but I don’t know the full story behind why she’s a problem for us. I mean, Icouldjust ask—but where’s the fun in that when my imagination issomuch better?

“A-Am I f-free to go?” Darien whimpers pathetically.

Turning back to him, I scrunch my nose at the sweat covering his oily skin.Fucking disgusting.“Shut up,” I growl as I sit on the chair Graves vacated. “I’m here to make sure you do what we agreed to.”

He blinks. “Now?”

Rolling my eyes, I discreetly pull my favorite switchblade from my cut and lay it on top of the table. “Yeah, shithead. Now.”

His swampy, green eyes widen at the impending threat as his face pales further. “O-Okay. I just n-need to make a call.”

“Make the call.”

Slowly, he rises from the booth, as if to walk away from the table. Wrapping my fingers around the cobalt handle, I flick it open and point it in his direction like a conductor’s baton. “Sit the fuck down, Darien.”

“I-I can’t h-hear in here,” he whines like the bitch he is.

“Gentlemen, what seems to be the problem?” I damn near jump out of my seat as the bartender who spoke to Stone approaches the table.Jesus. She may as well be a damn cat with stealth like that.Her hazel eyes flit between us before she glances at the knife in my hand. “No weapons on display in the establishment, Mister…”

Mister?Jesus, I’m only twenty-fuckin’-eight. The day I let someone call me Mister, I’ll be too damn old to hear ‘em.

“Kash.” I offer my blade-free hand. “I’m not old enough to be called Mister anything.”

She grips my palm a helluva lot harder than I anticipate—squeezing until my knuckles pop. “Kash it is. No weapons here. Put that shit away.”

Yanking my hand away, I shake it to restore proper blood flow before tucking the switchblade back inside my cut. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Gross, don’t fucking call me ma’am,” she snorts. “I’m Delilah, but customers who listen to the rules get to call me Del.”

“Delilah, huh? You don’t look like a Delilah to me.” I smirk. “You look like you’d be an Emily—tough as fuck.”

Her eyebrow lifts at my off-the-wall statement. It doesn’t take rocket science to see that she isn’t interested in hearing about what I think her name should be.I still meant it, though.Blowing out a hastybreath, I give her a genuine smile. “Sorry, Del. It was just a misunderstanding. Isn’t that right, Darien?”

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