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Taking another step closer to him, I disclose something I probably shouldn’t. “We should all keep eyes on her moving forward. After talking to her over the last few weeks, I have a feeling that something bad happened to her in San Francisco. Something that sent her running back home to the club she knew would protect her.”
Siege’s expression turns from angry to concerned in a heartbeat, “What did she say?”
“Something about how she thought all men were like our club brothers, and how disappointed she was to find out they were all assholes. When I asked what she meant, she avoided the question by kissing me.”
Siege’s expression reverts to simmering anger.
“Alright, that’s enough sharing for one day,” Rigs intones.
“We’ve got Hounds to interrogate,” I remind him.
Siege speaks up, “The other club officers will help me with that. I really don’t want to look at you right now, Smoke.”
That stung. When Rigs jerks his chin toward the door, I do an about-face and walk through it. I’ll be fucking honest, for one brief second, I thought about leaving my cut behind. There was no way in hell I deserved the treatment I just got from my club brothers. Not at all. I was true blue in every conceivable way. That loyalty hadn’t been reciprocated by Siege, Rigs, Tank and Dutch today.
Chapter 17
Serena
I spent the day waiting for Smoke to come back home. Was that brazen? Yes. Did I care? No. I was pretty pissed at Cleo for telling Siege where I was, and even more pissed with Siege for coming here and yelling at me like a crazy man. I’m a grown woman with the ability to make decisions for myself. If my father was alive, he wouldn’t have tolerated my brother’s attempting to control me the way he did today. Nope, he would have put a hard stop to that.
My father taught me to be strong and to stand on my own two feet. There was nobody in my life capable of standing up to my headstrong brother except me. This morning, I had let him know in no uncertain terms, that he was out of order by tracking me down and demanding that I go home. Now, I was in a position where I had to back up those words with actions. If I didn’t, Siege would never believe a word I had to say. That’s one of the reasons I decided to stay here instead of returning to Siege and Cleo’s home.
If I wanted to have any hope of maintaining my independence, I need to start looking for my own place. I grab my cell phone and start looking for an apartment. Maybe on Monday after work I could visit a couple.
Choosing a place to live is a big decision. I don’t want to rush into something, but living with my brother was no longer an option. He was trying to micromanage my life and I couldn’t allow that to happen. Scrolling through the property listings I see several possible options. Three are apartments and one is a small cottage. I bookmark them for follow-up after the weekend.
I might not have appreciated the tongue lashing from my brother earlier today, but I’m glad he brought me clothes. I just wish he’d kept his opinions about my personal life to himself. I don’t think my sister-in-law understood what I wanted in terms of clothing because she packed several outfits so I’d have options. Mostly they were casual clothes, but she did drop one of my suits in as well. That should be enough to get me through the next twenty-four hours.
My hand goes to my stomach when it growls. I decide to have one of the energy bars Smoke has piled in a dish on his kitchen counter. I walk into his spacious modern kitchen and stand there sorting through them.
I don’t know why, but it suddenly occurs to me that I missed the last appointment for my birth control shot. I was scheduled for it right before things went bad with my ex. It wasn’t a priority since I wasn’t planning to have sex ever again in my lifetime. Of course, that had been the trauma talking. That means that all that sex last night might result in a pregnancy, which isn’t what I need right now. That’s another thing to add to my list, as well as an apartment, I need to find an OB-GYN in Las Salinas and make an appointment for the shot.
Though just the thought of being pregnant with Smoke’s baby floods my body with a strange warmth. I imagine him cupping my belly in his hands and talking to our unborn child. I like that idea way too much. Maybe it’s low blood sugar making my mind go to places like that? I grab an extra energy bar just in case.
***
In the mid-afternoon I heard the throaty roar of a motorcycle getting closer. Smoke came stomping through the door a few minutes later, looking all kinds of aggravated. He stopped short when he saw me standing in his living room.
“When I saw your car in the driveway, I assumed someone picked you up. It never occurred to me that you would still be in my house.”
“You sound disappointed. If you want, I can go ahead and take off.”
Taking a step closer he asks, “Why are you here, Serena?”
“Because you said we could spend the day together and that day isn’t over.” After a thoughtful pause, I add, “I’m also not wild about going back to my brother’s house. He really pissed me off this morning.”
“Yeah, he pissed me off this afternoon, so we’re in the same boat.”
I move closer to him and put my hands on his chest. “You seem tense and out of sorts. Do you wanna talk about your day? I’m a good listener.”
“Hell, no,” he responds. “If I did, then you would be tense and out of sorts as well.”
“Would it help if we went for a ride?”
“I just went for a ride. It didn’t help.”
“Tell me what you need in order to feel better.”
