“She isn’t used to being talked to like that. You might want to tone it down a little.”
He smiled, looked back to his Gen. “She’s a strong one. She’ll get used to it. She’ll get used to me.”
At this, Samantha Levi stood and said, “I don’t want to know what happened to the gentleman you walked out, but I will thank you for not doing it in front of her. However, she doesn’t want to be here right now and if you keep insisting she stay, you aren’t much better than him.”
Different worlds. Duke had known they’d come from different worlds, but hadn’t understood exactly what it would mean. Gen’s face was still buried in her hands — what he’d thought was kid gloves was still too much for his little innocent, apparently. He squatted in front of her and said, “Beautiful, can you look at me a second, please?”
She dropped her hands and looked at him, and he said, “Thank you. Let’s go over a few definitions, okay?” She nodded and he said, “Okay, in biker world, saying you’re mine can mean a lot of things. Mostly, it means if anyone hurts you, I hurt them. If anyone touches you in a way you or I don’t want them to, I hurt them. Every man in Rolling Thunder is mine. Their wives, most of their girlfriends, all of their kids, most of their girlfriends’ kids. We employ a few people not in the club, and they are mine. I’ve claimed you publicly. Six months ago it may have made you a target. Today? It keeps you safe.”
Gen took a few minutes to digest his words and said, “I don’t like the ‘C’ word. It’s worse than… it’s worse than the rest. All of them. Even GD, which I thought was the worst until I heard you—”
“Okay, Beautiful. I’m sorry. We’re going to have to find a common vocabulary. You’re smart, I’m smart. We can do this.”
Some movement caught his eye and he looked up to see another female glaring at him, the redhead Gen had been dancing with. When their eyes met, she took the opportunity to point her finger and say, “Her last three boyfriends jacked her over. She has maybe, maybe, one time left to give someone her heart before she locks herself away for good. She hasn’t been out on the first damned date since the last asshole, and if you give her all this talk about her being yours and then you let her walk in on you doing someone doggie style up the ass? I’ll hurt you.”
She paused for a few seconds, dropped her hand and said, “But you know what? You aren’t like anyone else she’s ever dated, so maybe you won’t turn out to be just another fucking asshole. Same goes, though. You hurt her and I hurt you.”
Gen’s face was back in her hands, so he stood, pulled her up to him, wrapped his arms around her, and cradled her face to his chest.
“Let me guess,” he said to the woman who’d just let him have it. “Her best bud?”
She nodded but didn’t smile. “Bethany.”
He let go of Gen with one hand and offered it to Bethany. “I’m Duke. Nice to meet you.”
She shook his hand and asked, “Are all of us invited to this party, or just my girl?”
Again, not what he’d intended, but he ordered, “Everyone coming to the party, get out your phone and put my number in.”
He gave them his number and then looked to Tyler Hastings back in the corner. “Hastings, heard a lot about you, nice to finally meet you. You and your wife Viv are welcome.” He made his way around the room, addressed Cam and Cassie together, then Sam, Bethany, and the rest of the girls. When he didn’t know a name, he asked, and questioned how they were connected to Gen. He needed to make sure he knew everyone’s name before he carried them across the street.
“Okay, for those of you who’re single, most of my men will fuck anything that moves, and ya’ll are all gonna get their attention. You’re interested? Have fun but don’t expect romance or dates afterward. Not interested? Tell them you walked in with me and you aren’t interested. They all have manners and none will push. Much.”
When he was through, he bent his head to his lovely Gen. “Ready, Beautiful?”
* * * *
Duke introduced them to a small handful of people and then set Gen and her friends up at a concrete picnic table. He asked one of the guys to get them set up with rum and Coke, and within a few minutes they had an expensive bottle of rum, lots of cans of cold Coke, and a stack of clear plastic glasses the perfect size for mixed drinks. He poured her a drink and looked to her friends. “I can have someone keep the table stocked with pitchers of margaritas, there’s beer on tap at the bar, or if you want something else. Let me know. If we don’t have it here we can get it from across the street.”