Mine.
Jill shuddered, clutching at me, pressing into my back. Her tremors jolted my heart into overdrive, into my new millennium. Her arms wrapped tightly around my middle.
“You need to respect the mother of your kid, and you need to respect my old lady,” I continued. “Basic principles in life, which are obviously still beyond you.” I twisted the gun against his head, grinding it into his skull. “I think you need a lesson.”
“Your old lady?” He struggled against Lock’s hold.
“My old lady.”
There. I’d fucking said those words for the first time.
My heart banged against my ribs, as if I’d snorted too much blow. But there wasn’t any coke in my system. There was only Jill. Me holding on to Jill and Jill holding on to me. My body surged with the rush, the high intense.
“Jill? Jill!” Catch shouted, straining toward her.
Jill stepped to my side, an arm still around me, wiping at her face as she straightened her head. “I’m with Boner.” Her voice was steel, her gaze hard. “And I’m carrying Grace and Lock’s baby.”
Catch bucked off of Lock with a grunt, but Lock snatched him back in, shaking him like a marionette on strings, muttering threats in his ear.
I pushed Jill toward Grace and Lenore, and the three of them scrambled out of the way.
“He here on his own?” I asked Lock, my eyes and gun remaining on the trash at hand.
“Looks that way,” Lock replied, still holding the blade at Catch’s throat.
“I’m here, and he’s a brother. What the fuck?” muttered Led.
Nina stood beside her bodyguard from home. Led was a fucking Flame brother to Catch, albeit from another chapter. The two other Flames from Ohio stood at Led’s side.
“We got a few personal issues we need to iron out here, Led,” Butler said. “Gotta be dealt with.”
“The fuck you say.”
“Shit’s gotta be dealt with,” Butler said, raising his voice. “No more, no less than what he deserves.”
“Enough of this fucking chitchat.” I gestured at Tricky and Dawes. “Cellar.”
“Let go of me! Fucking Jacks!” shouted Catch.
Lock kicked Catch, and he sprawled to the ground.
Butler stood before Catch. “You fucking idiot. Such an idiot.” Butler jerked his head at Dawes and then in the direction of the clubhouse.
Tricky and Dawes grabbed Catch’s arms and hoisted him upright. They dragged the asshole through the courtyard and inside the building with Led and the other two Flames behind them.
I lowered my gun and sucked in air as I turned to Jill. Gripping her by the neck, I planted a kiss on her mouth, thick curls of her hair tickling my face. “You’re staying with me here tonight.”
“Okay,” she breathed, her eyes lifting to mine.
Yes, mine. All fucking mine.
“Did he hurt you?”
“No, no—”
“What’s this then?” I held her chin, my eyes glued to the purplish-red mark on her cheek.
“He slapped me.”
“He’s gonna pay.”
“Boner—” Her fingers dug into my shirt.
I pressed my forehead into hers. “I’m not gonna kill him—not tonight. But he’s gonna learn his lesson.” My gaze skimmed down her body. Short leggings, T-shirt, flip flops. “Jesus, he dragged you out here like this? On his bike?”
She only nodded, her breath choppy.
“Motherfucker—”
Her hands cupped my face, and she kissed me.
Was it to shut me up, stop my rage? Or was it for her own relief and reassurance?
I had to control my shit and give her that reassurance now. That was what she needed.
Fuck, I need it, too.
I kissed her hard taking her in my arms, pressing her against me, warming her. “Stay with Grace until I get back, okay?” I forced my voice to come out gentle.
“I need to call Rae, make sure she and Becca are okay,” she said hoarsely.
“Jill, let’s go inside and call them,” said Grace, touching her arm.
I shot Grace a look. “Take her to my room, stay with her.” I brushed Jill’s forehead with my lips and stalked off toward the clubhouse.
“Your old lady?” Mindy caught up with me, matching my long strides, her eyes flaring. “Since fucking when? If I’d known that, I—”
I kept moving. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
HIS BLOOD SOAKED MY SHIRT and stained my knuckles.
And I fucking loved it. But I always loved this.
A rush of white heat surged through my veins and filled my pumping heart to the edge of erupting. I nicked his neck with my knife, my other hand yanking his head back.
Eye-to-eye.
The tension in the room was absolutely mouthwatering.
“Say it again, motherfucker.”
“Jill is yours.” Blood spilled out of his nostrils. Blood tinted his teeth, seeped over his broken lips. “Jill ain’t mine. She’s…she’s your woman. All yours.”