Red-hot rage soared through Sawyer’s veins at the sight of her shrunken posture, the insecurity visible on her face, and at her evident discomfort. This was exactly what he hadn’t fucking wanted. And it wasn’t that he didn’t understand, because he did. She didn’t belong in his lifestyle.
Seeing her wide eyes begging him to take control of this situation, he wrapped his arm around her waist. “Let’s get you out of here.” He slid his glance to Porter, who was watching him. Sawyer narrowed his eyes at his pal. He planned to make Porter answer for this.
Now, though, he stayed focused on Chloe and hurried her past the bouncers at the door. With Chloe tucked in next to him, he noticed her long intake of breath when they got outside, as if she’d been starved of air. His anger doubled. How fucking dare Porter do this?
Within minutes Sawyer reached his truck, opened the passenger-side door, and helped her in. “Stay here,” he told her. “I’ll just be a minute.” He left the door open, hoping the fresh air would help take her mind off whatever thoughts were running through her head. He fisted his hands and approached Porter and Kenzie, who stood at the main entrance of Chains.
“Tell me what the fuck you were thinking,” he demanded when he reached them.
Kenzie’s brows rose. “That’s my cue to leave.” She released Porter’s hand. “I’ll be over here in the safe zone, saying goodbye to Chloe.”
Sawyer didn’t glance over his shoulder as Kenzie went across the parking lot. He stayed focused on Porter, who in turn was glaring at him. Tension tightened his muscles, and adrenaline was rushing through Sawyer’s veins. Perhaps it wasn’t his finest moment, but his anger wanted to direct itself at Porter.
“Chloe asked me to take her here, so I did.”
Sawyer’s jaw clenched. “Did you know that I’m seeing her now?”
“I did.”
“Why didn’t you run it by me? You know better,” Sawyer growled, his fingernails biting into his palms.
Porter squared his shoulders. “Chloe came to me and said it embarrassed her to ask you to take her. She wanted to understand the lifestyle.”
Sawyer jabbed a finger toward the front door of Chains. “This is the place you thought would be a good example to show her?”
“It’s the only place I could take her.” A muscle in Porter’s jaw twitched. “Would you have preferred that she come alone?”
Sawyer knew deep down that Porter had a point, but his anger was too strong to acknowledge that. Not giving a shit if anybody walking by overheard him, Sawyer snapped at Porter, “You overstepped your bounds tonight.”
“By being a supportive friend to Chloe?” Porter took a step forward. “I don’t know what’s crawled up your ass tonight. But I’m going to stop you now because this conversation won’t lead anywhere good.”
“Chloe is not to come here again.” Another Dom had handled his woman, and that bothered him. It was unforgivable, in fact. “I don’t care if she asks you or even if she fucking begs you, she will not set foot in any club. Understand?”
Porter nodded. Without another word, he strode over to Kenzie, took her hand, and led her off down the street, away from the club. Sawyer’s insides trembled with his wrath. He drew in a deep breath and returned to Chloe, who was staring at the dashboard of his truck.
He placed himself between her and the door. “I did not want you here.”
“But I wanted—”
He arched an eyebrow sternly. “I did not want you here.”
She sighed, and her eyes searched his for a long momen
t before her lips closed. A long tense couple of seconds passed before she whispered, “Why are you so angry at me for coming here?”
Why, indeed?
He gripped the door with his fingers so damn hard that they hurt. Her question bounced around in his mind. It pissed him off that he didn’t have an answer to give her. “I can’t do this right now, not when I’m this fucking mad.” He slammed her door shut, then strode around to the driver’s side.
Only after he slid into his seat and started up the truck did Chloe speak. “I think we need to talk.”
He glanced sideways at her, unsure what she meant by “talk.” Was she going to end things between them or straighten things out? Truth be told, he couldn’t handle either. “I don’t want to talk to you about this right now. Let me calm down. Please.”
She folded her arms and stayed silent, and he leaned forward and turned up the radio. He understood why she was angry at him for not discussing this now, but sometimes taking control of a situation to ensure it didn’t get worse was the lesser of two evils.
Chapter 11
Under normal circumstances, Chloe would’ve knocked Sawyer a good one for shutting down the conversation. But after glancing his way a few times during the drive back to his house, she changed her mind. From the way his brows were drawn together and his jaw was firmly set, she could tell he was thinking…hard. Which was why she stayed silent as they reached his house. She exited the truck and said nothing to him as they approached the door. She didn’t even look at him when he unlocked it and they went inside. As soon as she took off her shoes, she went toward the bathroom on the main floor.