On a fucking bloodhound who liked to sniff people.
Reid
Parkingbeside the pink Jeep outside Hannigans’, I stored my helmet and twirled my keys around my finger, whistling to myself as I walked across the lot.Max shot me a side-eye as he kept pace with me.
“For someone who was bitching my ear off all day, you’re awfully happy all of a sudden.”
I kept whistling, not bothering to answer.I’d been pissed to have to spend my first day off going on an unexpected trip south.Max was Road Captain, and eventually, he’d move up to President, taking over for his dad.As the MC’s current Sergeant at Arms, I was expected to be VP one day.For now, though, Bash and Hawk left any business that required heavy lifting to the two of us.
With how much Angel’s Halo had expanded over the years, with so many members’ sons joining, we’d needed more Enforcers than just Spider to keep things running smoothly.Jack, Kingston, and Chance were good at their jobs, but Max and I had been the only ones free to go on this particularly dirty run.
After the clusterfuck in apartment eight the evening before, something that had taken until late to fix and clean up, I’d taken a shower and fallen face first into bed.Everly had been in my dreams all night, and I’d woken with the thought of taking her to breakfast.But before I could even roll out of bed, Max had called, effectively ruining all my plans for the tempting blonde in apartment four.
I’d made my displeasure known loud and often all damn day.Especially when we ended up having to get rid of multiple bodies on our own.I hated the smell of the chemicals we used for cleaning up, but melting bodies was easier than burying them.
After a quick stop at our places for showers and a change of clothes, I’d noticed only one of the pink Jeeps outside the apartments.Since the door was closed and, more importantly, locked.I’d already decided to head to Hannigans’ when Max called again, asking if I wanted to get a drink.Which only meant one thing.Delaney was out with the girls.There was no way my cousin and best friend would want to go out if his wife were home.
We were barely halfway across the parking lot when our phones started getting hit with incoming texts simultaneously.I pulled the device from my pocket without slowing my steps.My whistle cut off with a snort of laughter when I saw multiple people had sent me a video and pictures.
“Sammy tearing up the women’s bathroom again?”Max asked, flipping through the photos.
“Her tantrums get messy.Glad I don’t have to clean that shit up.Elias is supposed to be playing pool with Dad and Matt tonight, so I wouldn’t be surprised…” My voice trailed off as I clicked on the pictures.
Chance with wet hair, some liquid dripping down his face, his mouth slightly open in surprise, was what caught my attention first.But it was short-lived when my eyes flicked to the blonde standing in front of him, the obvious reason for my drenched cousin.
Everly.
She was wearing a dress that was the perfect blend of sweet and sexy.It molded to her curves and hit her mid-thigh.Her icy-blond hair was curled around her face and down her back, showing me how long it was for the first time.It had been in a knot on her head the day before, but I’d dreamed of wrapping those beautiful locks around my wrist all damn night.
It was the fire in her beautiful eyes that had me zooming in on the photo.The scrunch of her nose.The slight crinkle of her brows.No smile.Staring up at the man in front of her like he was the vilest thing she’d ever come across.
What the fuck had Chance done to piss her off?
Was that rage, disgust, or hurt on her face?
Didn’t matter.If he touched her, he was dead.
Max burst out laughing as he swiped from one picture to another.I had no idea what he was seeing, too consumed with rage—and jealousy—to care what was causing him to crack up.
Fingers contracting around the phone, I jogged to the bar’s front entrance.Throwing the door open, I expected to be hit with the normal sounds of the Friday night crowd.Loud laughter, a hundred people talking at once, pool balls slapping together.
All I was greeted with as I stomped into the building was some old rock song thumping through the stereo.No one was laughing.Or talking.I wasn’t even sure they were breathing.Not a single person looked at me as I weaved through the stunned patrons.All eyes were trained in the same direction.Not the Originals’ booth, but the tables that had been arranged so the group of women could sit together.
With Sammy sitting there, I wasn’t surprised that everyone was so quiet.Dressed in a red top, she could have raised the dead with how low-cut that damn thing was.But she wasn’t the reason every single person in the bar was looking at the table with gaped mouths.
It was Chance on his knees in front of the blonde sitting there.
On his fucking knees in front ofmywoman.His hands on her legs, his head tipped back, his eyes wild and oddly vulnerable, his face twisted in pain and desperation.
But it was how she looked back at him that tore at something inside me.The sweet way she bit her lip, the softness in those unusual eyes that had haunted my dreams, her fingers covering his scarred knuckles.
My heart stopped along with the rest of the fucking world.
No.
She was mine, damn it.Mine.
“Why do I feel like things are gonna turn bloody?”
