Page 57 of The Echo of Violence

“It’s like she’s talking a whole other language,” Splinter mutters.

“Circle?”

She motions between the guys. “I don’t know if you’re picturing me in the middle of a jerk circle with your brothers or if you want to pee in a circle around me to mark your territory. Either way, you’re going to be disappointed.”

“I like her,” Scope states, moving to stand next to Mercy.

“Of course you do. I’m awesome.” Jinx tosses her hair and focuses on Mercy. “I’m going to go—leave you to talk to your guys. Here, give me your phone.”

Mercy hands it to Jinx, and her thumbs move across the screen before she hands it back to Mercy.

“There. I just added my number to your contacts,” she says as she hands Mercy back her phone.

“You don’t have to go.”

“Actually, I do. I’ve got a few errands I need to run, and Mercy wants to talk with you all.”

“Jinx.” I grab her arm when she moves to walk past me.

She tenses at my touch, but she doesn’t yank away.

“You shouldn’t run from me, darlin’. All it makes me want to do is chase you,” I warn her.

She laughs in my face. “Thinking I’m prey is the quickest way for you to end up with a bullet in your face.”

“You need me to fuck you again, Jinx? You seem particularly bitchy today.”

Mercy hisses, but Jinx just pulls her arm free. If she’s pissed that I just aired all that out in public, she doesn’t let it show. But then she’s so hard to read, I doubt I’d know she was pissed until I felt a knife at my throat.

“You fucked me in a storeroom. Stop making it sound like it was more than it was. You’re good, Eightball, but one fuck doesn’t mean you know me. If you did, you’d know I’m always a bitch.”

She walks away, but I grab her shoulder this time. The next thing I know, I’m flat on my back, looking up at her. She shakes her head, looking down at me, before turning.

“Call me, Mercy,” she yells over her shoulder, and then she’s gone.

Splinter holds his hand out to me. I take it and let him yank me up while Knight stares at me thoughtfully. “Yeah, not fun being on the receiving end of that move, is it?” he chuckles.

“Word of advice, Eightball,” Mercy says softly. “Don’t grab a woman from behind. You’re lucky she flipped you. I would have punched you in the face.”

I rub a hand over my face. “I wasn’t thinking, but she had to know I wouldn’t hurt her.”

“Why? Because you fucked her?” Mercy rolls her eyes.

“When did you fuck her? How?” Knight questions.

“How? Well, when a man and a woman—”

Knight punches me in the chest.

“The other night at The Watering Hole. She came in looking for a fuck, and I was happy to offer my services.”

Knight’s eyebrows raise at that. “Didn’t think she was the type.”

“What type?” Mercy’s voice is sharp, catching all our attention. I’m not sure what kind of minefield we’ve stumbled into, but Mercy looks ready to blow.

Knight holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m just saying. She came here the other week and went home with Scooter. I mean, he never made it that far, but that was the end goal. Then she picks up another biker at The Watering Hole? And today, she’s kissed Splinter, me, and Eightball. She might just be a bunny in the making.” That leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

“Wow. For a bunch of hedonistic bikers, you sure are judgmental fucks. The amount of pussy you guys get is staggering. Yet because Jinx dares to do the same, she’s bunny material. I’ve never been so fucking disappointed in my life.” Her words drip with disdain.

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