“Mav, what the fuck are you doing over here? Thought you needed a drain snake.” Jig rounded the corner and walked into their aisle. “Oh, hey, Iz,” he said when his attention landed on her.

“Yeah, I do, but Steph saw Izzy across the store and wanted to say hi.”

Jig’s phone rang, and he frowned as he pulled it out. “Copper. Let me take it quick,” he said, walking back down the aisle.

Well, shit. There went her reprieve.

Jig answered the call then slowly turned around, his gaze piercing her like a burning laser. It seemed every muscle in his very buff body grew more rigid with each tick of the clock. The ever-present scowl morphed into a twisted sneer that had her biting the inside of her cheek. Oh, boy, he was not pleased. He spoke for about thirty seconds then stuffed the phone in his pocket and stormed back over to them.

“Yikes,” Stephanie murmured. “That is not a good look. You do something bad, girl?”

Izzy sighed. “You’re about to find out.”

Mav shot her a curious glance as Jig got right up in her face and stared down at her. “You want to tell me why the fuck my president is calling to tell me your house was fucking vandalized?”

Stephanie gasped. “Oh, my God, Izzy! What happened?” She shoved her way between Jig and Izzy and grabbed Izzy’s upper arms. “Were you there? Are you okay?”

Izzy nodded and kept her comments directed to Jig. “I got out of work early and came home to find all six of my front windows completely smashed.”

“Fuck,” Mav spat out while Stephanie sucked in a sharp breath.

“Wait,” Stephanie said, giving Izzy a chastising look. “Why didn’t you call Jig? Why are you here?”

“I have to get some plywood to board up my windows.”

Stephanie laughed like Izzy’s words were hilarious. “No, you don’t.” She motioned her thumbs toward Mav and Jig. “That’s what you have these guys for.”

“It’s my house,” Izzy said, “my responsibility. Why wouldn’t I have come here?” Did Stephanie really think she’d pawn the task off on someone else?

“Is that fucking so?” Jig asked, his voice so menacing Izzy flinched.

“Oh, boy,” Steph whispered, slinking out from between Izzy and Jig. “Uh, Mav and I are just gonna, uh, go…somewhere else. Come on,” she whispered, yanking Mav away by the shirt sleeve. The idiot had the nerve to laugh as his woman led him off.

“Geez, Jig, simmer down. I wasn’t hurt. I’m pissed but fine.” What was he so furious about?

“Oh, I’m so glad to hear it.” His voice was laden with sarcasm as he folded his arms across his chest like he was trying to intimidate her. Fat chance.

“What the hell crawled up your ass?”

“It’s just Izzy against the world, isn’t it? Didn’t even cross your mind to call the man who took you home from the hospital when you’d been beaten by the same assholes who destroyed your house? Didn’t think the man who had his cock buried in you up to your throat just a few nights ago might want to be kept in the loop?”

“Jesus, Jig, keep it down, will you?” she said in a harsh whisper, looking up and down the aisle. Any shoppers had scattered the moment Jig raised his voice. “What? You think fucking me three days ago gives you some kind of rights to my life?” She snorted out a laugh. “You haven’t even talked to me since then.”

Whoops. That wasn’t supposed to come out. Now she sounded like a jilted lover.

Which she was not. She was just a pissed-off woman with a stupid biker overreacting to something that wasn’t any of his business. Okay, that wasn’t entirely true since his club’s enemies were the ones who kept coming after her.

“Maybe you missed the memo, Jig, but I take care of myself. I don’t need a big man to hold my hand in the hardware store while I pick out lumber.”

He threw his hands in the air. “This isn’t about fucking lumber,” he yelled. “It’s about you being too stubborn to ask for help. It’s about you thinking you can be a fucking island and do every goddamn thing by yourself.”

“What the hell do you think I’ve been doing for the last thirteen years, Jig? Actually, for my whole life. I’ve managed just fine this far without any big bad bikers standing between me and the world. I think I’ll be good going forward. I don’t need anyone else.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” he shouted. “Everybody needs someone else at some point.”

“Why do you give a shit? Because you fucked me?” She was yelling as loud as he was and had now crossed from irate into irrational. Part of her brain was aware of it, but her mouth kept running forward, out of control. “You have no say in anything I do Jig. Get used to it.”

Tags: Lilly Atlas Hell's Handlers MC Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net