Page 5 of The Queen of Nightmares

“Tell me one good reason I shouldn’t gut you right here, Joker?” Jack’s tone was low and deadly as I admired his back muscles flexing under his black T-shirt.

“I didn’t know she was yours, Prez. She said she belonged to Jack. I don’t know, man. I’ve been gone for almost a year. If you got an old lady, nobody mentioned it.” His voice was raspy as he croaked out the words through the tight squeeze around his throat.

I stared at those tattooed fingers that were flexing as if trying to decide whether to squeeze or let go, and I brought my fingers up to my own neck. I ghosted my fingertips over the place where Jack used to hold me so possessively but no longer did. Tears blurred my vision as I turned away, pushing past the bodies that were surrounding us.

I stumbled away from the circle of onlookers and quickened my pace until I was running down the long hallway that led away from the common room where the party was being held. I ignored all the sounds coming from dark corners and passed a couple fucking up against the wall right in the hallway without a glance.

I stopped at the door to Jack’s office, expecting it to be locked, surprised that it was ajar. I pushed it open to see the lamp on at the desk and a pile of papers covering the surface. Was he in here working while the party was going on down the hall?

I wiped at my eyes and looked down at my hand to see it covered in black mascara and eyeliner. Great. Now, I was going to look ridiculous. I sniffled as I stood in the center of the room and wrapped my arms around my middle. The voice from the doorway had me freezing in place while my heart immediately started pounding out of control.

ChapterFour

JACK

“I’m going to let you live since you had no idea who she is to me. That’s on me.” I tightened my grip just enough that Joker couldn’t mistake my intentions. “But if you even so much as breathe the same air as her with any purpose other than to protect her, I will strip the flesh from your bones and feed it to my dog.” I shoved him away from me and quickly followed after my little Queen. I didn’t give a fuck what anybody thought about their President chasing after his woman.

It was as if she were my beacon of light. I needed her. The only light in my darkness was my Queen. I had spent the last two months doing everything within my power to ensure her life was as safe as possible.

I pushed the door to my office open further to reveal my girl standing in the middle of the room. She was staring at my desk with a forlorn expression. I wanted to yell at her, to punish her for leaving the house unprotected. She’d entered my clubhouse without a guard and opened herself up to the lustful gazes of every biker present. I trusted them, but she was my woman.Mine. And nobody had the right to look at her but me. She looked beautiful with her sexy body and blood-red hair falling down to her waist. I wanted to cut the eyes out of every man who had seen her tonight, with her wearing those little shorts that showed off her toned legs.

“What are you doing here, little Queen?” I could hear the residual anger still seeping into my tone from seeing her wrapped in another man’s arms. I didn’t know what might have happened if Barrel hadn’t come to get me. I know I would have had to kill Joker for touching more of her than he already had.

Her swift intake of breath was the only indication that she had heard me. I watched as her shoulders curled inward and her arms tightened around her middle. I took another step forward and swung the door shut before turning the lock with a loud snick.

I slowly stepped closer, afraid I would spook her. I was close enough to feel her body heat radiating off of her. I closed my eyes and dipped my head down until my nose was just a hairsbreadth away from skimming her neck. I took in a deep inhale, bringing her scent into my lungs. She smelled of sweet oranges and vanilla, and my stomach clenched at my desperate need for her.

For months, I had denied myself the feel and taste of her body. I couldn’t allow myself the comfort, not when I had to make sure that what had happened could never happen again.If I lost her…

I clenched my fists at my sides to keep from reaching out. I had nearly lost my little Queen all because of my arrogance. Stupid mistakes had led to her being taken from me. Because of me, one of my best friends was dead. I was lucky that Zero had made a full recovery. But had Sally been killed, I wouldn’t have survived the loss.

“You shouldn’t have left the house. What were you thinking, coming here alone?”

“I wasn’t alone.”

I raised an eyebrow at her whispered words. She had been alone with my club brother in the crowded room. I thought of how she had spent her day as I watched from the cameras. She’d spent the time with the blonde friend she usually spent time with. The blonde was the only one to ever come and go. The blonde would have been the only way Sally would have even known about the party. Why did she bring my girl only to leave her on her own?

“If you wanted to come to the clubhouse, you should have asked me so I could keep an eye on you.” I tried to soften my tone, but the anger still coursed through my veins. I stepped back as Sally suddenly whirled around, her long hair brushing against the bare skin of my arms, making me bite back a groan at the contact. She looked up at me with fire in her weary eyes.

She had smeared makeup on her cheek from where she had rubbed tears away, but she had never looked more beautiful than she did as she stood in front of me with her fists clenched and blue eyes flashing.

“And you would have brought me?” She scoffed, lifting her chin in such a haughty manner that it made her appear to be the queen I knew she was.

My fingers itched to swipe away the strands of red hair that stuck to her cheek. “Perhaps,” I murmured.

She threw her arms out, then let them drop back to her side. “Perhaps? Perhaps you would have spent time with me? Perhaps you would have spoken more than two words to me?”

I furrowed my brows. It was true; I hadn’t spent much time with Sally since the attack. I’d had a single-minded focus to fix all the security holes in my home and compound. She also needed time to heal. I glanced down at her arm to see the bright pink line where she had nearly lost her arm due to the almost nonexistent security two months ago.

“I’ve been busy.”

“Busy doing what, Jack? Busy with who?” There was an accusation in her tone that I didn’t like.

“I’ve been trying to make our world a safer place. You are going to have my child soon. I won’t have it come into a world that is too dangerous for it to even play outside.”

Her fight seemed to leave her almost as quickly as it had come. I watched as her shoulders slumped and her hands went to her abdomen. “The baby,” she whispered brokenly. “Of course, you want the baby to be safe.”

I tilted my head, confused by her sadness. “The baby means the world to me, Sally.” Didn’t she know that I would do anything, to give anything, to make sure that the piece of her currently safe in her belly would never know a moment of pain or be frightened by the world around us?

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