Riding down backroads was usually a freeing and exhilarating experience. But with the heavy rain, it’d been a goddamn nightmare, dangerous as all fuck too. But there hadn’t been a choice. We’d been sitting ducks all the while we’d remained outside club borders, so I’d had to keep going and get us to safety. Slade hadn’t been able to send me a transport either, because all the boys had been busy pushing back the Strikers and defending Warlow’s borders.
That, combined with Natasha’s freak-out, had made it a real difficult ride. She wasn’t in a good place right now. Sure, I’d managed to talk her down and ease her upset out there on the roadside, but I knew it was only temporary. There was no way it’d last. She was scared, hormonal, and out of her element. We’d sort it, one step at a time, and then things would be better, she’d feel better, and we could focus on our coming family. But it was going to be an uphill battle, for sure.
I heard the water stop running in the bathroom. As soon as I'd walked her in here, she’d grabbed her toothbrush from one of her bags and run in there to brush her teeth and to freshen up after chucking up earlier.
“Cole?” she called through the door.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Can you pass me my duffel bag? I’m going to take a shower and change out of these muddy, soaked clothes.”
“Yeah, sure,” I called back.
I was about to head for her bag when commotion outside stopped me short. I strode to the window that overlooked the clubhouse courtyard to see the boys finally arriving back.
Trucks were filing in rather than motorcycles. They were lucky they’d had the option, because riding in bad weather was dangerous as all fuck.
I caught sight of Mason helping my sister down from one of the trucks. He looked pissed and I watched him scan the area. I knew right away that he was looking for me. I’d expected as much. He was angry that I’d brought Natasha back here. Well, he was just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it, because she wasn’t going anywhere.
I wouldn’t give her up for him, Nik, or the club.
Not this time.
“What’s wrong?”
I turned to see Natasha hurrying out of the bathroom, her eyes wide as she joined me by the window. “Oh no. They all look furious.”
“For most of them, those are their resting faces.”
“Cole,” she chastised me.
I held my hand out to her. “I know. We need to head down there. You ready for this?”
She steeled herself and took my hand. “Let’s do it.”
I nodded and led her out of my room, along the corridor, through the clubhouse, all the way to the front lounge.
I wrapped my arm around Natasha and pushed through the doors.
All eyes were on us instantly, the tension and simmering tempers of all the boys slamming into us.
They were all caked in mud and drenched just like me and Tasha.
I noticed a couple of them eyeing Natasha and shaking their heads. I followed their line of sight to see that her jacket was zipped down low, exposing way too much of her tits. I could tell off their looks that they thought she was doing it on purpose to try to placate them with her sexuality or something. But the truth was, she’d been intent on taking a shower and had clearly forgotten she’d already started the process of getting undressed.
“Zipper,” I whispered to her.
Her eyes shot wide and she hastily pulled it up, covering herself. The awkwardness of it made her all the more uneasy. I reached around her and gave her ass a squeeze in an attempt to pull her out of her anxious state. It worked well enough and she grinned at me.
I scanned the crowded courtyard searching for Slade. I wasn’t going to stand for this bullshit frosty reception much longer. He needed to explain the situation to them all.
My search for him stopped short when something suddenly caught my eye, something I couldn’t actually believe I was seeing. I had to do a double-take.
Fuck. It was real.
Mason and Luce.
My best friend and my little sister.
All over each other!
What the ever-loving fuck?
Why was she stroking his arm?
Why were his hands on her?
Why did it look like they were… together?
No. No. No!
It kickstarted my rage, my eyes narrowing at them, my expression morphing to ferocious fury.
And then he kissed her.
I couldn’t hold back.
Before I knew what I was doing, I broke from Natasha and stormed toward Mason. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I roared.
“We’re together,” Mason answered unapologetically, as he met my furious approach.
My stomach lurched. I knew exactly what that meant. Son of a bitch! “I’m gone two weeks and you fuck around with my sister?”
“We’re not fucking around. I made her mine.”
I shook my head wildly. “No. I don’t accept that.”
“Not for you to accept. It’s already done.”
I glanced around at the guys. The fucker had broken club protocol, screwed over one of his own brothers, fucked with the family of a club member. I was expecting a goddamn reaction.
“The club accepted it,” Mason added. “She’s mine. Been a hell of a long time coming and you know it. Me and Luce are together. Get over it.”
I flashed him a nasty look as I stopped a couple of feet from the both of them. “You broke a code, brother.”
Mason let go of my sister and eased her back a couple of steps. “Yeah, about that...” He stepped closer to me. In my peripheral vision, I saw our brothers circle around him and Luce, our VP, Liam, directing it. Finally, I caught sight of Slade coming out of the clubhouse. He directed another lot of them, encircling me and Natasha. Yeah, they were readying for a fucking beatdown.
“You know me, Cole. I take our codes seriously.”
“Yet, here we are. With the great, honorable Mason Cross breaking a major one.”
“This was different.”
I scoffed.
“I was ready to
