Hatchet tossed the apple core onto the floor and crossed his arms over his chest. “Your brother would kill me for allowing it,” he murmured.
I marched up to him, shoving him off the stool with both hands. He stumbled sideways, his boot slipping on the slick, red-tinted floor.
“No one ‘allows’ me to do anything,” I snapped.
“Sure, doll,” he drawled.
Rage crept up my throat, and I jabbed a finger into his chest. “Don’t call me that. I’m not one of your conquests.”
Hatchet held up his hands in a placating gesture. “Got it. Now, is there anything else you need to fuck up, or can we get out of here?”
I glanced around the room. “I wish I had glitter,” I muttered.
“What?” Hatchet asked, confused.
“I wish I had glitter,” I burst out. “I could do so much damage with glitter.”
Hatchet smirked, his eyes sparkling. “You’re crazier than your brother. It’s kind of hot.”
I rolled my eyes. “Stand down, man whore. I’m not trading one cheater for another.”
Hatchet threw his hands up. “Hey, I’ve never cheated.”
I stood, hands on my hips, to survey my handiwork. “Any other ideas?”
“You could pee in his mouthwash?”
I tilted my head in consideration. “Too subtle. I like him knowing with certainty that I’ve fucked him.” My phone pinged. I glanced at it and grimaced. “Besides, the patient died, so he’s on his way back. He wants to talk, and I’m not sticking around for that.”
Hatchet surveyed the damage and whistled. “Wish I could see his face when he realizes the wrath of Hurricane Merci.”
I grinned and waved my phone. “I’ll change the password to our security cameras, and we’ll have a watch party tonight.”
Hatchet raised a brow. “If you have cameras, how’d he get away with cheating?”
My stomach rolled. “He’s been disabling them a few times a week since March. I thought it was a problem with our Wi-Fi.”
“That fucker. Sure you don’t want to stay? I’ll kick his ass for you.”
I grinned. If I asked, every Maverick would be at my doorstep, ready to defend my honor. It was why I loved the rough-and-tumble men I called family. “I know. But we still work at the same hospital. A clean, mature breakup is better for everyone.”
Hatchet raised a brow as he glanced around the flooded room. He kicked a chunk of broken glass with his boot. “Right. Clean. Mature. That’s exactly how you’re handling this.”
I shrugged as we headed toward the door. I paused at the sink,where the water still streamed steadily over the edge. I worked the gaudy, heavy diamond engagement ring off my finger and set it on the counter before striding out the front door.
Hatchet’s bike roared away, and I stared in the rearview mirror at the place I’d called home since moving back to Texas a few months ago after graduation. My heart ached for what could have been, but I also felt a strange sense of relief.
Like the time I’d played Dorothy in my high school production ofThe Wizard of Oz, it felt like the performance was finally over. I’d grown up in the gritty world of the Lone Star Mavericks MC. I’d never truly fit the role of Luca’s future dutiful wife.
With the wind blowing in my hair through the open window, a sense of freedom I didn’t even know I’d craved surged through me.
Chapter Two
The clubhouse buzzed with energy, a haze of cigarette smoke drifting through the air along with old country music blaring from the jukebox.
Thane grinned around a fat cigar when he spotted Merci walking through the doors in front of me. “Darlin’, we haven’t seen you in a while,” he drawled.
Merci kissed the growly club president on the cheek. “I need a place to stay for a bit. Mind if I crash here?”
