Outlaw looked to where I gestured. Bear was barreling toward us, with his slut right behind him. She was holding onto his cut. Outlaw hissed in outrage then turned back to me. “Let me get you over to Demon and Zara’s. They left a little bit ago, but she’ll gladly check Hope out. Come on.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and headed for the door.
Bear shouted, “Ilara, come back here. Outlaw, get your fucking hands off my woman.”
I shouted back over my shoulder. “I’m not your woman anymore, but it looks like you’ve found my replacement. You won’t even have to miss a beat.”
The others who were there had all gotten quiet and were watching the drama. The music had been lowered. I heard murmuring and some swearing. As I got to the door, I looked back. Several of his brothers had stopped him. They had stunned and angry looks on their faces. I didn’t care. Let them deal with the cheating bastard. As soon as I found out what was wrong with my daughter, I was out of here. Time to move to another town.
I put her in my car and Outlaw got in with us. I drove the short distance to Demon and Zara’s house. Again, I could have walked, but I didn’t want her out in the cold air more than necessary. I’d totally panicked and never even thought to call Zara. All I’d thought of was getting to Bear. He’d make it right. I guess it was a good thing I’d gone to the clubhouse, otherwise, I might not have known he was cheating on me.
“Ilara, I don’t know what the hell just happened, but I’m here if you need me.”
“Thanks, Outlaw. I appreciate it, but I don’t think I’ll be needing anything. As soon as Hope is situated, I’ll be leaving Hunters Creek.”
“Shit, don’t do that. You’re still in danger and you have people here who care about you besides Bear.”
“It doesn’t look like he cares as much as he said.” I choked down the sobs. Hell, he’d been distant all week and out “working” late every night. I guess I now knew what he’d been working late doing. He’d been with her. She was apparently able to give him in the bedroom the more aggressive stuff he thought I couldn’t. No wonder he’d only made love to me a couple times. He must have hated having to pretend he wanted me.
I got out of the car and Outlaw got Hope out. We went to the door and rang the doorbell. It took a couple minutes before it was answered by Demon. His hair was messed up, so I knew I’d woken them up. “I’m sorry to bother you, Demon, but Hope’s sick. She’s running a fever. Can Zara please take a look at her?” I pleaded. His face creased with concern as he looked at her. He stepped aside.
“Come on in. Where’s Bear?”
“I’d rather not discuss Bear. Hope is my only concern.” He gave Outlaw an inquiring look. Outlaw shook his head. As Demon closed the door, I took a deep breath. I prayed it wasn’t anything serious.
Bear:
I stood in the hall, looking at the beautiful young woman I’d spent the last hour with. My head was still whirling with everything that had happened. I couldn’t believe it. Never in a million years did I expect this to happen. How in the hell did I tell, Ilara? Until I wrapped my head around it, I wasn’t saying a word. I opened the door and stepped out in the hallway. I looked back at her. She smiled. “Do you think I look presentable?”
I touched her face. “You look beautiful. Let’s get you out of here. I need to get home to my old lady.”
“What are you going to tell her about me?”
“I’m not going to mention you, darlin’. I need to decide how to tell her about you.”
We stood there for a couple of moments as I thought about what to do next. “Come on, let me get you out of here. We can meet tomorrow and discuss this some more.”
“Okay, that sounds good. I don’t want you to have to answer any awkward questions. When I saw you were having a party tonight, I thought it would be easier to slip in and see you. I’m at the hotel off South Street in town. You can come there. I’m in room one-eleven,” she told me as I led her down the hall toward the common area. I’d help her out to her car, then I needed to get to the house. Ilara had to be wondering where I was.
We were partway there, when I saw Ilara coming toward us, I froze. “Ilara, what’re you doing—”
She interrupted me. That’s when I saw the look on her face. She was angry, hurt and it looked like in pain all at once. What the fuck?
“What am I doing here? I was coming to tell you that Hope is sick, and she needs to see a doctor. I tried to call, but your phone is off. I see why now. You were busy entertaining your little friend. Don’t let me stop you. I don’t need your help. Fuck you, Bear!” she screamed at me. Hope burst out crying. Ilara turned around and raced to the door.
“Fuck,” I yelled as I took off after her. Tarin was right behind me. I didn’t have time to explain. I had to catch Ilara. From her remark, I knew she thought I’d been having sex with Tarin. Jesus Christ, that was fucked up. Why would she assume that from seeing me in the hallway with her?
When we got to the crowded common room, I saw Ilara was close to the front door. Outlaw stepped up and stopped her as he said something to her. People were now beginning to stare at her then me. I saw Outlaw give me a dirty look, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Jealousy shot through me. He had no right to be touching her.
“Ilara, come back here. Outlaw, get your fucking hands off my woman,” I shouted as I pushed some people out of my way.
She shouted back to me. “I’m not your woman anymore, but it looks like you’ve found my replacement. You won’t even have to miss a beat.” She walked out of the clubhouse with Outlaw holding her. I tried to get to them but I was stopped by several of my brothers. They weren’t looking happy. In fact, they looked pissed. They were eyeing me and Tarin. Damn, they thought I’d cheated too. What the hell?
“Bear, we need to talk,” Bull told me gruffly.
“Like hell we do. I need to go after my woman and daughter. You saw her. She’s upset and Hope is sick. Ilara got the wrong idea about Tarin.” I pointed to her. She was huddled behind me, looking at all the people staring at her with less than welcoming looks. “Ilara thinks we had sex, but we didn’t. I need to find out why she jumped to that conclusion.”
“Maybe it was the fact she saw you coming out of your bedroom with her,” I heard Devyn snap. I turned to look at her. She looked pissed.
“How the hell do you know she saw us coming out of my room?”