Lay It Down: Bastards MC Series Boxed Set (53 page)

I didn’t know what to say. Guilt flooded me as I remembered how mean I’d been yesterday. “Do you think she’s just avoiding him?”

“I fuckin’ hope so. He went away to keep her ass safe, so I hope to Christ we don’t find her in trouble again. Will you go with Rob for me?”

“Yeah, um… about that…” I searched for words. “We had a little bit of a squabble yesterday, and then he didn’t come home last night. He may not want me to go with him.”

“Jeez, you’re fighting with everyone, aren’tchya? I already talked to him though, and he told me that if I could convince you to go, he’d love to take you.”

“Okay… what in the hell should I wear?”

We spent a few minutes talking about the details, and I grabbed a pen and paper from the nightstand, trying to write down all the places she had appointments to get beautiful tomorrow.

“I have a coupla extra minutes… you know, if you wanna ask me what you called to ask me.”

I fumbled for words. “From a woman’s perspective, is it worth it? The club, I mean.”

She didn’t even hesitate. “Yes.” I heard her zipping what I assumed was a suitcase. “I’m a young, pretty, single woman living alone in a city, and I don’t have one fear. Those boys will protect me from anything. I’ve dated many of them over the years, and I’ve dated men from outside the club. Bastards are a special breed of men. I was treated like a fuckin’ queen, worshiped like a goddess, and respected by all of them. If one of them makes you a promise, he keeps it. If for some reason he can’t, his brothers do. I know that if I’m scared or need help with anything, they will be by my side in minutes. They are the best family anyone could ask for.”

“You don’t think their views are a bit…”

“Outdated? Discriminatory?” She laughed. “I do. But tell me where you’ve been that isn’t that way. At least the Bastards have rules they follow. Out in the world, if a man touches you and you say no, you can file charges against him, maybe claim sexual harassment. Then it becomes a ‘he said, she said’ nightmare and every decision you’ve ever made is questioned. In the Bastards? A member who touches you when you don’t want him to gets his ass beat or loses his colors.

“I know that I could be drunk off my ass and work one of the boys up and then say no, and that Bastard would let me walk away without so much as a scratch. I’d probably have to pay a fine or lose club privileges for a while, but that man would not hurt me. Granted, I would never pull shit like that because if they’re going to treat me with respect, it’s gonna get returned.” She paused, and I heard a loud thump. “I gotta hit the road. Call Rocker, tell him you’re gonna be his date, and clear the air while I’m gone. ‘K?”

***

I loudly cursed my skirts the next evening as I rode the elevator up to the top level of my apartment. There was no way in hell I’d be able to navigate the stairs in them. They weren’t extremely bulky, but they were a horrific combination of full and tight and long. Whenever I moved, I had to yank a handful of the material off the ground, and then I had to take small steps to avoid tearing. I swore the slit up my left side had ripped a little higher already, and I’d only had the dress on for fifteen minutes.

I had assumed that searching for a formal gown on the day before I had to wear it would be difficult. I couldn’t have been more wrong. After I called Rob to tell him I’d go, Hawk had showed up at the apartment with Rocker’s credit card in hand and taken me to a designer boutique. Twenty minutes after I walked through the door, I was standing on a stool in the middle of the shop, being fitted into one of the most beautiful gowns I’d ever seen. The sales staff had taken one look at me and told me it was the perfect dress for my figure. Wearing it was another story though.

The sea foam wrap gown was more daring than anything I’d ever owned. Thin sparkly material made an X over my upper back and continued over my shoulders and onto my chest, making another X, each side holding a breast and continuing onto my hips, before the left side wrapped back around my back, met the other on my right hip, and was tied. The bottom half was made up of layers of silk and had a slit that went almost up to my left hip. The dress, combined with all the pampering I’d had done, made me feel like a princess.

I hadn’t just spent the day getting pretty—I’d also been researching. The Bastards, it seemed, needed a new lawyer. They had one on retainer, but after Tank had been convicted, Rocker had started looking for another. Jonathan Greenwood, Esq. was the best criminal attorney in the state, Rocker had explained when he came home Friday night, and he hadn’t lost a single case. However, he was very selective of his potential clients and wouldn’t return the club’s calls.

Mr. Greenwood had a soft spot for smart and strong-willed women. Cris had been the first option. That was where Caleb came in. He was a partner in the firm Greenwood owned and couldn’t resist her advances after one of her classes at the gym. Something told me that him walking into her studio hadn’t been an accident. However, after weeks of dating, Cris still hadn’t met Caleb’s boss.

Now it was my turn. Rob had friends everywhere, and one of them had made sure we would share a table with Greenwood tonight. I would sit right next to him, making small talk and charming him until I had him wrapped around my finger. Or until I could show him that the Bastards were worth his time. No pressure.

I pushed a hand against my stomach, trying to will away the nerves as the elevator opened.

My date stood in the hall, waiting for me and holding out an arm. “You look absolutely stunning, Ms. Walker.”

I grinned. “You don’t look half bad yourself, Mr. Doyle.”

He looked rakish and as dangerous as James Bond, dressed in a tux that had obviously been made specifically for him. It hugged his hips and long legs perfectly, and the jacket accented his wide shoulders and large biceps. A gigantic man any day of the week, Rob usually looked like the quintessential biker or the carpenter he was. Tonight though, his 6’3”, 250ish-pound frame in that monkey suit would make every other man at the benefit look like they were playing dress-up in Daddy’s best.

“Hawk and his girl will be here soon,” he promised as he pulled me into the kitchen.

Hawk had told me as we looked through dresses that he went to this benefit every year in order to placate his father. He was sharing our limo and table though, to offer support.

“You feeling prepped?”

I pushed my hand into my stomach once again as I sat at the table. “Yes.” I nodded. “Well, I think so.”

Rob walked to the island and poured us each a shot.

“What if I screw it up?” I asked.

He handed me a glass and smirked. “You won’t. But even if he doesn’t bite, at least you tried.” He tipped his glass back and strode back to the counter to refill it.

I turned my glass around, looking at the amber liquid, too nervous to drink it. I felt as if something was going to go wrong, which usually wasn’t a good sign. The elevator came back to our floor with a
ding
, and I heard laughing.

Laughing from more than two people.

A low whistle sounded from the hall. “Holy shit! Someone cleans up nice,” the familiar voice joked. “And I’m usually the one who’s overdressed.” He laughed. “You’re taking pictures, right? My sister is gonna flip her lid when she sees how you look with Barbie tonight.”

I’d done a ton of preparation for tonight, but nothing could have gotten me ready for this.

As Matty walked into the kitchen, Hawk and his date behind him, and leaned against the counter opposite my date, Rob scowled. “What in the hell ahh you talking about?”

Confusion crossed Matty’s handsome face. “I thought Cris went away and you were taking Jess.”

Rocker didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his entire body toward me, arms crossed, face hard. His eyebrows were raised in question, but he looked pissed.

Matty’s head turned to follow Rocker’s glare. As soon as he saw me, his entire body stiffened. The look of confusion mixed with fury made me nauseated. I pushed myself to my feet, needing to touch him and make everything better. I was almost to him, walking slowly in the death traps some designer had decided was stylish, when I offered him a small smile.

“I didn’t know you were coming tonight.” It was a pathetic grasp at conversation, but I had to say something to break the tension.

Matty inhaled sharply, his eyes widening showing me the dark blue storm clouds in them. “Yeah. I can see that.”

Chapter 20

Matty

It had been a long fucking few days. I thought things were good between us when I left Wednesday morning. If I hadn’t had to get back for work, I would have stayed in our room, wrapped up in her all day. Now I wished that I had just called out sick and stayed put, because things weren’t good—they were fucking falling apart.

When Rob called and told me about what happened at the club, I was pissed. My first call had been to Jo, but she didn’t answer, so I dialed Tank, just to let my brother know that I was going to kick his ass next time I saw him. He apologized and told me everything that had happened; not only had he kissed her, but he’d fondled her and slapped her ass. My girl had stood up for herself like a fucking champ, but she shouldn’t have had to. It was my fault I hadn’t been there to stop it.

I called her every chance I got from that point on. She sent me to voice mail or ignored every call. Of course she was pissed, and she had every right to be. She’d been telling me for days that she missed me, and I’d promised her last year that no one would ever put their hands on her again. It only made it worse that it was one of my brothers who did.

I had to get to her, just to hold her and tell her how sorry I was. I’d had Sammy last night and all of today, but I explained to Becky that I needed to drop him off early because I had to get to Jo. She understood. Hell, she’d been in my life long enough to know that I wouldn’t drop everything if it wasn’t important.

I drove as fast as I could, imagining I’d find Jo dressed in one of my tees and her ratty sweats, eating ice cream and lying in bed. I had so many ideas on how the rest of the weekend was going to play out—all of them involved the two of us not leaving the bedroom. I was going to love every inch of her until she forgave me.

The woman in front of me wasn’t moping in bed missing me though. No, her makeup was flawless enough for a magazine cover shoot, and her hair was up with curls dangling everywhere. She was a walking wet dream. I wanted to pull her out of her chair and carry her downstairs, not letting her leave my bed until both of our bodies were satisfied.

I saw the panic in her eyes as she stood and walked toward me, giving me a full view of her dress. If you could even call it that. There was more skin showing than anything else. Material crisscrossed over her chest, barely hiding her nipples, her breasts bulging out over the top of them. Every single one of her sexy curves was on full display. The bottom wasn’t much better. A long slit up one side flashed her leg with every step she took, and the material just managed to cover the crack of her ass.

She smiled at me, dark red lipstick making me think about the only place I wanted those lips to be right now. “I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

“Yeah. I can see that.” I was pissed. She would have known if she’d picked up her fucking phone. I felt my anger growing as I watched her. She was every man’s fuckin’ fantasy, and there was no fucking way she was leaving my sight in that. “Go change.”

She raised an eyebrow as if she needed an explanation for my bad mood.

“You’re not leaving here dressed like that!”

Her face fell. “Excuse me?”

I shook my head, annoyed. “I didn’t fucking stutter.” I felt my lips curl in disgust. “You’re not fucking wearing that!”

She inhaled at my tone. The entire atmosphere of the room shifted, the air suddenly full of tension. Hawk and Tabby’s quiet conversation came to a screeching halt. I heard the uneasy shuffle of feet as they tried to figure out how to ignore us.

Jo tipped her head back slightly, meeting my eyes with an angry glare. “Yeah, I am.”

Trying to force my agitation down, I took a couple of deep breaths then stepped toward her.

“What the fuck is your problem?” she hissed, taking a single step back.

"Right now, you are. You and that pathetic excuse for a dress! I've seen hookers who had more covered than you do!” I pointed at her so she would understand that the coming threat wasn’t an idle one. “Either you go change, or I'm gonna carry you down those stairs and strip you myself."

I wanted nothing more at that moment than to do just that. In fact, I had never wanted to take a woman over my knee as much as I did right then. She swallowed hard, but her eyes stayed on mine, defiant.

I leaned in, lowering my voice even further. "And when I'm done with you, you won't be able to walk for a week."

Color rose in her cheeks, but Joes was never one back down. “The last time I went out with you and your friends, I looked like a cheap-ass whore, and you didn’t have a single complaint!”