Page 10 of Prince of Darkness

I turn my head away from the rustic Budweiser clock on the wall over by the pool tables. She’s holding up a bottle of my favorite whiskey. I shake my head no. I need to have a clear head tonight when I see Olivia. Her little ass might not show either. Then I’ll have to go hunt her down.

I’m hoping I won’t have to do that. I don’t think her father Dave, who is a retired detective, will take too kindly to that. I’m also sure he’ll remember who I am. What are the fucking chances? The same detective that arrested me all those years ago is the father of the one woman who has me thinking about forever.

Pink drops the bottle back down under the bar. “Is this about the girl from last night?”

“Don’t,” I warn, I’m already on edge. The fact that she asked about Olivia makes me wonder who else noticed my attention on her.

“Sorry.” She holds her hands up.

“It’s fine.” Does it matter if people saw? Why am I irritated over it? Wouldn’t that be a good thing? She’s going to be around a lot more, so they might as well get used to it. It’s not that I don’t want people to know I have a woman but more that I don’t want to share her with anyone.

This might be a motorcycle club, but these fuckers can be as bad as a bunch of church ladies about personal shit. People are damn nosy. I barely know her yet. I want to keep her to myself for a bit longer. The things I did find out about her are from what I dug up based on her identification. If I’m good at anything, it’s digging shit up.

“Should I not mention the blonde Arch was all over last night?” She lifts a brow.

“I wouldn’t if I were you.”

He’d been as pissed as I was about our girls giving us the slip last night. At least with Olivia I had something to lead me to her whereabouts. The other girl hadn’t given Arch anything but a name, which he wasn’t sure was her real one. He stormed out of here last night, and I’ve yet to see him. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. Arch is used to getting what he wants. I don’t think anyone tells him no but me. He’s used to it coming from me, having been in the Marines together. He didn’t have much choice back then.

“Why the hell did they run from us?” I mutter.

“Oh, you want to talk about it now?” She laughs.

“Never mind.” I start to get up. I have other shit I need to be handling.

“I’m giving you a hard time.” She points for me to sit back down. I do it willingly. I’ll take any advice I can get right now. Olivia has me all twisted up. I’m not used to the feeling. My ideas on how to handle her aren’t the most rational. Back at her place, I had to force myself not to throw her over my shoulder and drag her back here. It took everything in me to leave her behind. The only reason I did was because she agreed to meet up with me.

I’ve driven past her house a million times like some sort of stalker. I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me. The only reason I didn’t station my ass outside of her place is because I know she lives with her dad. I learned a lot from the file I had pulled on her. Including that she has two older brothers, one of which is an active cop now and is always coming and going. I know for sure if they had spotted me, the outcome wouldn’t have been good.

That’s why when I saw her car finally parked at home, I pounced, knowing I only had a small window of time. I threw out my original plan to kidnap her, knowing I could never get away with it with her family and decided to resort to blackmail. There’s no way Miss Goody Two Shoes, who is spending her Sunday afternoon making pies for her family, is going to tell them she went and got her a man in a motorcycle club. They aren't going to care how rich I’ve become over the years. I can’t say that I blame them either. It doesn't help that I've got ten years on her.

Two sweet butts stroll up to the bar, getting a couple of drinks. They’d been here last night. I’m generally good with faces. It comes in handy. They both shoot smiles my way. One turns to face me, ready to make her move.

“Don’t.” Pink snaps at them before they can try to sink their claws into me. Pink can be a bit like a protective older sister. She makes their drinks and motions for them to leave the bar. It’s not a full-on party tonight. It’s more laid back.

A few members are out back grilling. A lot of the men in the club haven’t settled down and crash here instead of going home to an empty house. I find I do the same, but I work here. It makes things more convenient. My house sits empty more often than not.

“Are you really shocked that the girl last night ran from you?” Pink finally says when everyone is out of earshot. “Isn’t that part of the appeal?”

“She doesn’t need any more appeal.” I was already hooked before her ass took off on me.

“You’re the jealous type.” Pink is full-on smiling about this. “Who would have thought it?”

“Sure as shit not me,” I admit. I never thought I’d be possessive of a woman. There was never even one that sparked my interest before Olivia.

“That is the kind of girl you marry.” I start to respond but she holds her hand up to stop me, letting me know she’s not finished. “And she knows that shit too. She’s innocent, sure, but she’s not stupid. Let’s be honest, based on your outside appearance you don’t really scream future husband material. And even if she did think somehow she could get a ring and a promise of forever from you, she’d still be reluctant to take it. Thinking you won’t be the type to hold true to your word.”

“Pink.”

“I know, Pres. I know. You’re not your father. That’s clear as day to all of us but try to look at it through her eyes. Can you blame her for thinking any of those things based on what she saw here last night? She knows you're the head of this place. That you're in control of the things that go on here.” She motions to the inside of the giant warehouse.

She’s right. I know how a lot of the men around here are. Even the married ones. I’ll never be that. My dad had his good moments, but he had his shit ones too. My mom was always good. Even though my old man put her through some shit. I couldn’t have asked for a better mom, and my dad couldn’t have asked for a better wife. He didn’t deserve her.

I’ll never do to a woman what my father did to my mom. Never. That shit ate her up. I’ll never understand how a little pussy could make him do the shit he did. Or how he could continually hurt the person who was the most loyal to him in the whole world. When he died, he finally released her.

“You’re not really giving me any tips here,” I point out.

“Be steady.”

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