There were some more low murmurings but Shannon couldn’t make out what they were saying. Stepping away from the wall, she hurried downstairs, not wanting Crash to come looking for her and find her eavesdropping.
Shannon came down the stairs. Jake, Shane, Wolf and Crash were all sitting at one of the tables. Crash looked up when she approached, his hand reaching for hers and pulling her to stand next to his chair. He spoke to the table. “We good, boys?”
There were murmured agreements all around. “Good.” He looked over at Wolf. “And you need to pull your head out of your ass. Man the fuck up, brother. This shit’s gotta stop.”
“Enough already. I hear you.”
“Oh, enough already, huh? That’s rich coming from you, Wolf.”
“I got it, Crash. Message received.”
Crash looked over at Shane. “You may not have started this, but just so you know, you’re lucky the whole fucking club didn’t jump your ass. I think the only thing that stopped ‘em was respect for my kid brother.”
Shane nodded.
Crash nodded toward the bar where Mack was sitting. “Lucky for you both,” he took in Jake and Shane with his look. “The old man was amused.”
Wolf blew out a breath.
Crash’s gaze landed on him. “You he’s not so amused with.”
“Fuck.”
Shannon saw Wolf’s eyes move from Crash to something over her shoulder. Turning to look, she saw Cole coming to a stop at the table. His eyes connected with Wolf, and he spoke like they were the only two in the room.
“Cut her loose.”
Shannon’s eyes moved from Cole’s hard face to Wolf’s in time to see him nod once.
With that, Crash pushed to his feet and pulled Shannon to him, towering over her and reminding her how big he was. He looked down at her with a hard look, and she could see he knew all about her running off with Crystal. The look also said he may be through dealing with the guys, but he still planned to deal with her. “Let’s go.”
He pulled her toward the door, saying nothing as he led her across the parking lot to where his bike was parked. He passed her helmet to her, climbed on and fired the bike up. Strapping his own helmet on, he waited for her to climb on, and then he hit the throttle and pulled out.
Shannon pressed against him, her arms wrapping around him, and she watched the streetlights fly by as he hit the on-ramp of the eight-eighty freeway. It was late, and there wasn’t much traffic. He flew down the interstate. The lights of San Jose, and then Oakland flashing by them.
Crash took the turn off the street, pulling inside the garage and shutting the bike off. Shannon climbed off the back, unbuckling her helmet. He did the same, and then moved toward the elevator. She followed him. He threw the gate open, pulled her inside and slammed it shut with a clang. Then he leaned back against the rail and stared at her. His eyes dropped to her throat, and he lifted his hand to her jaw, gently tilting her head up and to the side, studying the scratches and also the marks he’d left on her throat. Love bites, no, more primal, maybe more like an animal marking his turf.
Shit!
He let his hand drop. He hadn’t meant to do that. He hadn’t meant to do a lot of shit he’d done tonight. His best intentions had gone out the fucking window when he got his first look at her tonight. His eyes swept over her again, taking in the wicked hot leather, and he felt his dick jump. Christ! He looked up, watching the bricks slide past as the elevator ascended.
“You’re mad at me, aren’t you?”
His eyes dropped to her, and then he hooked his hand at the back of her neck and pulled her close, his face inches from hers. “Just so we’re clear, Shannon. I like Crystal. We all do. And I understand the girl code, gotta help a sister and all that shit, but in that clubhouse, the Brothers rule, and you do not interfere! You need to remember that.”
“I hate cheaters,” she blurted softly.
He let her loose. “Ain’t cheatin’ if they’re not even together.”
“Then why was Wolf pissed and jealous of Shane? What about him and Misty?”
The elevator stopped with a shudder. Crash paused with his hand on the gate. “What about her?”
“So there’s two sets of rules? One for the men and one for the women?”
He shrugged. “Wolf and Crystal are a special case. Their relationship is fucked up, and they both know it, and yet they both keep at it.”
“And Red Dog and Mary? Is that another special case? If Mary was doing what her husband was doing…”