King(15)

“Are you threatening me?” His eyes narrowed on her.

Evie sighed. “I’m only going to tell you once; don’t ever grab me again like you did just now. No one touches me without permission, and you sure as fuck don’t have it.”

“You’re the one who attempted to slap me for insulting you.”

“I didn’t try to slap you for insulting me. I tried to slap you for insulting Beth and Lily. They’re your daughter and cousin. You should have enough respect for them not to ask stupid questions like you just did. They are both in committed relationships, and they are completely faithful to each other. I, on the other hand, can fuck anyone I want.”

“Is that an invitation?”

“Are you that lame? No, it wasn’t an invitation; I would never fuck a man like you.” Evie made no effort to hide her disgust.

“I would never fuck you, either. I could catch something.” His contempt drilled a hole through her heart.

Evie jumped out of the way just in time to dodge the fist Lucky aimed at King. King staggered back, but before he was able to catch his balance, Lucky was on him, trying to pound him into the ground. King swung back, managing to knock Lucky off; however, Lucky managed to hit him in the chest where his gunshot wound was located. King lay back on the ground with Lucky hitting him even harder.

Evie tried to pull Lucky off but couldn’t budge him. A pair of hands moved her out of the way before reaching down to pull Lucky off King. When Lucky would have attacked Henry, Evie grabbed him around the waist, holding on tight.

“Stop it, Lucky,” she called out.

He stopped trying to get loose, staring at King with deadly eyes as King was helped to his feet. Blood was showing through the material of his shirt. Evie started to reach out to check him when he fell back to the ground.

“King!”

Lily ran to her father with Shade on her heels, glancing up quickly at Lucky and Evie with accusing eyes.

Evie looked King over carefully and realized they had played right into King’s hand. They had been had by a card shark.





Chapter 7




“How is he?” Evie asked as Beth and Lily came into the clubhouse. She had parked her ass on one of the barstools in the clubroom and was nursing a glass of whiskey while she waited for them to come back.

“Better. A stitch broke loose, but it looked worse than it was.” Neither Beth nor Lily looked at her accusingly any longer, yet the tense silence between them was telling.

Evie picked up her glass and took a drink. “Do you want to know what happened?”

“Beth and I talked about it on the way home,” Lily said. “We want to apologize for King’s behavior. I wasn’t aware he was being rude to you, or I would never have gone to his house for dinner.”

Evie set her glass down on the counter. “He told you what he said to me?”

“No, he refused to talk about it. I told him if he continued to be rude to my friends, I would no longer see him.”

“So, how did you know what he said to me?”

“I didn’t. I saw you both arguing when I came out of the church store, and I could tell from your face it was something bad when Pastor Dean—I mean, Lucky—jumped him. After Beth said he looked worse than he was, it didn’t take much to figure out he’s trying to place a wedge between me and The Last Riders.”

Evie had to give Lily props; she had figured out King’s game. It was only when Evie had seen King’s eyes flicker in Lily’s direction that she had figured it out.

“Anyways, Shade and I leave Monday for Alaska and King will go back to Queen City, so everything will go back to normal then,” Lily said optimistically while ignoring both Evie and Beth’s dubious looks.

Evie downed the rest of her drink after the two women went to bed. She then poured herself another, planning on getting shit-faced and fucked. Since she would be going back with Penni on Monday, also, she would be doing without until she came back.

Evie stared around the clubhouse room, seeing Train and Cash playing cards. Lucky had already gone upstairs with Bliss to work off his aggression. Rider was sitting on the couch with Stori who had Nickel on the other side. Several other brothers were lounging around the two sofas at the end of the room.

Evie finished her drink, standing up languidly.

“Who won?”

“I did,” Cash said, showing his cards.

“Feel like playing again?”

“Yes. So, what are we playing for? “

Evie watched as he shuffled the cards.

“The winner gets to be on top.”

* * *

King stood at his window smoking his cigar. He had fucked up. He had made his move too soon, underestimating Lily seeing through him. He should have known he couldn’t fake being hurt. Hell, he could have taken a worse beating than that with three gunshot wounds.