Duke(41)

Her eyes teared and she fought not to cry as kept her voice at barely a whisper and told him, “I gave you everything, Duke. I gave you me, when I didn’t even know I’d never given myself to anyone else, not like you made me give myself. And this is how you treat me? I gave you my word and you didn’t believe me. I may not have a lot of experience, but I know when someone’s treating me like shit, and I won’t stick around for them to do it twice.” She took a breath, and added, “We’re done, Keith.”

“Gen,” someone said from the side, and she looked to see Brain, his face a mix of compassion and sorrow. “Don’t be mad at him, we forced his hand. He told us you’d honor your word, but the club took a vote and said we needed to know for sure you weren’t carrying. If it helps, I voted with Duke, but the majority needed to know. We should’ve listened to him.”

Gen looked back to Duke and said, “No, you don’t get to hide behind them. You chose to check without talking to me. That’s on you. And you know what else? You promised me you’d have my back if I walked onto the compound unarmed, and now I find myself with my back to the wall being held here against my will, and no way to get away because I effing trusted you to have my back.”

Gen’s hand shot out and she throat punched him, and as he moved away she lifted her arm and sank her elbow into his ribs as she kicked the back of his knee. Dawg stepped in front of her to stop her, but Duke growled out, “No one lays a hand on her but me.”

Gen glared at Dawg and he stepped to the side and let her go.

She was almost to the door when Duke was in front of her, though, and she looked at him in shock, a little afraid that he could recover and get to her so fast.

“I fucked up. You’re right, I should’ve told you about the vote, given you the option of showing them you were unarmed, or my getting in the car with you and taking you out to eat. I’m sorry, Gen. I fucked up, and now I need to figure out what to do to make it up to you.”

“You can start by letting me walk out the door.”

“Don’t use this as an excuse to push me away, Gen.”

“Didn’t want an excuse to push you away. We’ve talked on the phone three times today, when I’ve never called anyone between appointments just so they could hear my voice. I was looking forward to seeing you tonight, though I wasn’t sure if anything could happen because—” Gen remembered their audience and didn’t tell him how sore she was. “I gave you every bit of trust I have in my soul, Duke, and you didn’t trust me to leave my gun in the car when I told you I would. I’m more sorry about this than you can possibly understand, but we’re done.”

She wasn’t emotional when she said it, but she meant every word.

“Call a vote.”

Gen wasn’t sure who said it, but Duke looked up and around, his eyes growing hard. “Don’t fuck with me, brother. I told you she’d leave it in the car if she said she would. You’re the one who pushed it.”

“Okay, so call a vote. Weapons privileges for your Duchess. Even now, as pissed off as she is, she isn’t emotional. She knows how she feels and she’s tellin’ you. She throat punched you, but knew how much force to put behind it to keep from killin’ you. She kicked the back of your knee, but didn’t do it with intent to maim but to slow you down. You’ve assured us she knows how to handle a weapon, and I have no reason not to believe you, so I’ll vote aye. Call a vote.”

Duke looked around and asked, “Duchess?”

“Yeah, it fits. She’s the Duchess to your Duke. Now call a damned vote.”

Duke looked back at Gen. “Do you understand what they’re saying?”

“It doesn’t matter, Duke. I trusted you not to hurt me, and not twenty-four hours later, you hurt me. I can’t do this.”

Duke sighed, but didn’t look away from her as he said, “Count it down. All in favor of letting Gen have permanent weapons privileges on RTMC property, including all areas of the compound, and of letting her have access to the back of the clubhouse without an escort, say aye. Start with Gonzo and work around the room.”

Gen heard Gonzo say “aye,” then heard someone else, and then someone else. She lost count of how many voted, but not a single one voted against.

She could see the emotion in Duke’s face as they all gave consent, but she stayed quiet. When no one said anything for several seconds she said, “Great. Wonderful. Now if you’ll let me go, I’d like to leave.”

Duke shook his head and Gen said, “Here’s a novel idea. Why don’t you trust me enough to walk away from you and decide on my own whether I might be able to give you another chance with my heart?”