Anna grabs my arm and pulls me back into the club, Lana by our sides. She yells for the bouncers, telling them to lock the club doors so no one can get in and out. Her demands are met instantly.
“What do we do now?” I ask, unable to hide the panic in my voice. “Just watch them get beaten up?”
I look outside to see Adam punch a man in the face and then in the stomach.
“They’ll be fine,” Anna replies confidently. “It’s only two against each of them. They can handle it.”
Lana nods her head, not looking as confident as Anna but still standing strong. “They’ll be fine. And now they don’t have to worry about us being safe, so they can concentrate on kicking those dickheads’ asses. Knock him on his ass, Tracker!”
Christ.
What happened to the innocent little Lana I knew in high school?
I take a few steps away from the glass door and wrap my arms around myself.
I really just want to be at home with Cara right now. I didn’t sign up for this.
NINE
THE cops eventually show up and everyone is taken in. With the camera footage from the club, Anna tells me it will show who started the fight, so “our” men will be fine. Sin rocks up with his wife, Faye, who heads to the police station to sort the men out. Sin takes the rest of us home, fuming the whole way about how he wasn’t there when “shit” went down. To me, it sounds like he’s just angry he missed out on a fight.
“They’re lucky none of you got hurt,” he rumbles, fingers clenching on the steering wheel. “All this because Rake fucked someone’s old lady? I guess it was only a matter of time before his dick got us all into trouble.”
I ignore Anna’s and Lana’s pitying glances.
Adam can fuck the whole world if he wants to; it has nothing to do with me anymore.
It doesn’t hurt.
Nope.
Not. One. Little. Bit.
Let him man-whore around town.
Bastard.
“What’s going to happen now?” Anna asks, looking in Sin’s direction. “You guys going to fight with the other MC every time you see each other because of some unfaithful woman and my slutty brother?”
Sin chuckles darkly. “We’ll see how it goes. Them coming into our space is asking for trouble and lacks some damn fuckin’ respect, although the men already taught them a lesson, even being outnumbered. I heard their president is in the hospital.”
He sounds proud.
Yeah, they’re all batshit crazy.
“Did you see the guy with tattoos all over this face?” Anna asks, making a face. “He looked scary as shit.”
“I saw Tracker punch him in the nose,” Lana says, smirking. “That was probably the only reason why. Otherwise I was too busy checking out my man to even notice the opposition.”
Sin snorts with amusement from the front.
Anna puts up her hand. “Hey, I checked out my man too. I also sussed out everyone else. I even picked out a few weaknesses in their fighting technique.”
We look at Anna with different expressions on our faces. Lana looks impressed, and me? I think my expression must hold a mixture of both shock and wonder.
“All the men should marry nerds,” Sin says, chuckling. “The women are becoming a force to be reckoned with.”
“Damn straight,” Anna calls out, resting her head back against the seat.
Lana glances at me out of the corner of her eye. “Strength comes in different forms. All of them are valuable.”
I don’t know why, but I suddenly avoid her gaze.
I get dropped off first. “Thanks for the ride, Sin.”
“No problem, Bailey,” he says, turning his head to me and giving me a look I can’t interpret.
“I’ll walk you to your door,” Anna says, getting out of the car. Silently we make it to my front step. I pull my keys out of my handbag and unlock my door.
“Well, this has been . . . fun.” I cringe, then flash Anna a sheepish look. “I hope the men don’t get into any trouble.”
Anna sighs and rubs the back of her neck. “They’ll be fine. Listen, I’m sorry you had to be there tonight. Just know that no matter what, you would have been safe, all right? The men would have had your back just as they would have had ours. You’re family.”
I smile and wrap my arms around her. “Thank you, Anna. It was definitely a night I won’t be forgetting soon.”
“I couldn’t help noticing who Adam’s first instinct was to protect tonight,” she murmurs, looking contemplative. “Interesting,