“He’s not coming home, Lauren.”
“No, stop it.” I demanded, wiping away the tears that fell down my cheeks. Stupid hormones! I took a deep breath, trying to collect myself before I looked back at my brother. “Riggs wants me to move out? He wants to pawn me off on you? Because there is some bullshit problem with his club. That’s what you’re telling me?”
He didn’t answer me.
“Fine, then you’re going to take me to wherever he is, and he’s going to have to tell me with his own mouth.”
“Lauren, you don’t want that,” he said.
“No, what I don’t want is my brother coming here to collect me like I’m some piece of baggage,” I croaked, as my voice cracked and the tears fell again. “So, if Riggs wants me gone, then he will have to look me in the eye and tell me himself. He will have to be man enough to break my heart this time.”
I turned around, grabbed my purse from the counter and started for the door. Anthony remained where he was, just staring at me.
“Now!” I demanded.
“Don’t do this,” he pleaded one final time.
“I didn’t do shit,” I hissed as I opened the door.
He sighed heavily before walking toward the door, pausing in front of me and taking my hand in his. I glanced down at our joined hands before lifting my eyes back to his. He squeezed my hand as his eyes silently apologized for his words.
Something was wrong all right.
And my heart wouldn’t survive it.
Anthony brought me into his arms and held me as I cried against his chest. I prayed for it to be a lie, but in the back of my mind I feared that it was the truth.
Kitten and Tiger were the lie.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Anthony asked, as he turned off his truck and glanced at the Satan’s Knights clubhouse.
The only thing I was sure of was that I was a mess. My emotions were all over the place, one minute I was upset, the next I was angry wishing I had grabbed my baseball bat before leaving the house. I’ve cried more tears in the last twenty minutes than I have in the last twenty-one years.
“Lauren?”
I ignored my brother as I found the strength to open the door and climb out of the car. I stood in the parking lot, my eyes diverting to the side of the building where Riggs first took me, and I closed my eyes.
I’ve come full circle.
I balled my hands into fists as I drew in a deep breath and marched my ass across the pavement. Anthony slammed his door closed, and I heard him curse as he tried to catch up. Bones stepped in front of the door, blocking my path and stared at me for a moment with concerned eyes.
“Lauren, what’s the matter?” He asked, taking in the train wreck I could only assume I looked like.
“Out of my way, Bones,” I demanded. He lifted his eyes and glanced over my shoulder at Anthony.
“Let her go, man,” he said defeated.
Bones stepped aside, warily staring at my brother as I brushed past him and charged into the Dog Pound. My eyes scanned the common room as my heart lurched in my chest. I hadn’t prepared myself, hell bent on confronting Riggs I didn’t take into consideration I could walk into something I didn’t want to see. Blackie stumbled out from the room they congregated in as a club, clutching an empty bottle of tequila. His jeans were unbuttoned, and he was shirtless, displaying a chest covered in tattoos and two nipples that had barbells through them. He lifted his eyes, peering at me and the posse I had behind me before he groaned.
“Shit,” he hissed
“Where is he?” I shouted.
Two naked girls stepped out of the room and stared at me as if I wasn’t part of their plan.
Hell-fucking-no!
A glass fell to the floor, shattering into a million pieces, mimicking my heart. The sound forced me to turn around and met Riggs’ shocked expression. He was standing behind the bar and quickly glanced down at the glass he dropped before lifting his eyes back to mine.
I looked back at the two naked girls, one raising a cocky eyebrow at me while the other one gaped at my belly.
“Kitten,” Riggs called.
I snapped.
Really fucking snapped as I walked over to the pool table, taking one of the pool sticks that had been abandoned on the felt tabletop. I swung it over my head as I stalked toward the two fucking whores that stared at me wide-eyed. The one who smiled at me cockily, stared at me dumb-fucked and the other who looked at my stomach in disgust—what a bitch.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I shrieked. “GET OUT!”
Anthony ran up behind me, trying to pry my fingers from the stick.
“Riggs, get a handle on your woman,” Blackie ordered.
“Fuck you,” I hissed, turning around on my heel, pulling the stick away from my brother and glaring at Riggs. “I’m not his woman,” I seethed. “Isn’t that right?”