“Yeah?” she asks with a tone of annoyance.
“You wear glasses?” Domino asks as Kooper just continues to stare.
Her glare is hard, and I throw mine out there, too, to back her up. If they laugh at her, so help me God, I’ll goReal Housewives of New York Cityon their asses. “No, I wear stilettos on my head. What the fuck does it look like I’m wearing?”
“Yeah, but… well, I’ve never seen you with them,” he stammers, and I see the glare intensify on her face.
“You laugh and I’ll bust youandyour bike up,” she huffs before turning around and crossing her arms.
“I wasn’t going to laugh. Girl just fucking made all my naughty schoolteacher fantasies come to life.” A loud smack has us looking back to see Domino holding his face as he’s bent over. He yells at Kooper, who’s already walking away, “Not that I was going to do anything about it, man. Jesus Christ.”
“What do you think that was about?”
She shrugs. “Koop’s in charge of most of my security duty. Probably thought Domino was making a play on the president’s daughter. It’s a big no-no. Think they’ve even got it written in the club’s charter of something.”
“Yeah, right.”
She rolls her eyes. “Dad’s strict about that sort of thing.”
Before I can dive into that laced answer, two girls come up to the table. They say nothing as they stand there looking at me and Ruby. A once-over has me thinking they’re more than just club vamps, but when they still say nothing after ten seconds of awkwardness, I get antsy.
“Can we help you?” And no, I’m not being nice. From the flinch I get from one girl, it’s clear in my tone that I’m not offering shit to them.
“Down, girl,” Ruby says as she nods to the pair and then to the table. “They’re with me.”
The one with the strawberry blonde hair takes the empty seat easily. The other one, the one who flinched when I spoke, has hair past her ass and just hovers next to the seat that I still have my feet on. I raise my eyebrow. She says nothing, but I give her props—she looks me in the eye and waits.
I pull my feet off the chair, but I keep looking at her as she tilts the seat to clear it of debris before sitting on it.
“You ever been to Brooklyn?” I ask.
“Huh?” she asks before looking at Ruby for guidance.
To Ruby’s credit, she shrugs. “I don’t know what she’s going on about, but she has a thing about Brooklyn differing from the rest of New York, so go easy on the Yank jabs. Especially you, Abs.” She looks at the strawberry blonde, who lets out a small giggle but stops when I roll my head in her direction. “Natalie, Abigail, this is Milly, aka Brooklyn obsessed.”
“Not obsessed. I just know how to read a fucking map. And if you’ve visited New York, or anyplace on the East Coast,you would understand that there’s a difference in shit, and it’s about showing respect for the place when you acknowledge the location you were raised in. But I guess in old Hicktown, USA, that really isn’t a thing.”
Instead of feeling offended, the group of women around me smiles, Ruby even laughs outright. Knew I liked her. And I guess the other two aren’t so bad. They seem young like me, and I’m not seeing rings.
“Girlfriends?” I ask Ruby.
She shakes her head. “Nah, unclaimed. Just here for me. Nat is my roommate and got roped into coming out to lunch with me and Dad for our weekly meetup. We usually head back up to college after lunch, but Abs said she was here, so we thought we’d stop in. Abigail has been a friend of the club for years. Her brother was in, but he passed away a while back when he got pulled back to active duty in Iraq.”
“I’d like to think I’m my own person now and not just my brother’s little sister.” Abigail rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms. There’s no anger in her voice, just annoyance.
Ruby shrugs. “We all want something. Doesn’t always happen the way we want. Why are you here, anyway? Clubhouse is far from your new job at the vet clinic.”
“Wendi had a meeting with Casper about getting a dog. She asked me to tag along, as we’ll be hitting the supply store after, and she wants me on hand to help.”
“Casper wants a dog?” Ruby asks with more shock than I think a person should about a dog, but what the hell do I know?
“Yeah, but for the club. Or that’s what he says.”
Ruby snorts. “Yeah, sure. And the rumor that he has a hard-on for that vet boss of yours has nothing to do with it. Casper caring about anything but himself, even an animal, is a joke. Guy kills things for a living. He doesn’t keep them alive and well.” She sees my expression, which probably reads“What the fuck?”With a shake of her head, she explains, “He was a sniper before he joined the Hounds. He’s also the club’s enforcer now, so his skills are probably still sharp, if you get my meaning.”
I tilt my head and add in a single-shoulder raise. I’m sure it looks more like a nervous tic or the start of a seizure. “Where I’m from, we call them a strongman. But don’t let Danny’s size fool you. He got his reputation not to fuck with him by the age of eleven when he took out two rivals from another district who were trying to rob a candy story on our block. He fucked them up good, and Mom was so damn proud, she had a damn party. Claimed him as Vinny’s strongman before Vinny even knew he was going to take over as capo of Brooklyn.”
I’m greeted by quiet, all three girls looking at me with wide eyes. It’s the roommate on my left who breaks the silence.
