Darby leaned close. “They’re all crazy.” There was affection in her voice. “When I first came here with my sisters, believe me, I was afraid, leery and felt totally out of place. They make a place for you. It’s as if once you’re accepted into their circle, they just somehow absorb you and you’re a part of them. It’s really cool, Bree. It took me a while before I could make myself give them a chance, but I was really glad when I did.”
Did she look that uncomfortable? Probably. It was more that she didn’t understand what was happening, and that always paralyzed her. She had a tendency to try to make herself small and invisible until she figured out protocol. These people baffled her. A good deal of the problem was that she had known them all first as Swords. They’d blended in with the club seamlessly, although they all looked, even then, as if they could eat their prey. They were like chameleons, blending in wherever they went.
How did she know what was real? She’d thought Steele’s feelings for her were real during the time they were together. Although he’d never once told her he loved her, she’d felt it when he touched her. Maybe she just had never known kindness and she’d mistaken that for love. It was also possible he’d felt some affection for her, and she’d mistaken that as well.
She forked the eggs into her mouth. This food was as different from the Swords fare as the table filled with obvious friendship and brotherhood was. Everything about Torpedo Ink was different. She just didn’t know if she could trust them to return Zane to her if—when—they got him back.
Steele’s hand slid up her back to the nape of her neck. She froze at his touch. There was no way to stop the flutters in her sex, or the weird sensation of a somersault in her stomach. She accepted that her body would always react to his touch no matter how much she tried to keep it from happening. She turned her head slowly toward him, bracing herself to meet his eyes.
“Everything’s going to be all right, Bree.”
“I want to go with you when you go after him.” She was going, no matter what they all said. They would have to lock her up to keep that from happening. She wasn’t going to say so though; she was going to stay quiet. If they left without her, she would find her own way to Louisiana, because she was going to be there to hold her son in her arms and comfort him.
He nodded slowly. “I’ve been giving that a lot of thought. We could communicate by phone, but having you with us to direct us to the next possible place would be the smarter thing to do. I need you safe though, Bree, so you have to give me your word you’ll follow orders. I’m not going to be telling you what to do just to be bossy. These situations can get dicey fast and can deteriorate in moments. We’re adept at reading what’s happening.”
That made sense as well. She let her breath out, nodding. “I have no problem with that.” She’d always let him take the lead because she’d trusted him. Now she wasn’t sure how she felt about him—what she trusted and what she didn’t. She was elated that she didn’t have to argue, beg or try to deceive him. She wasn’t good at deception. Not like he was.
“Good. Eat, baby. You’re going to need your strength.”
A shiver of awareness snaked through her body. His admonishment could have been about keeping her strong for travel, but his eyes and tone said something else altogether. Steele was a very sexual being. He was demanding, and often, they’d had sex several times a day. More than once, he’d just caught her, slammed her against a wall and drove her out of her mind. It hadn’t mattered where they were; she’d lost her ability to think around him.
He’d never had a problem being naked in front of others or having sex with others around. She didn’t either. The moment he touched her, it didn’t matter where they were, his entire focus seemed wholly on her, and she loved that. Once at a party, he took her right on the bar, and when someone else tried to touch her, he’d gone insane, beating the shit out of him. It had been a thing of beauty to watch him, his body like a machine.
Sometimes when they had sex, it was wild and crazy; other times, so intimate she wanted to cry. Always, no matter where they were, no matter if others were around—frankly, Steele had always seemed more comfortable and relaxed if some of his friends were close by—whatever the situation, they burned together hot and perfect.
Club life to Breezy, especially the parties, meant drug deals and the members forcing the women to make the deals with their bodies. She’d hated that. Dreaded every party. Until she’d been with Steele. Surrounded by Steele’s friends, she’d felt safe and protected, especially when Steele had her naked and mindless, crying out with orgasm after orgasm. The way he was had been thrilling and made her feel as if he couldn’t get enough of her. Now she felt it was just his incredibly strong sex drive and had nothing whatsoever to do with her.
His breath came out in a hiss of displeasure. “Stop it, Bree. Stop thinking. Just give it a rest until we can clear things up. Right now, finish your food. The kids are leaving, and we’ll get this operation under way. After, we’ll talk about us.”
She didn’t want to talk about them. There was no “us.” As far as she was concerned, there never had been. That fantasy had been in her mind. She accepted it like she accepted everything else that had happened to her. Steele had been too good to be true. She kept her head down and finished the eggs, although now, nothing tasted good to her. Everything was like cardboard.
Darby got up and began carrying plates and platters from the table. Several members of Torpedo Ink helped. Transporter and Mechanic along with Keys gathered up more dishes. She could hear water running as if they were rinsing them. Lana stood up and gathered more.
“Here, babe, take mine too,” Ink said.
Lana glared at him. “I didn’t know your legs were broken.”
“Muscle strain. At least that’s what Steele said,” Ink informed her.
Instantly the glare disappeared, and her expression changed. “Are you hurt? No one told me you were hurt. I was teasing.”
“So was I,” Ink said.
A roar of laughter went up around the table. Lana shook her head, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. “I don’t know why I fall for your crap every single time.” She placed the pile of dishes she had gathered directly in front of him. “For that, you can rinse.”
Ink got to his feet, picked up the dishes and sauntered out, more laughter following him. Lana gathered up the condiments and followed. Several of the others finished stripping the table and washing it down until the wood gleamed.
Darby caught up a book bag and took Emily’s hand. She waited by the kitchen door as Czar crouched down in front of Zoe. “You have a good day at Airiana’s.”
She nodded solemnly.
“What do we always do, Zoe?” he asked.
Breezy’s heart clenched hard. Clearly, this was a ritual. His hands were gentle and loving on her, rubbing her arms and then her hair.
“We always give our best, treat others with respect and we keep our business private. What we see, what we say and what we do stays here.”
“Very good. What else?” Czar smoothed back Zoe’s hair with gentle fingers.
“Anything I don’t like, I tell you, Blythe or one of my uncles or aunts, but our business in this home is private. My uncles’ business is private.”
Czar’s smile held pride and affection. “Exactly. We don’t share with the outside world, but we don’t keep secrets from one another. Anything upsets you, darlin’, day or night, you call us immediately. And if someone tells you it’s a secret, there are no secrets from us. Even if someone tries to scare you by saying they can hurt us, you tell us.”
Zoe hugged him tightly and then turned to her sister. “Darby too, right? I can tell Darby.”
Czar nodded as Darby took Zoe’s hand.
“Hey, what about me?” Kenny said. “You can tell me anything, Zoe. I’ll look out for you.” He ruffled her hair. “The club’s been givin
g me lessons in . . .” He broke off abruptly and looked up at Czar.
Blythe moved closer. “Lessons in what, Kenny? I can’t imagine what all your uncles might choose to teach you.” She looked at her husband, not at her son.
Czar gave her a lazy grin, wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in tight to him. “Woman, you have a dirty mind. Not sex. Basic self-defense. We’re working with Darby and Zoe as well.”
Blythe rolled her eyes.
“Don’t pretend you weren’t thinking we were giving him instructions on sex, woman. I can read you like a book.”
Another roar of laughter went up, and Blythe shrugged. “I wouldn’t put it past you.”
“Where else is he going to learn how to give his partner pleasure? He needs to hear it from us, not read about it on the Internet or learn it from watching porn.”