and forth on the bed, holding her stomach. She’d told him she had cramps and that sometimes they were really bad.
Steele had gotten a heating pad and laid down beside her, holding her while she curled up into a ball, the pad on her stomach. She kept adjusting the pad and when he wanted to examine her, she’d shaken her head. When he tried to talk to her, she just said it was cramps and they’d always been like that. He’d let it go, but he shouldn’t have. He knew at the time he shouldn’t have.
“That bastard hit you, even when you were mine, didn’t he? He wanted information about me and you didn’t give it to him. Was that it, Bree? Did he do that?” The monster in him opened his eyes, tasted ice-cold rage. Wanted vengeance. Needed it.
She nodded, her gaze sliding from his. She knew he wouldn’t like her answers. “He wanted me to convince you to let him close to Czar. You were friendly, all of you were, but at a distance. He had a lot of clout in the club. I was afraid if you knew what he was doing, you’d go after him and he’d get you hurt. A man couldn’t put his woman before his brothers. You know that wasn’t done. It was never done. If you did, they’d all go after you.”
He had to fight to maintain his composure, so much so, that he stepped away from her and paced across the room. He would have killed Bridges then if he’d known the man had hit his old lady.
“How many times?” His voice was low. Velvet soft. Scary.
“Steele.”
She pressed herself against the wall, going very still in that way that pissed him off because she was making herself into the frozen mouse. He knew he was scaring her, but right at that moment, it didn’t matter. He had to know. Bridges might be right across the way, within reach and Steele was racking up every sin the man had made against Steele’s family.
“Fucking tell me, Bree. I’m not going to ask again.”
“Every month. At the end of the month he demanded a meet with me.”
“And you kept that from me?”
She nodded. “I didn’t want them to hurt you.”
“So, you took that man punching you to keep me from being hurt?”
She shivered. “Don’t be angry. It was a long time ago. And he was afraid of bruising me, so he didn’t hit full force like he did when I was without you.”
He was going to slice Bridges up, make it so the man suffered a thousand deaths before he actually died. He glanced up, into the doorway, and saw Savage looking at him. Clearly, he’d overheard. Their eyes met in complete understanding.
“You do something like that again, Breezy, and you won’t sit down for months. Anyone threatens you for any reason you come to your man, do you understand me? You were my woman then and you are now. A man, or woman wrongs you, slights you, does anything to upset you, you come to me. That’s for me to take care of. It’s club business they put a hand on you. Say you understand. And you’d better mean it.”
She looked stricken. Hurt. She remained pressed against the wall, her fingers tight against her mouth as she nodded at him.
“I do. I’m sorry. I do understand.”
Abruptly, Steele turned and stalked out. Savage threw her a glance, radiating the same ice-cold rage. Bridges deserved their anger, and he was about to find out what it meant to hurt the families of Torpedo Ink.
FIFTEEN
“How’s she holdin’ up?” Savage asked as he walked with Steele around to the back of the house. “She’s quite a woman, Steele. She stood for you. I know that pisses you off. It would me too, but she stood for you. She took Bridges’s fist for you.”
“I ought to turn her over my knee for that. Fuck, Savage. That bastard punched her in the stomach, so I wouldn’t see it on her face. What the hell kind of doctor am I, let alone her man? I should have known it was going on.” He hadn’t been paying attention to her the way he should have. This was on him. He should have known. Damn him to hell for being such a fucking selfish bastard.
“Difference is, she was mine, she would already by sportin’ a red bottom. On the other hand, I’ve got nothin’ but respect for that woman.” Those ice-blue eyes