“You will never fucking use me again.” She pointed to him.
“I—”
“No bullshit,” I called from the bar.
Jericho studied me.
“You wanted me to stay close to the club, with or without Dare. You planned for me to take over for MJ once you finish your coup.” She spoke in an even voice.
How the hell had she figured that out? I needed to remember she was scary smart.
Jericho glanced between us. “That’s true.”
“I can get behind that, but what you did after was one thousand kinds of wrong.”
Jericho opened his mouth.
“Fucking playing me against the bikers, against you and even Dare—pure poison.”
“No, I looked out—”
“For you.” She snarled and just stood there waiting for him to deny it. “A few simple words—Lila’s off-limits—no biker would’ve crossed you.”
This is what I refused to forgive. He’d chosen the path that hurt her most, controlled her most.
“But you played games that devastated my world. For what?” She threw her hands in the air, hurt so strong in those words.
I lost it, unable to hold back seeing her pain so open on her face. “Motherfucker,” I roared, smacking into Jericho, and we tumbled to the floor. I held onto Jericho’s T-shirt, punching him over and over.
“Stop it,” she yelled. “I can’t talk to the dead.”
I froze and winced, wondering if I’d gone too far, so I dropped Jericho with a thud.
“Son of a bitch,” Jericho mumbled.
I glanced down to see blood streaming from his nose.
“Go get him something to stop the blood,” she barked at me.
I moved down the hall, but stayed close enough to hear every word.
“You underestimated me and tortured me to advance your games. But I’m here to stay, and you will not do this to me again.” Her tone was vicious and harder than I’d ever heard her use.
“A good show.” Jericho sneered the words even as he wheezed from my blows. “You planning to take him away from me or have him kill me?”
“I’m not acting. I don’t do manipulation, but I’m beyond familiar with it.” She sighed, sounding like a frustrated schoolteacher. “We both love him, and I’d never want him to lose either of us.”
My God, had she just said that to Jericho? Bikers didn’t talk emotions, and it was all kinds of fucked up to hear her say it about me.
“Yeah, I’m out of line.” Jericho grunted. “I’m not used to people calling me on shit, only maneuvering against me.”
“Not my style, or Dare’s. I love him, so I’ll accept you. But don’t mistake it for trust or friendship. One day you’ll earn my friendship again, but now it’s beyond gone. We need to be clear.”
I couldn’t believe she went there because even for me that was a shit-ton too honest.
“What? Why tell me?”
“I don’t pretend. With me, people always know where they stand. Dare’s that way too. He doesn’t have to know more than you have my support and my forgiveness for whatever it’s worth.”
“But not your friendship.” Jericho’s words were stark.
She walked away from him, and I heard her coming in my direction. No reason to ruin her illusion that she’d protected me, so I backed up a bit and we met in the hall.
“I’ll be in our room.” She caressed my chin. “He might need a hospital.”
I shrugged. “I beat him, so I don’t fix him.”
Despite my words, I spent time stopping the flow of blood and making sure he’d live until Zero arrived.
“She’s damn tough, no one calls me out as the bastard I am.” Jericho coughed and spit up some blood.
“I do.” I helped Jericho to a chair. “You get why no one liked you messing with her.”
“Brother, totally understand. I deserve every one of these punches. I got caught up in my head games, and you were too fucked up to see it. A good reminder why you’re my conscience.”
“My fists do tend to give good advice.”
Jericho laughed and winced. “Motherfucker, you should go a little easier on me.”
Zero walked in and stared from me to Jericho. “Why do I miss all the fun? Come on, I’ll take your sorry ass to the ER.”
Jericho limped out the door without any help. A brother had his pride after all.
I opened the door to the room we always used. “Zero is on his way to take the stubborn ass to the doctor.”
Lying down next to her on top of the covers, I smiled. “This room holds great memories.”
“Most definitely. You made me scream here.”