Stone (Knights Corruption MC Series Book 2) (14 page)

No more words were exchanged before she quickly walked away. And there I was, left to sit and wonder if she was ever gonna come back around.

Deciding I was tired of having my emotions jerked all over the damn place, I grabbed Hawke and Ryder, heading out to find the distraction I so desperately needed.

Stone

A heavy haze of smoke blinded me as soon as I walked into Flings, the dim lighting making it nearly impossible to see the bar that ran the length of the wall to the left. Numerous tables and a few couches were scattered throughout, and circling the large stage in the middle of the room were single plush chairs where the men could sit up close and personal. Two smaller stages were placed to the left and right of the main one, and five private rooms existed toward the back for when the men wanted a little more privacy with one of the dancers.

We didn’t put much thought into the décor of the place because . . . what the hell for? Men came to watch women take their clothes off. Plain and simple. They didn’t care what color the walls were or about the texture of the couches and chairs. So, we threw up some red paint and the seating was entirely leather.

Simple and easy.

Just how the men liked their women.

I was a red-blooded male, through and through, someone who loved tits and ass as much as the next guy. But sitting through countless auditions of women stripping for a spot at the new club just didn’t interest me. I couldn’t be bothered. It was why I brought along two of my brothers. They’d be making the final decisions simply because my head wasn’t in it.

The only naked woman I wanted to see right then was Addy, but that wasn’t gonna be happening anytime soon.

Scantily clad females milled all throughout the wide-open space, waiting for their turn to bare everything for the three of us. In any other circumstance, I would have appreciated the variety of women who had come out today. There were blondes, brunettes and redheads. There was even one who’d dyed her hair pink. Some of them were shorter than others, but the one thing most of them had in common was that they were blessed with big tits. It didn’t take a genius to see that the majority of the potential talent had been to see a doctor to enhance themselves, but that didn’t make a difference to me. Tits equaled money.

The only rules we had were no hard drugs. Other than that, anything went, from lap dances to whatever else transpired between consenting adults. Everyone who walked through those doors knew not to step out of line, one wrong move by the customer and there would be some serious repercussions. While we didn’t have a bouncer in the back rooms with the dancers and their clients, we had surveillance, and someone manning the booth at all times, in case someone got out of hand. Which rarely happened, because most people around here knew we owned the club and knew acting out of turn wouldn’t be tolerated.

“Fuck!” Hawke shouted, coming up behind me. “I can’t wait to see me some naked bitches bouncin’ up and down on that pole.” A wide grin lit up his face.

“You act like you ain’t never seen a stripper before, man,” Ryder grumbled, smacking him in the back of his still-bald head. “You better calm down before Edana gets all over your ass.”

“How’s she gonna know?” Hawke smiled at a few of the women standing around, waiting to be called up to the stage for their audition.

“Most likely by all the glitter you’re gonna be wearin’,” I said, shaking my head at the poor bastard. Sometimes he was so dense it was almost comical. He looked confused until I added, “Don’t tell me you ain’t gonna let some of them give you a private show.”

He said nothing in response, only smiled and wiggled his eyebrows.

One after another, the women strutted across the stage, tearing off their clothes to the song of their choice. I tried to get into it and appreciate the moment for what it was, but Addy kept popping up in my head, those sad blue eyes of hers gutting me when she heard I was coming here. I berated myself for continuing to let her affect me the way she did, but I simply couldn’t help it. Deep down, I knew she was gonna be mine again; it was just a matter of persuasion and time.

After the auditions were finally over, I leaned against the edge of the bar and allowed Ryder and Hawke to make their picks, giving the women the details on when and where to report. Tipping my head back and swallowing a shot of whiskey, the burn the perfect calm to my busy brain, I heard someone talking near me. It took me a second to realize the woman standing to my right was indeed trying to engage me in conversation.

Before Addy, I would have been all over her, taking her into one of the back rooms and giving her the ride of her life. But now . . . nothing. While she was attractive in the fake-tits, bleached-blonde hair, heavy-makeup kind of way, she didn’t hold a candle to the woman who held my heart—and my nuts—in a vice. I felt like a pussy over the way I pined after Addy, an emotion which only served to piss me off the further I indulged it.

Once my eyes landed on the stranger, she took it as some sort of invitation, I guessed. “Hey, handsome,” she enticed, pressing her implanted double Ds against my side. “In the mood for a lap dance? Maybe a little more?”

“No, thanks,” I declined, briskly walking around her and toward Ryder who was sitting on one of the couches, sandwiched between two topless brunettes.

Once I stood two feet from him, I announced I was taking off. “I’m out. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Where you headin’ to?” Hawke yelled, striding across the room, zipping up his pants with a mischievous look on his smug face.

“I got things to do.”

“Like what?” Ryder pressed, his brows raised while waiting for me to respond to his nosy question.

His hand disappeared down the front of one of the brunette’s thongs. Funny thing was, while he began to stroke her, he kept his attention on me, as if he wasn’t doing anything at all. That’s how used to this type of thing my brothers were, like it was second nature to finger-fuck some chick out in the open. Normally, I found it rather amusing, but my nerves were frayed and all I wanted to do was be alone until I could find Addy. Praying she would at least find it in her heart to talk to me, and maybe allow me the chance to explain myself one more time.

“Like none of your fuckin’ business,” I snapped. “How ‘bout that?”

“Fuck you, Stone,” Ryder bit back. “Your miserable ass needs to get laid.” Shrugging, he continued on his little tirade. “Beats me why you won’t take one of these broads in the back and let ‘em suck your dick.”

Before I could even respond, Hawke’s loud mouth piped into the conversation. “Because the only chick’s lips he wants wrapped around his cock are probably Addy’s.” He laughed. The bastard had the audacity to slap my back when he said it, too. An action which pushed me to see red. No one was allowed to talk about my woman like that, even if what he said was the absolute truth.

Snatching him up by his throat, I slammed him against the nearest wall, baring my teeth as if I was gonna rip his goddamn throat out. “If you ever talk about her like that again, I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”

Hawke’s shocked eyes were as wide as could be, until they weren’t. “I knew it,” he garbled. “You fuckin’ love her, man.” He tried to laugh, but there was only so much air I was allowing him, so his words came out more like a harsh whisper. Shocked by what I heard, I released him, backing up a step and preparing myself for whatever else he chose to point out.

Pointing toward Ryder, who was still seated on the couch, Hawke yelled, “I told you there was something goin’ on between the two of them.”

The stupid shit wasn’t even fazed that I could crush him right then, too wrapped up in the fact he’d discovered some golden truth.

“You better shut the fuck up, Hawke, or I’ll do it for you.” My tone left no room for misunderstanding.

Throwing up his hands in a sign of surrender, he smirked and shook his head.

“All right, all right. Fine.” Walking away, he mumbled, “I knew it. Ya’ll don’t think I pay attention, but I do.”

“Hawke . . .” I warned, my temper on full blast at that point. While I was hot under the collar, I also started to wonder who else picked up on this thing between me and Addy. Trigger? Surely, he would have tried to shoot me by now if he seriously thought I was shaggin’ his niece.

Needing to clear my head a bit, I decided to take the long way to Addy’s apartment. The rumble of the bike between my legs caressed me into numbness. To a certain degree. So much stuff rattled around inside my head it distracted me from my main objective.

To get Addy back.

But then what?

Would she finally accept what we had and announce it to the world?

Would I be able to finally claim her for good?

Would she, in turn, claim me?

Fuck Trigger. Fuck anyone who objected. Fuck the nonsense spouting from Addy’s beautiful mouth. And fuck my temper—which, by the way, was fully on its way to erupting the longer I even thought about all this.

The sun slowly dipped behind the horizon, colors of red, orange, and purple silhouetting the sky like some kind of artsy painting. Without sounding like a pansy, I could admit it was rather beautiful. And guess who I wanted to share that sentiment with?

Yup. Addy.

But she was freezin’ me out. Punishing me for something I basically had no control over. She thought it was as easy as counting to ten and calming down. It was so much more than that, though.

What she didn’t realize was, when I saw men looking at her the wrong way, touching her or making comments about her, I saw red. No matter how innocent any of it seemed to her, it meant war to me.

Addy didn’t know what went on inside a man’s head when he looked at her. He may be all nicey-nice up front, but all he’d be thinking about was fucking her, any and every which way he could. Some of it was as upfront as that; other times, sick fetishes fueled the imagination.

I’d met some pretty unsavory people in my life, bastards I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, and that was sayin’ a lot.

Well . . . never mind. I’d be okay with unleashing those sick degenerates on the Reapers.

I digressed.

Addy’s innocence only saw one side, but I saw all the others. Not so much with my brothers because I knew them to be good men at heart. Even Tripp, although I wanted to punch him most times for the way he fawned all over my woman.

Anyone outside our circle, however, was a threat, and I would forever treat them as such. I just had to make Addy understand. Have her see it from my perspective, agree, and stop the bullshit about telling me she didn’t want to see me anymore.

So lost in the goings-on of what was happening, and what was going to be, I didn’t see it until it was too late. It would be easy to blame Addy for infiltrating my thoughts for the reason why I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings, but the truth was, the guy came out of nowhere.

Barreling out from a side road, an older-model truck headed straight for me, the front left bumper crashing into the back right side of my bike, spinning me out of control. Screeching tires from the vehicle sounded as I was tossed through the air, the wind cutting my skin before the road rose up to meet me, asphalt kissing my body in the blink of an eye.