“Slut!” Honey hissed the word.
Sable tensed up. Pen poised toward the notepad. She lifted her head. The fire in her eyes clear to see.
That’s right. Don’t fall. Don’t show your fear or your pain.
“What can I get you?” she asked.
“I don’t want you to take my food order,” Sweetheart said. “I don’t want traitor to rub off on my food.”
Sable stared at her mother. Teeth clenching. “Then you’re going to have to move.” She glanced around. “You’re in my section. You don’t want me to serve you, fine. Move.”
Damn, she was turning him on, standing up to her mother.
Sweetheart got to her feet and stepped toward her daughter. Dog tensed but Forge kicked him beneath the table, keeping him in check. He didn’t like this, not one bit, and it pissed him off. Still, he stayed put. The other customers were watching and he hated Sable going through this. She didn’t back down though, even as Sweetheart took her stance, arms folded.
“I don’t know what has gotten into you. Clearly, I’ve done something wrong. I taught you better manners. I taught you loyalty.”
Sable laughed. “You taught me loyalty? What you taught me, Mother, is to spread my legs for any man who dares look in my direction.” She looked at the whole club. “Look around you, I could have fucked my father, for all I know. You don’t even know which one is my dad. Don’t try to pretend you’ve taught me anything. You haven’t. I shouldn’t be surprised, though, that you’d throw your daughter away. All you ever cared about was the next dick to ride instead of what I was actually doing.”
Sweetheart slapped Sable across the face. It was hard, and Dog’s instinct was to grab the older woman and pull her away.
He stayed seated.
This was wrong.
He knew it.
The slap was hard enough that he expected to see blood.
They’d caused a scene and now Forge stood up. “Time for us to leave.” He didn’t explain himself.
No one said a word.
One by one, they left. Sable stood, spine straight, glaring at her mother. She didn’t touch her face or show any sign of weakness.
Fuck, she looked like a queen.
They all climbed on their bikes. Dog allowed himself one last look into the diner. Sable hadn’t moved. She gave herself a shake and glanced toward them. The moment she caught sight of him, she averted her gaze and turned away.
Damn it, he had really fucked up when it came to her.
They rode all the way back to the clubhouse.
The guys started talking. Sweetheart put a hand to her chest as if she’d just gone through some great tragedy.
He followed Forge, going into the prez’s office and slamming the door closed.
“Are you happy?” Dog asked.
Forge sat down and nodded. “Yeah, I am.”
He shook his head. “This is wrong.”
“And why is that?” he asked. “Because you can’t stand to see Sable in pain?”
“Her mother just hit her, Forge. What do we do when all of this is over, what then? You think it’s going to be easy for her to accept the club with open arms?” he asked.
“It doesn’t really matter right now. The club will accept her with open arms, whether they like it or not. It’s not up to me to fix family relations. Sweetheart and Honey see what they want to see.”