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“Nothing changes,” I mutter loud enough for both of them to hear. Neither of their expressions falter. Before Max, before the wedding, my father would have frowned, lecturing me about not misbehaving.
“You will wear the dress I choose for you, Wife,” Jack replies, his eyes looking me up and down. They don’t flash or look impressed the way Max’s always did.
My stomach twists, thinking about my last words to him. I was scared, not knowing how to deal with it.
“What’s the occasion?”
“You,” my father answers.
Jack adds, “It’s the wedding celebration we never had, and we plan to announce us going legit.”
“I thought the one percenter patch was a badge of honor,” I repeat the words my father preached my entire childhood.
They both chuckle. “Oh, we are still going to be one percenters, but we’re helping to clear our name for outsiders. We just need to make the impression we’re trying to clean up our name.”
“Can I go now?” I don’t care what their plan is, I’ll keep playing their game until I can slip away. The next time I leave, no one will find me.
Iexpectedastripperdress to be sent to my room, and you can imagine my surprise when a cute, sporty tennis dress shows up for me. It fits like a glove. The shorts underneath have a pocket that fits my phone and any weapon I’d like to conceal, like the nice knife I stole from Max.
The dress may seem dull and boring to some, but this will place me as the most dressed-up person at the party.
An hour later, I’m dragged down to the party by my elbow and instructed to sit on the bar. I’m on display for the club to see my loyalty.
No one stops and stares at Jack like he should be dead. Thinking back to that night, the room was so red, how could he have survived?
I focus my attention on the new prospects forced to wait on everyone. They’re shitty at their job. It takes everything in me not to jump behind the counter and take over the bartending. The tips would be nice, since I no longer have an account with money in it.
Goosebumps rise along my arms and up my neck and that familiar feeling I get when Max is around trickles over me. My eyes search the dark corners of the room. He has to be here, even though I can’t see him. Flutters ignite in my stomach and I’m about to jump down when Jack appears out of nowhere, placing his hand on my thigh. My face falls as I move my leg out of his grasp.
“Careful, Wife, we don’t want to start the celebration too early.” His tone has my blood turning to ice and a pit grows in my stomach.
“By the looks of it, you were celebrating a moment ago,” I sass, narrowing my eyes on the lipstick on his neck.
“I was under the impression you didn’t want to warm my bed.” My heart beats wildly at the thought of having to do that. I look past Jack and he steps to the side, blocking my view once again. Jack’s chin drops, assessing me. “That’s what I thought.”
That’s when I see him. Max is standing to the side, his eyes trained on me, his arms crossed over his chest. My muscles tense seeing him and Jack pinches at my shoulder. “Relax, this is going to be one hell of a party tonight.”
My hands itch to push myself off the counter, but I stay sitting with my back perfectly straight. Jack laughs, shaking his head and walking away from me, unaware of Max’s presence. I try not to stare at Max, he’s clearly trying not to draw attention to himself, even though he does nothing to mask his presence. It’s like no one sees him. I suppose it must be very similar to the day he came to kill my father, but saw me instead.
Max takes a step and my eyes grow wide as I watch him walk toward me like he owns the room. I glance around, looking to see if my father is watching. He’s about two feet from Max in deep conversation. Jack is on the deck having a smoke. Max keeps his strides steady as he comes closer.
I jump down from the counter, my runners not making a sound on the floor. The smell of marijuana filters toward me from somewhere nearby. We’re only about five feet away from each other.
My heart is pumping at an alarming rate. I didn’t expect I would see him again. He’s more handsome than what my memory held for me. He’s wearing faded jeans that fit him perfectly, reminding me how strong and powerful he is. Even though his T-shirt looks as old as him, it stretches in all the right places, highlighting every muscle he has. The people step out of his way, he is unaware of the dominance he holds over everyone. It’s subconscious, it makes him lethal. Everything is tempting about him, no wonder I was drawn to him in the first place.
I should have realized that Max would always land back in my life. He’s lured in by the chaos of my life.
Blocking my view, Elliot, the Oakport Beach bartender, comes into my vision. “Sienna. You’re a hard girl to track down.”
My head flinches back slightly, not expecting to see him. “Umm…hi?” My head tilts with confusion. This doesn’t look to be his scene. “What are you doing here?”
He runs his hand through his hair. It’s then I notice everyone is staring at this guy in a suit. He sticks out like a sore thumb among the riffraff of this MC.
“I wanted to ask you out to coffee again.” He shrugs, giving me a shy, crooked smile.
I can’t believe this poor guy came here to ask me out.How the heck did he even find me?I glance up to find Jack coming back in from having a smoke.
“This is not the place or time,” I hiss, my lips flat with worry of what my husband or father will do if they see this guy. The volume in the room drops an octave but maintains its background noise. Everyone is listening to our conversation.
