“We’re going to have to do a little cleaning,” Maestro continued. “Maybe a lot.” There was a hint of worry in his voice. “Just an observation, but your woman seems to be able to read more than you might want her to when she’s touching you.”
“Yeah.” Savage rubbed the back of his neck. There was an itch developing between his shoulder blades as if a target had been placed squarely on him. “I’m very aware. She thinks she understands what I do for the club. Talking about it and seeing it are two different things.”
Maestro took off his shades and lifted an eyebrow. “You expect me to believe that shit?”
Savage sighed. “I’m easing her into it. I’m hoping she never has to know the extent of what I do. She knows I’ve had to kill and that I ask the questions, just not how. I’ll shield her as best I can from that shit. I’m not easy as it is, Maestro, and I never will be. She’s got courage. This is just the beginning, and she’s getting thrown in when things are rough. I was hoping for time to ease her in, but we aren’t getting it.”
Maestro sighed. “Why didn’t you leave her behind?”
Savage scowled at him. “You know why. I have to bleed off some of the fucking rage or I’ll kill someone.”
“There’re going to be hundreds of willing women there, Savage. Any one of them will get on their knees for you. They always do.”
“You want to cheat your woman, Maestro, you do it. I’m not disrespecting mine.”
“Sparing her and disrespecting her aren’t the same. In any case, I don’t see that letting her have the upper hand in the relationship has done any of you any good. Your woman is in danger, and you have no idea how she’s going to behave on this trip. None. She’s a total wild card. All of them are. For all of her disagreeing with our lifestyle, the only one we can count on to obey when push comes to shove is Blythe, and that’s shocking.”
There was no getting around who he was. A fucking sadist who had to put whip marks on his woman to be aroused. To see tears on her face. To spank her ass until his handprints turned her bottom a deep hue. He glanced at Maestro. There was no getting around who Maestro was either. They were all products of their childhood. They’d tried to turn it around, tried to escape what they’d been shaped into, monsters some of them, but it was impossible, and in the end, they had to make peace with themselves or blow their fucking heads off.
“That’s because Blythe totally trusts Czar and puts her faith in his word,” Savage said. “That kind of trust requires time, Maestro. Keeping your fucking word, no matter what, including not cheating. You, of all people, know that trust is huge between a couple in our kind of relationship. This shit isn’t easy, and I’m not going to pretend to know what I’m doing. I feel like I’m walking through a minefield, but she’s worth it to me. I do know that she’s going to get hurt and she’s going to take on a lot of pain for me. I have to give her something back. I want to give her something back.”
“What you’re giving her by looking at her the way you do is a fucking target painted right between her eyes, Savage. I’m your brother. I stand with you, and I’ll protect that girl with my life, but I hope to hell you and Czar know what you’re doing this weekend.”
Savage hoped they did too. Czar needed Savage there, and Savage needed Seychelle. Czar was positive they needed Seychelle there as well. He’d all but decreed she be there. That was unusual, but Czar had that weird talent that no one questioned. If he said they’d need Seychelle, then Savage wasn’t going to argue—at least he hadn’t been. Now, things were different. He should have talked to Seychelle about what was coming. He’d intended to do just that the night before, but then the Diamondbacks showed up at the restaurant. After that, everything went south at home.
More motorcycles had pulled into the gas station, and he found himself meeting his woman as she came out of the restroom. Any other time he’d be happy she was walking slow and gingerly, but he could only focus on the sadness on her face. That wasn’t Seychelle. She lived in the moment. She would normally be looking around her, taking everything in, looking at him with joy and sharing the smallest detail.
His heart dropped. This wasn’t okay. Not by a long shot. He wrapped his arm around her and drew her close. “Babe, I’ve got to talk to Czar. Shouldn’t take long. Would you mind hanging with Maestro for a few minutes?”