Raven stared from one man to the other. “Shit’s going down?”
Smokey laughed. “When is shit not going down?”
“This is different. I thought it was strange when you told us Ugly here was getting married. Abriana, she’s a pawn.”
“For now. We know Vigo’s going to reach out to her.”
“We want her loyal to the club,” Ugly Beast said. “We need to know what they’re planning and when.”
“What you’re going to ask her to do is fucking dangerous.”
“No different from what we’ve all faced ourselves,” Smokey said. “Don’t get comfortable with her. She may be a bad seed, and you know how we deal with them.”
Raven sat forward, elbows on her knees. “Your couch stinks. I don’t like this.”
“You’re not the boss.”
“This is not what the club is aware of.”
“We don’t want the club to treat Abriana any differently,” Smokey said.
“Vigo will make his move soon enough, and then we’ll know how to deal with her. Once that happens, we’ll handle her.”
Ugly Beast clenched his hands into fists, watching the play of emotions across Raven’s face.
“I don’t like it.”
“Stay out of the fucking way,” Smokey said.
“Abriana is just a girl.”
“She’s a married woman,” Ugly Beast said.
Raven shook her head. “You’re wrong about her.”
“Don’t let your crush get in the way of logic.”
Raven stood up, getting into Smokey’s face. “Who the fuck—”
She was cut off as Smokey grabbed her throat and pressed her to the floor. “I’m your fucking president. Don’t you ever talk to me like that again. I can toss you out of this club so fast you wouldn’t even know what hit you. Show some fucking respect. Abriana is not club property. She belongs to Ugly Beast, and until I say otherwise, she’s an outsider. By all means, be nice to her, but don’t for a second think she’s your friend. She’s still our enemy.” He squeezed her throat tight, and Ugly Beast waited.
Raven submitted.
Once Smokey let go of her throat, Raven coughed, drawing air back into her lungs.
“We won’t be having this conversation again.”
Raven nodded.
“I’ll give you a few minutes to compose yourself, and then leave.” Smokey was out of the door in the next second, gone.
Ugly Beast leaned against the desk, watching Raven.
“You know he puts the club first before anything else.”
“What about you?”
“The club will always come first. Wife or not. Don’t meddle with this.”
“You don’t want me to be around her.”
“You can. I don’t want her to think we’re watching her or waiting. You play this game Smokey’s way. He’s never steered us wrong before.”
“Abriana is not like some club-whore, only after dick. She has … feelings.”
He chuckled. “I’ve no doubt.”
Raven got to her feet. There were red marks around her neck, and he watched as she pulled down her hair and styled it in such a way it covered the marks, or at least, didn’t show them off.
“Why are you so protective of her?” Ugly Beast asked.
“She’s innocent. She’s been thrown into this world, and she doesn’t have a clue what she’s doing.”
“You handled it.”
“I wanted this life, Ugly. Just like you did. You and I, we know what the world wants from us. Abriana’s too afraid to have any kind of fun. She’s always looking over her shoulder, and if you try and get close to her, she flinches. She’s used to being hurt. I got a problem when big, tough men think they can hurt young women. You know that.”
When they’d been on runs together, stopping off in bars, witnessing men pawing at women, Raven was always in the thick of it. He knew there was a story there in her life, but again, he didn’t ask.
The Hell’s Bastards were a club, not a place to share all your feelings. He wasn’t interested in anything other than loyalty.
“Time will tell with my wife. Until then, be careful.” He stretched up, feeling his body ache in places he didn’t even know fucking existed.
“I’m taking her out tonight,” Raven said.
“That will be interesting.”
“I’m going to dress her up to look real nice. You want to see her? She’s a big woman, but those curves in the right outfit are bangin’.”
He laughed. “Nah, thanks. Got shit I need to do.”
“You’re just going to leave her at your house?” Raven asked.
Ugly Beast stood at the door of his president’s office and looked over at the woman. Rubbing at his eyes, he wanted nothing more than to go back to bed. As it was, he had to go and check out the porn shots. It was his turn to go and visit the sex den.
“What else do you want me to do? I married her. Presented the bloodstained sheets. I don’t love her, Raven. Don’t mistake me for actually giving a fuck because the truth is, I don’t. She’s a means to an end.” He saw the anger on Raven’s face and smiled. “This is why men are different. You care too much, and one day, that kind of caring, it’s going to get you killed. You need to learn when to back the fuck off and to allow people to breathe.”