Patriot (Silver Saints MC)

As soon as my sister was close enough, she lit into me. “What in the hell were you thinking, talking back to Beast like that in front of so many people? You know better than to disrespect a club member in public.”

“I didn’t say anything to Vinny”—I refused to call the guy by his road name because the thought of how he got it creeped me out—“except that I was working. I swear, Alice.”

“Are you calling him a liar?” she hissed, her green eyes narrowing. “Because that’s not what Beast told my old man when he called and said we needed to get our asses over here. What I heard was that you put up a big enough fuss over Beast showing his interest in you that some asshole from another club butted in.”

“I’m not saying that Vinny lied to you.” Only because things would go very badly for me if I did. “I don’t know how the story got mixed up. I barely had the chance to say five words to Vinny before that guy stepped in, and I have no idea why he thought it was necessary. I didn’t ask for his help, and I’m sorry you had to come here to talk to me about all of it.”

“If you really meant that apology, you’d do what I told you earlier today.” Razor came up behind her as she swung her arm around in a big circle, glaring at me over her head. “If you don’t want to take Beast up on his offer, pick one of the other guys. Give him your cherry and accept his property patch. Then we wouldn’t have trouble like this because assholes from other clubs would know exactly who you belonged to.”

I’d been so focused on my argument with Alice—and worried about what Razor was going to do about the incident—that I hadn’t noticed what was happening around us. Not until the guy from earlier tugged on my arm while one of his club brothers who he’d been sitting with grabbed Razor’s shoulder.

“What are you doing?” I hissed as he dragged me away from Alice, who’d whirled around to look at Razor when he’d let out an angry roar as fists started to fly. I wasn’t sure how it had happened, but the Devil’s Jesters were surrounded by men from the Silver Saints, and it looked as though they were outmatched. Nobody stopped us as he led me out of Hell’s Kitchen, keeping an arm wrapped around my shoulders so I was protected from the battle that had broken out around us.

When we were standing on the sidewalk in front of the bar, he finally answered my question. “I’m saving you from a bad situation, Cherry.”

“Cherry?” I yanked my arm from his hold and took a step back, crossing my arms over my chest. “So you heard that jerk call me a virgin and decided that would be the perfect nickname for me? Let me guess, you’re going to try to convince me you’re the perfect guy to pop my cherry since you just rescued me. Right?”

Patriot shook his head as he reached out to tug on a lock of my hair. “You earned the nickname way before that asshole gave you a hard time. Although, now I’m thinking maybe Flame would’ve been a better choice because you have the temper to go along with your red hair.”

“Oh.” His gaze dropped to my lips, and the color in my cheeks wasn’t just because I was embarrassed about jumping to the wrong conclusion. The heat in his eyes had a lot to do with it, too. “I, uh, guess sometimes I do, but it’s been a long time since I’ve let it fly like that.”

“I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to show me your true self.” He tugged on the end of my hair before releasing it. “You will always be safe with me, Erin.”

My head felt as though it was spinning, and my voice was shaky as I asked, “What do you mean ‘always’?”

“Hop on the back of my bike and find out.” Patriot pointed toward a row of motorcycles on the edge of the parking lot closest to the road. “We can be out of here in under a minute. All you have to do is tell me you want to go.”

“You’re a complete stranger. I can’t just ride off with you,” I protested softly, stunned to discover that I was actually considering his suggestion.

“I get that you have reason to be cautious, but I can’t be any worse than the assholes you’ve been dealing with in there.” He jerked his chin toward the bar. “My club isn’t anything like the Devil’s Jesters. Our president would beat the shit out of any member who pressured someone into sleeping with them. Then he’d take their cut and kick them out of the Silver Saints. That shit doesn’t fly with him—or any of us. If it did, I never would’ve gone for a patch because no way in hell would I ever be okay with a club who treated women like shit.”