Page 89 of Doc

I got the feeling that this was the condensed version of their little talk. I recalled how tense Kelly’s mother had grown as she’d listened to Loco, until something he’d said had suddenly put her at ease. She hadn’t seemed to mind his suggestion to keep the police out of it though, and the money that he’d handed her had caused tears of gratification to fill her eyes.

“So, um, how were those people dealt with?”

I watched a muscle jump in Loco’s jaw, and I knew immediately that I’d asked the wrong question. Besides, did I really want to know? Could I handle the truth of what I already suspected had happened to Monk and Bronx and Tamara? The short answer was yes, and that shocked me. I hadn’t been brought up to condone violence, and my career was centered around saving lives, not taking them. But I’d wanted to kill Bronx myself for what he’d done to Kelly.

“Club business,” Loco finally muttered, and I rolled my eyes, even though I knew that he couldn’t see them. “But feel free to ask Doc.” He shot me a crooked grin.

I remained silent after that, because really, what could I say? A response of “club business” was the short answer to everything that the men of the MC didn’t want to discuss. According to Lulu that meant that they were dealing with something bad—very bad—and it usually ended up with someone dead. She’d been with the Desert Rebels for a long time, and thanks to her position, had been privy to many tidbits of information not meant for anyone to hear. But even she drew the line at what she divulged to the others.

Would I be in a similar position some day? I already felt loyalty to Liam, and I was sure that the longer I was around the club and the closer I got to the members, the more I would begin to feel the same way about them, too. I loved the old ladies. From the beginning, they had welcomed me with open arms and had been eager to educate me on some of the dos and don’ts of club life. They’d answered all of my questions and had even told me what to expect as Liam’s old lady.

Bobbie had warned me not to be surprised if there were times when Liam shut down and distanced himself from me, especially when there was trouble brewing in the club. The others had backed her up on that. She’d said that it was their way of eliminating distractions so they could cope. The worry that they felt for their old ladies and their families sometimes overwhelmed them. She’d explained that sometimes they got it in their stubborn heads that we were better off without them, that we didn’t deserve the everyday threat that club life brought.

I began to wonder if that was why Liam hadn’t come with us to take Kelly home. Was that a sign that he was pulling away from me? And then there’d been the subtle change that I’d sensed in him when he’d joined me in the shower earlier. I hadn’t imagined that. As soon as I got back to the clubhouse, I was going to find him and make sure that he wasn’t having second thoughts about us. If he made decisions about us without talking to me first, there was going to be a problem.

Loco pulled up in front of the clubhouse to let me out. I turned to him before opening the door. “Thank you for taking us today.”

He acknowledged me with a sharp nod. “Don’t worry about Kelly, sweetheart. Gina promised she was going to get her help. She’s in between jobs right now, so I told her to go to Grinders in the morning and there’d be a job waiting for her there. We’ll keep watch over them.”

His admission caught me unaware, and I was speechless as tears burned in my eyes. I reached over and put my hand on his forearm. “Thank you. I was going to keep in touch with them, too. I got the impression that they could use all the help they can get.”

After he winked at me, I exited the van and went inside the clubhouse. The first thing my eyes lit on was Liam sitting at the bar with Savage on one side and one of the club girls, Busty, on the other. I didn’t like that she was sitting so close to Liam. She was wearing a pair of Daisy Dukes and a halter top that revealed more than it concealed, and she was doing everything in her power to get Liam’s attention.

I made my way to where they sat. Savage saw me approaching in the mirror behind the bar and said something to Liam. He turned slightly on his stool to greet me. I leaned in to kiss him, slightly taken back by his cool reception when he turned and offered me his cheek. That was the second time today that I’d felt like something was off with him.

Busty, catching Liam’s subtle rejection, began to snicker.

“Get lost,” Savage growled at her, and with a huff she slipped from the stool.

Liam’s gaze moved over my face before settling on my eyes. “Everything good?” he asked.

I pushed aside the sudden worry I felt. “Yes. Kelly’s mother promised to take her to the doctor for an exam.”

“Good.” Liam picked up the glass that was in front of him and drained the contents. “We need to talk.”

Those words were never a good sign, and his tone was way too serious, so I knew there was a problem. His blank expression didn’t reveal anything, though. I looked past him at Savage, recognizing the regret in his eyes before he looked away. Some of Bobbie’s words came back to haunt me, and I braced myself for a fight.

“Okay.” I started to sit down, but Liam stopped me with a hand on my arm.

“Not here. Let’s go to my room.”

I couldn’t help the nervous laugh that escaped me as I pulled away from him. “You’re starting to scare me.”

He halted abruptly and faced me with reluctant eyes. My instincts warned me that this wasn’t going to be good. “What is it? Has something happened to Klutz?”

“No.”

“Don’t do it, Brother,” Savage warned from his position at the bar.

“Shut the fuck up,” Liam snapped back.

“Do what?” For the first time I realized that there were others in the room, and it had grown so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Demon, Sax, Cole, and Oz were sitting together at one of the tables, looking on with interest, and if I were to guess, a little worry.

“I don’t want to do this here,” Liam growled, reaching out for me again, but I pulled my arm out of his reach. He pressed his lips at my stubbornness. “Harlow—”

I suddenly realized why I didn’t want to go with Liam to his room. I was afraid of what he was going to say. The rest of Bobbie’s words came back to me like a slap in the face.“You’ll be tested more than once. There’ll be times when you have to stand your ground. Show your man you’re willing to fight for him. Our men need strong women beside them. Sometimes they get caught up in the fear of the what ifs, and then they’d do something stupid to hurt us so that we’ll leave.”

Is that what was happening now? Liam’s emotions were close to the surface, and I could see that he was fighting with himself. Towering over me in all his bad ass glory was a pillar of strength, but I could see that he was afraid. For me. My heart broke for him. He didn’t have to do this.

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