AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ink growled and glared. “Tell me.”
“The rumors say his non-traditional debt has expanded to an uncomfortable level and they’re going to start collecting.”
Non-traditional. What a polite phrase for loan sharks who didn’t mind breaking bones if it was necessary to ensure a person paid. “So you think she’s gonna get pulled into his mess.”
“Unless she has almost a 100k sitting under a mattress somewhere to bail him out, they are going to come after him and the business he used as collateral.”
Ink ran his hands through his hair in frustration. “She can’t know about this.”
“Do you think the collectors are going to care if she knows or not?”
The idea of Jade getting hurt because of her friend’s debts sent his blood boiling. Dammit, they barely knew each other. And even if he didn’t see a long-term prospect between them, that didn’t mean he wanted to let her go and leave her to have to face this kind of shit alone.
The look Highdive gave him was intense. “It’s too late, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” Ink wished he had another drink but stopped himself from asking for another.
“Swear to God, you all live to make my life hard. I love all my Brothers. But you fuckers can’t seem to pick uncomplicated pussy to save your lives.”
Ink leaned back, considering the last few Old Ladies who had joined their ranks, and he had to agree. But he shook his head. He needed to make things very clear. “I never said she’s going to be our Old Lady.”
Highdive’s eyebrow raised. “That look of anger on your face when I told you she might be in trouble. That tells me otherwise.”
“Just because I don’t want to see a woman hurt, doesn’t mean I want my patch on her back.”
“You keep telling yourself that.”
Anger and frustration roiled in his stomach. Ink gripped the edge of the bar and tried to maintain his calm.
“Brother, you know what I like. Do you see any woman settling down with two men who have our temperaments? Do you think any woman wants to live the rest of her life with men who get off on sharing and controlling her? Sure. We’re fun for the short term. The long haul, white picket fence, two kids and a dog, that just ain’t me.”
“Wow, I didn’t realize this was a pity party I’d been invited to. I would have brought something.”
“Fuck you, man.” Ink didn’t enjoy cursing. It was one of his hang-ups from childhood, but sometimes they were the perfect words for the situation.
“Cut the shit. Look around this place. There isn’t a man here who doesn’t like control. Those Old Ladies.” Highdive gestured in the direction the women had gone. “Each one of them is happier than a civilian woman with their supposedly enlightened men. We both know plenty of happy poly couples at the Club. So what is the actual issue?”
What was the issue? Ink wasn’t ready to dig down into his feelings. “Didn’t ask for a psych eval.”
“Doesn’t take a doctor to see someone making excuses and avoiding the issue. You think we haven’t noticed you and Hannibal are on the outs?”
No. He didn’t. “When did my life become fodder for a Club hen party?”
Highdive ignored his jab. “Do you think your girl doesn’t like pain? Afraid you’ll have to hang up your bullwhip?”
He didn’t actually, though enjoying a spanking was a far cry from wanting to feel the kiss of a whip. People feared his favorite implement, picturing the kind of lashing that tore open skin and left scars. In the hand of someone skilled like him, the whip could deliver anything from gentle taps to flashing bites of pain that would leave small welts for days.
“You saying she does?” He wasn’t going to admit what he knew, but wanted to know what his Brother thought. “You met her once and magically have the inside scoop?”
“You met her once and are acting like a protective guard dog. But no, I actually read her bio.”
The fact his Brother might know more about Jade than he did was disconcerting. “And something in it makes you think she likes pain? What, has she been secretly attending BDSM clubs? Because I’m telling you, she’s a novice.”
Her reactions that night had been too genuine to be practiced. Her joy in discovering something new and exciting too real to be faked.
“Oh, I don’t think she’s been to a BDSM club a day in her life, but she trained to be a world class gymnast, from childhood. She climbs some of the most dangerous mountains that are out there. And that Parkour crap?” He shook his head. “She has had more physical pain in her life than ten other people. If she didn’t get off on that shit, there is no way she could have become as talented as she is.”
Highdive’s words were an uncomfortable revelation. It would have been easier to believe that she wouldn’t want anything long term than to think that his own issues would be the ones pulling them down. There had been too many times in his life where he had believed that there might be a woman interested in them for the long term. But time after time, he’d been proven wrong.
