the right of us. I look up at Bates, who is ignoring them, so I do too, guessing it must be a common occurrence.
The same prospect from before greets Bates, his eyes flashing when he sees my hand in his, but he wisely doesn’t say anything.
“Can I ask you something?” I question Bates quietly as he urges me across the deserted road toward my car, which is the only car on the street.
“What?” he asks distractedly.
“Do you guys have issues with other clubs?” I read about there always being tensions between rival clubs, so it makes me wonder if there is anything else I might need to be wary of while I’m here, other than my stalker.
“No, and just saying, Reign, if we did, it would fall under club business, which makes it none of yours.”
Hmm. I know that’s how it goes in my books, but it’s going to take some getting used to in real life. Not because I’m nosy. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m fucking nosy and hate being kept in the dark, but also, this is my life now.
“I get it, the rule about club business, and I’ll try not to push the boundaries, but what if there was a risk to me? Would you tell me then?” I ask, remembering how my brothers like to keep shit from me when they think they are protecting me. Even over this stalker issue, they were conflicted over what they shared with me when I’m the one the asshole is so fixated on.
“If we thought you needed to know, then yeah. But, Reign, do we look like the kind of men that would let anything happen to our woman?” Bates gripes, opening the car door as if I’ve offended him.
“No, Bates, you look like the kind of guys that would catch a bullet with your teeth. I was just asking.” I roll my eyes.
“Get in,” he grumbles, taking off his cut and handing it to me before climbing into the driver’s seat. “Jesus fucking Christ, please tell me you didn’t drive this piece of shit from LA to here. We’ll be lucky if it makes it across the road.”
“Now, be nice to Daisy. She’s had a rough life, but she’s been good to me,” I coo, stroking the dashboard.
He curses under his breath as he adjusts the seat before he swings the car over the road and waits patiently for the prospect to open the gate again. Pulling in, he parks in one of the spaces beside the garage doors, then reaches over, taking the cut from my lap before climbing out and slipping it back on.
I follow him out and wait for him to pop the trunk. Reaching inside for one of my cases, I find it pulled from my hand as Bates somehow manages to carry both cases as well as my backpack and large gym bag I had purchased for all the stuff that was loose in my trunk, leaving me wide-eyed and empty-handed.
“Let me help,” I offer, holding out my hand, but he just shakes his head, walking up the steps to the clubhouse.
“Stubborn male,” I mutter, moving around him so I can at least shove the door open.
It’s still packed in here. The music is loud, the people even louder. I try to move through them respectfully, but in the end, I resort to pushing and shoving.
“Is it always like this?” I yell over my shoulder to Bates, but Bates’s attention isn’t on me. It’s on a redheaded woman who looks like a real-life version of Jessica Rabbit, heading his way.
I’m pretty secure in myself. What I lack in height, I make up for in attitude. I might have a small frame but I have curves in all the right places. This woman, however, makes me feel like a child playing dress-up.
I stop when Bates does and wait for an introduction. I don’t get one, naturally. The redhead doesn’t give me a second glance before she wraps her arms around Bates and plants a kiss on his jaw.
With his hands full, he can’t push her off, but it doesn’t stop me. If these guys want me to be their old lady, well, that’s what they’ll get. I reach up and grab her pretty hair and pull back, hard, making her topple over on her exceedingly high heels.
“No,” I tell her with my finger in her face like I’m speaking to a naughty child.
She opens her mouth, but I shush her.
“The adults are talking. Now,