Dom lifted his hand in supplication. “Hey, I’ll leave your club right now as soon as your sergeant-at-arms lets go of my fiancée.”
The club president’s mouth twisted. “Your fiancée? All I see is a ho, who came here under her own steam. Like Rooster said: finders keepers.”
Domenic took a deep breath as if calming himself down. His hand was wrapped firmly around Morgan’s wrist as if to stop him from leaping at the guy and tearing him limb from limb. Nobody was paying any attention to me, so I decided to take a risk.
Rooster’s hand had loosened around my wrist as he argued with Dom and when his president joined the fray, his attention was more on him than me. So I pulled my hand out of his arm, grabbed a stool, and threw it at his head. Then I began to run towards the door.
There was pandemonium behind me, but I had to trust that Dom and Morgan could handle it if I got clear. Surprisingly, no one in the room tried to stop me or block me. I accepted the gift horse and sprinted out, only to find myself in the dark parking lot, with no means to get home. I saw two familiar Harleys parked right by the door and walked over to them, hyper-vigilant for any sound or movement that might indicate pursuit.
“That’s it. I’m done with the party life. It’s bed by nine for me from now on,” I muttered to myself as I hunkered down between the bikes, trying to use their bulk to hide. My heart was going so fast and my hands shook. I could barely string a single thought together.
“Fuck,” I whispered to myself trying to regulate my breathing. I could hear shouting from inside the club, and I wondered what was going on. At least it didn’t sound like they were fighting because Dom and Morgan would be extremely outnumbered.
I dug out my phone, wondering if I should call the cops.
What would Morgan do?
I blinked, thinking back to all the time Eugene had used his baseball bat across Morgan’s back. There was that one time I’d been hiding under the stairs and heard a bone crack. I shot out of there, running to Morgan and he’d ordered me to stay back. Eugene still had his bat poised, ready to bring it smashing down on God knew what body part. I could see Morgan’s arm, bent at the entirely wrong angle, a bit of bone sticking out.
I screamed, terrified that he was dying. I was afraid to touch him in case I hurt him more. He calmed me down, stepping between me and Eugene just in case the bastard decided to turn on me. So I ran out instead, still screaming for help. Begging someone, anyone, to help us.
One of the neighbors had called the cops.
When they came, Morgan backed Eugene up when he told them that Morgan broke his hand falling out of a tree. The police did make sure to take Morgan to the hospital at least, but he’d never said a word to them.
I sighed, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that no one at this club wanted the police called.
Should I call them anyway?
I stared at my phone, torn, not knowing what to do for the best. Suddenly, both Morgan and Domenic appeared at the door, backing out of the club, their bodies alert and tense. I straightened up, staring, waiting to see if it was fight or flight.
They both climbed on their bikes with disturbing synchronicity as a group of bikers watched by the door.
“Get on,” Morgan told me tersely, handing me a helmet. I quickly climbed atop the bike, wrapping my arms around his waist as we followed Domenic out of the club compound. I tried to calm my breathing, not bothering to try to talk. They were both riding fast as if they wanted to get as far away from Queens as possible, as fast as possible.
We didn’t stop until they drew up outside my apartment. My legs were a bit shaky as I got off the bike and I may have clung to Morgan just a bit. He alighted from his bike and looked to Domenic. “I’m gonna stay here tonight.”
I narrowed my eyes at him because he didn’t even ask me first. He just assumed… who am I kidding? I wouldn’t have been able to sleep if he didn’t come with me. Domenic nodded once and took off. It was only when he was a red dot in the distance that I remembered that I didn’t even thank him. Especially since he had no obligation to rescue me as he did.
I sighed, following Morgan upstairs, and not even objecting when he insisted on checking the apartment before letting me in. Chaz opened his door a tiny bit and raised an eyebrow at me. It might have been a simple commentary on my outfit or maybe he wanted the tea on why I was home so late. Either way, I did not have the energy to deal with him, so I just shook my head slowly.
“It’s safe, come in,” Morgan said.
Giving Chaz a small wave, I entered my apartment and closed the world out.
7
Domenic
Adrenalin was still pumping in my veins as I rode off from Nico’s Brooklyn apartment. She hadn’t even looked at me, let alone said a word of gratitude to me for saving her ass. Not that I did it for the acclaim, but it would have been nice to get an acknowledgment that I’d helped her out.
This marriage idea was looking worse and worse by the minute. I arrived home still buzzing with too much energy. So I dashed to my apartment, changed my clothes, and went down to the 24-hour gym. Nobody was there at 2 a.m., so I had the place to myself. The angry rap music in my ear was just what I needed as I pounded on the
