Tinder rapped the driveshaft against the table with enough force to make everything on top rattle and shake.The laughter slowed, quieting.
“Riley, what do you know of our takeover of HHMC?”That was Tinder again.
“Nothing.Well, not nothing now, obviously.I’m a member at the yoga studio, and I’ve known Ella for a while.Her trouble wasn’t something she could hide from everyone.I’ve had some exposure to clubs in my past.Not here, but out west.After what they did to her, I would have brought beer and popcorn if you were to burn them to the ground.”Riley’s fingers were still under Dan’s grip.
He couldn’t bear the distance between them suddenly, and he shoved his chair away from the table, pulling Riley into his lap.She settled her back against his chest, facing out, head angled to keep Tinder in view.
“Tell us of that ‘exposure’ you’ve had.”
“Not a lot.I had a man who was part of a boost crew in Cali.He cost me a five-year bid when he dumped me with the car.I got out and started looking for him and found he’d joined a club while I’d been inside.Only he’d never told them how he failed his first loyalty test.That got him booted back to basic rank and earned me a train I’d never asked for.”
She had started trembling, and he wrapped his arms around her, propping his chin on her shoulder.“You don’t have to do another thing, Ri.We’re good.”He turned her in his lap, letting her bury her face in his neck.“I’ve got you, Ri.”He whispered against her hair, “I’ve got you.”
“Brother,” he heard and looked at Tinder.“I never meant for her to relive something like that.I wouldn’t do that.”
“I know.I’ll overlook it this time.”
Tinder dipped his chin, then raised his eyes to gaze around the table.“Anyone else has questions for our official tattoo artist, you give them to our man Raggedy Dan, and if he thinks your question is worthy, he can pass it on to Riley.”He thumped the makeshift gavel against the table.“Fuckin’ adjourned.Fucking goddamned world.”
Dan stood with Riley in his arms and was relieved when someone opened the door before he got there, because the rage simmering in his blood would have led him to kick it down if not.
“Almost back to our room, Ri.Almost.”
He carried her across the main room, shielding her from the inquisitive gaze of the couple of old ladies stocking the bar.
“Almost.”
At the entrance to their room, he let her legs drop, then threw the door open and hustled her across the space and onto the bed, letting the door swing shut behind them.
***
Riley
She kept her eyes closed, letting Dan arrange her limbs on the bed as he wished.She trusted him with her life, and a little weep-fest wasn’t going to change anything between them.Riley pulled in a harsh breath, the sound broken to her own ears, and muttered, “Fuck, man.”
“Oh, baby.”Dan lay down next to her and cradled her face against his neck.“We’re behind closed doors now.Nobody to judge however we want to act after that session of church.I didn’t have any idea, Ri.I would have waved them off otherwise.”
She rocked her head back and forth.“No, it’s nothing to apologize for.”Her shoulders hitched a couple of times.“It’s just because of those damned HHMC assholes, their unwelcome hands on my skin gave me a flashback, I guess.It’s been years since Cali.”
“No surprise nearly getting raped in your own goddamned business would bring up something shit like that.Doesn’t matter how long ago the bad thing happened.It can seem like yesterday if the wrong trigger happens at the wrong time.Or hell, not like there’s a good time for a shitty trigger.”He took a deep breath.“I get tied up in myself all the time, Ri.Wrong phrase, or wrong touch, and I’m back overseas, ankle-deep in sand.Doesn’t matter how long ago it was.”
***
Dan
When he felt Riley relax into the loose-limbed deep sleep she needed for healing, Dan eased off the bed next to her and stood watching for a moment, making sure she didn’t wake.After slipping out the door, he made his way to the main room of the clubhouse, unsurprised to find the close cadre of friends still waiting for him.
Mad Dawg was the first to see him and raised a hand, calling over his shoulder to the prospect manning the bar, “Get our brother a beer, pross.”
“I wouldn’t turn it down,” Dan said, hooking the toe of his boot around the leg of a chair and hauling it out from under the table where Dawg, Tinder, Denver, and Rocker were seated.“Fucking long day.”
Dawg huffed out a breath.“How’s your Riley doing?”
“About as shitty as you might expect.I don’t know what tomorrow’s going to look like for her.Tinder—” he turned to their president “—I might need to move her out for her sake.”
“Understood.She might be more comfortable in her own place too.”
“Or mine.I’ll check in with her tomorrow, see what we need to do.”