I slid into a pair of shoes, grabbed my jacket and keys, and left—and did the only thing I could think of. I drove to the clubhouse.
South Paw and Crow were at the gate. I rolled down my window to speak to South Paw.
“Slash isn’t here,” he said.
“I’m not here for Slash. Is Duke here?”
“Yeah.” He shot Crow a look. “Duke’s here. I wouldn’t—Brooklyn, are you sure you want to go in there?”
“I’m sure.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Slash’ll have my hide for this.”
“Fuck Slash,” I seethed. “Let me through.Now.”
South Paw sighed. “Okay. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Ignoring him, I waited for Crow to open the gates, then I drove through. I parked on the gravel lot at the far edge and cut the engine. I locked the car and headed toward the clubhouse. Young women with teased hair, wearing heavy makeup and not a lot of clothes were on the porch. A few of them were smoking cigarettes and drinking from glass bottles.
They eyed me warily. One of them said, “You’re not dressed to party, hun. You lookin’ for trouble?”
I ignored the comment and continued inside. Loud music was pumping from the speakers. I vaguely noted that none of the Blue Angels with families or Old Ladies were present. Savage was sitting on the couch with a woman on his lap. There were several men I didn’t recognize, but I didn’t waste time to introduce myself.
I marched over to Savage, who looked up at me. Shock registered in his eyes. “What are you doing here?”
“Where’s Duke?” I demanded.
“No idea. I haven’t seen him.”
I moved past the couch, down the hallway. Acid had a smiling woman caged against the wall and his hand was beneath her short denim skirt.
“Have you seen Duke?” I demanded, not caring that he was in the middle of something.
“Upstairs, I think. Why?”
“None of your business.”
I could’ve asked Acid or Savage if they’d known about Slash, but I was closer to Duke. Duke had been my shadow for weeks. Duke had teased me and over time had come to feel like a brother.
“Duke!” I yelled when I got to the second landing. When no doors opened, I called out again, “Duke, if you don’t come out here, I’ll start opening all the doors!”
A few seconds later, Duke popped his head out and said, “Stop hollering. I heard you the first time.”
“I’ll holler. I’ll holler until you come out here and talk to me.”
“What did I do?” he demanded.
“You tell me.”
He raked a hand through his disheveled hair. “I’ll meet you out at the picnic table. Okay?”
My gaze narrowed.
“Okay, I get it. You’re dead serious. I promise I’ll meet you down there. And I won’t keep you waiting.”
I nodded and then marched downstairs. I passed through the hallway and several closed doors. I heard the unmistakable sounds of couples screwing and having a grand old time doing it.
My stomach dropped when I realized I wasn’t going to have that with Slash anymore. We weren’t going to be the couple that couldn’t keep our hands off one another at parties, slinking away for moments of privacy. I wouldn’t give the baby to Darcy, or Mia or Linden, and entice Slash with a sway of my hips and the promise of some quick fun in the dark.