Page 33 of Twisted Fate

His expression softened slightly, but Slash crossed him arms as annoyance flashed across his face.

“You told him to walk away from the fucking Psychos?”

I glanced at Skeeter who nodded, his voice casual.

“We had a fight about you this morning, so I told her why I didn’t want you two left alone together. Obviously, she flipped out because it’s a touchy subject and I don’t blame her for asking me to choose, but she also didn’t understand that I can’t just walk away whenever I want.”

Slash narrowed his eyes with pure anger.

“What the fuck do you mean about why you don’t want me near her?”

“You know why, Slash. Not to mention you seem to think she likes you a lot more than she does.”

Oh boy.

Slash slammed his hand down on the table, disgust all over his face.

“You think I’d rape your fucking girlfriend? Who’s a friend to me and proven herself loyal to our crew? What the fuck, Skeeter?”

Skeeter eyed me for a moment, running a hand through his hair and ignoring Slash’s outburst.

I couldn’t believe the prick had called me his friend.

We were not friends.

“Rory, you need to learn that this isn’t a game. You think I won’t hurt you because I love you? I can’t let other people see me not going through with threats, or I’ll lose the respect with my crew, and our enemies will see me as weak.”

“Do you know how much respect I have here?” I asked confidently, his jaw clenching in response.

“Doesn’t mean shit, babe. I know it’s old school, but we don’t let women boss us around. Not in our shed or at our get togethers. The others have chicks, but do you ever see them carrying on down here and causing a scene? No. They know the rules, because they either learned the hard way or they were smart enough to behave from the beginning. One of our members beat his wife bloody in the fucking cage to put her back in place once. We’ve had three divorces because of this kind of shit, and I’m not proud of it, but we’ve had a few raped by a crew member selected by the partner. It’s how our world works, so you’re either going to keep thinking you’re untouchable and hit the ground hard when reality comes calling, or you’re going to keep your mouth shut when you’re here. I can’t keep making up excuses for you lashing out. If you were any other members girl, you would have been shot today. Bled out until your last fucking breath.”

“So, are you going to beat me, have someone rape me, or kill me, Skeet? I’ll even let you fucking choose,” I bit out, lifting my chin in defiance that had him grinding his teeth.

“Are you stupid? Stop acting like you’re on top of the world. You fucking aren’t, Rory.”

“Like Jensen said when we first started hanging around together. Every king needs a queen, so he made me into a queen. It’s time you learned I stand beside you, not behind you,” I snapped, hearing his teeth grind again.

He was going to break a fucking tooth at the rate he was going.

“You’re not fucking listening. I don’t want you hurt! I don’t make the rules, and sooner or later someone’s going to overrule me about you, and I won’t get a say in what happens to you!” He suddenly shouted, making me scoff.

“Who’d actually hurt me? Everyone likes me.”

“You aren’t on their dicks or paying their fucking bills, so at the end of the day you’re disposable to them. Remember that, before you get seriously hurt.”

What absolute bullshit.

I went to tell him to fuck off, but I was knocked back onto my ass as Slash’s fist connected with my eye.

The fuck?

I blinked up at him in surprise as I rubbed at the tenderness, anger seeping back into my voice.

“What the fuck was that for, you piece of shit?”

Skeeter looked ready to kill him, but Slash gave me a serious look, pointing a finger in my face.

“That’s for taking my gun and shooting it in my shed. If you walk out of here without a single fucking mark, people will talk. I can’t let you leave without even a decent warning, and I’m sorry, but it’s the rules. You know this.”