“All the good stuff came from me,” Ginnie put in with a grin.
Grace rolled her eyes. “Right, Gin.” She looked to me. “I gave you most of the makeup. That and hair are sort of my thing. If you need anything else just let me know.”
“Sortof your thing?” Emmie snorted. “This one won’t let you go another week without forcing a haircut on you,” she warned me, with a grin toward Grace.
“There are worse things.” I smiled at their banter. And the truth of it was, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a haircut.
“Yay!” Grace clapped excitedly just as Max stepped outside with a gorgeous brunette under his arm.
She looked at me, her blue eyes filling with tears.
Wren.
I stood up on instinct, wanting to reassure her. She walked over to me and we put our arms around each other as though we’d known each other our whole lives.
“Thank you,” she rasped, pulling back to look at me with tears in her eyes. “Without your help, I don’t know if Max could have found me. You saved me.”
I swallowed back my own emotion. “I’m glad I could help.”
“And you got hurt because of it,” she fretted.
I shook my head. “I would have gotten hurt either way. My uncle is a monster. At least I got the chance to do something good. I don’t regret it.” It was important to me that she knew this.
I hadn’t noticed Maddox reappear until he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me to his side and kissing my temple.
Max reclaimed Wren, turning grateful eyes to me. “Thank you for everything, Francesca. The club owes you a huge debt.Iowe you a huge debt. You’re one of us and you have our protection.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” I argued. “Plus….” I hesitated a moment, unsure if I should share what was in my heart, but in the end, I was unable to hold it back. I looked up at Maddox as I continued. “I have my protector.”
His gray eyes blazed with intensity as his grip tightened on my shoulder. I heard the muted awws around the fire pit from the women, but they barely registered as Maddox and I stared at each other.
“So fuckin’ lucky.” His deep voice rumbled and he looked about a second away from pinning me to the next hard surface.
A throat cleared and I looked away from Maddox, locking eyes with the man I’d seen at Max’s house with the black and gray tattoos. He was a beast of a man with a shaved head and a smile tilting his mouth. “You two need to get a room?” His brow lifted.
“Fuck off, Gun,” Maddox muttered.
I’d heard a fair amount about Gunner and his jovial ways. His eyes shone with humor before turning to Emmie, where they grew heated.
I didn’t remember Maddox saying they were a couple, but clearly there was something between them.
“You need another beer?” Mad asked me.
I bit my lip. I wanted another, but I also didn’t want to go back inside and get more death glares.
“They’re gone,” Maddox noted, somehow reading my mind, something he seemed to be able to do with ease.
“Any prospects wanting pussy are out of luck.” Gunner chuckled.
I looked up at Maddox in confusion. “Thanks, Gun,” Maddox grumbled. “We call ’em cherries, babe,” Maddox explained to me. “They hang around the club hoping one of us wants a piece.”
Jealousy welled up inside me with surprising intensity at the thought of Maddox being with one of them.
“Most of us are spoken for or not interested,” he was quick to assure me.
“Then why are they here?” I couldn’t help the anger in my tone.
“Good fucking question,” Ginnie muttered.
