Amy Crane.
“Davis is my mom’s name.”She told me Crane was her dad’s name.
So, what. Crane isn’t that unusual.
“Abbott was using her to get to you.” There’s a hard note in Zach’s voice, and my hands clench into fists. “Same way he tried to use the hang-arounds to destabilize the Wolves.”
“No one’s saying she knew what she was doing.” Ty does a bad job of trying to sound like he means it. “But she’s Crane’s girl, and she’s been seen with Abbott before she started work at Odin’s. She’s bad news.”
“They’re talking shit.”
My brothers stare at me, and there’s a tension in the air that wasn’t there before. The Wolves aren’t the Bastards, but we have an alliance. They’re my brothers when it comes to the outside world, and loyalty is everything. Amelia is just a chick, and it doesn’t matter how great a lay she is, because no woman comes before the brotherhood.
The fuck she doesn’t.
I don’t even fight the thought. I don’t know what’s going on or why anyone would try and link her with Abbott, but when I find out the truth, there’s gonna be blood.
“She knew Abbott last night.” Hawk’s words hammer through my brain even though he doesn’t raise his voice. “Something’s going on between them, even if the Wolves have gotten it wrong.”
I exhale a long breath and forcibly relax my fists. If I don’t get out of here, I’m going to take on all three of them, and the chances of me coming out the other end without a trip to the ER are zero.
“Don’t follow me.” I take a step back and give each of them a hard glare. “I’m going to sort this shit out.”
There’s no need to say any more. The lines are drawn, and there’s no going back.
Chapter Seventeen
Gage
Riding always improves my mood. Not this time, though. I don’t go straight to Amelia’s work. Instead I take off into the mountains, where there’s nothing but me and the road.
Still doesn’t help. I skid to a halt and stare across the valley below, but all I can hear in my head is Amelia sayingwe need to talk about it.
Because she wanted to know who the hell Rex Abbott was and why he’d attacked her. That’s all.
Just promise you won’t get too mad.
Why’d she say that? It didn’t make sense last night, and it doesn’t make sense now. There’s no way she’s involved with Abbott, because if that’s true it means she is Hank Crane’s daughter and the only reason she came to work at Odin’s is to get some twisted kind of revenge.
She’s not that girl. Fuck whatever the Wolves think they know.
…
It’s almost time for Amelia to knock off work when I stroll into the diner and lean against the doorframe. She’s behind the counter, and when she sees me, she gives me that smile that makes her whole face light up, and a hard pain grinds deep inside my chest.
She’s not playing me for a fool.
I hang around while she gets changed, and within five minutes she’s tucking her arm through mine and snuggling up to me. “This is nice.” She gives me another smile as we leave the diner. “Didn’t think I was going to see you until tonight.”
I grunt and shove my hands in my pockets. The gift I bought earlier today rubs across my knuckles. “Everything okay?” I ask.
“Sure. Well…” She goes onto her toes, and without thinking I lean down so she can whisper in my ear. “My butt’s a bit sore.”
A reluctant smile cracks my face, and my dick twitches in response to her comment. “What about your arm?” Anger stirs again at how Abbott marked her. Christ, is he going to pay.
“Huh? Oh, it’s fine. I told you I bruise easily. Don’t worry about it.”
We walk in silence for a few minutes, with her leaning against me as though—fuck, I don’t know. I’ve screwed more girls than I can remember, but she’s the only one I’ve walked down the street with like this. It’s like there’s an unspoken agreement between us as we go into the small park at the end of the block and find a graffiti covered bench.
