Chapter 17

17

GENESIS

I take Amity downstairs and lead her over to one of the empty tables near the bar.

"Drink?"

"Just water for me."

I head over to the bar and signal to Dice. "Grab me a bottle of water and a Coke."

"You got it. I'll bring it over."

"Thanks, man," I say, turning and walking back over to Amity. I take a seat next to her and lean in close. "I'm sorry."

"What do you have to be sorry for?"

I groan. "I hoped to give you a drama-free experience here this time."

"I mean, are MCs ever drama-free?"

I chuckle. "Good point."

"I feel bad for Legs," she says with a sigh. "And to be honest, I'd like to punch Midas in the face a few times."

I reach into my back pocket, pull out my brass knuckles, and hand them to her. "Might as well make it count. Someone needs to knock some sense into the fucker."

She takes them from me and slips them on. I don't know what the fuck it says about me, but seeing her wear them makes my dick hard.

"Don't look at me like that," she whispers.

"Like what?" I swallow, my eyes still on her now-closed fist.

"Like you're picturing me stroking your cock while wearing these. And like you want to see them dripping with your cum."

"Jesus, woman, are you trying to kill me?"

She grins, her hand slipping under the table and gliding up my thigh to my hard cock. She trails her fingers over it just as Dice sets our drinks down on the table. She pulls her hand away, and I picture all the ways I could kill the prospect and get rid of his body, the cock-blocking motherfucker.

"Thanks." Amity beams at him with a big smile. That wench, she knows exactly what she's doing to me.

When Dice heads back to the bar, she turns back to me, placing her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm. "So what's the deal with Legs and Midas? He didn't seem like a dick last night, so now I'm wondering if I misjudged him."

Is she serious right now? She looks at me with big, innocent eyes, but I'm not buying it for a damn second.

That's fine. I can wait.

I shrug. "If you would've asked me a week ago, I would've said, ‘nothing.'" I pick up my Coke and take a drink. "They do spend a lot of time together, but a lot of brothers have girls they prefer. It cuts down on jealousy and bullshit. I didn't think it was anything more than that, but then I saw them arguing the other night. And with what just happened…" I shake my head. "There's definitely more to it."

"There does seem to be an awful lot of tension between them."

"You got that right. I just don't want Legs getting hurt."

She narrows her eyes at me, and I rush to explain.

"I don't mean physically. Midas would cut off his own arm before he ever laid a hand on a woman in anger. But—" I hesitate, not wanting to make my brother look bad. I might want to kill him right now, but he's still my brother.

"He might tell her what she wants to hear to get her to stay," she guesses.

"Yeah. He doesn't want the same things Legs does. He mentioned that he told you he can't have kids."

"And Legs wants to be a mom." She sighs softly.

"Even if you forget about the kid thing, Midas has this idea of the perfect woman, and let's just say Legs doesn't fit the bill."

"Because she's a club girl. Yeah, she told me that upstairs. That just makes him a dumbass." She huffs, twisting the cap off her water and taking a sip.

"If he can't live with who she is now, then he'll miss out on who she's going to be. And I think she's gonna have an amazing life, even if that means walking away from everything she knows." She takes another sip of her water.

"Yeah, I get it. I hate that she has to leave to find happiness, but I'd rather she go and be happy than stay and end up miserable."

"You know, for a biker, you're pretty damn sweet."

I lean over, my lips hovering over hers.

"I have a reputation to protect, woman. You can't say shit like that."

She grins, her hand reaching up to stroke my cheek, the cold metal of the brass knuckles sliding over my skin.

"This looks cozy." Blade's voice cuts through the moment, and I sigh. The man's a goddamn ghost, appearing out of nowhere.

Amity pulls away and looks up at Blade, who's got Hannibal with him. They both take a seat, and I scowl.

"So you came back," Blade says.

"G can be very persuasive," she replies, taking a drink of her water.

Blade's eyes drop to my brass knuckles on her fingers. "That he can," he says quietly, his eyes moving from Amity to me with a look I can't quite read. We might've been friends for a long time, but the man's a vault when he wants to be.

"You meet Hannibal yet, Amity?"

"I don't think so. Hi." She offers him a grin. If she's at all nervous, she doesn't show it.

This club's got its share of interesting characters, and although we're not exactly saints, none of us are bad either—except Hannibal. He's a different story. He hides his crazy well, always playing the charmer and the joker. But once you get to know him, it's all an act. The only time you see the real him is when he's torturing someone. That's when his true self comes out.

For most of us, torture is part of the job. For Hannibal, it's a hobby. He loves taking people apart just to see what they look like on the inside. Honestly, if he didn't have the club to keep him in check, I'm sure he'd be a serial killer. His name fits him perfectly, especially if the rumors are true.

I shake my head, not wanting to think about Hannibal's tendencies right now.

I drape my arm over Amity's shoulders, sending a clear message to Blade. She's mine. Hannibal smiles at Amity, but it's just a bit too creepy. He's usually a much better actor. Maybe this is a test to see how easily she gets spooked.

I keep my eye on him, but he ignores me.

"So, you're a stuntwoman?"

"I am," she replies, her voice polite while he studies her like a bug.

"Do you get hurt much?"

"Now and then. Nothing I can't handle, though."

"Seems like a strange job for a woman. Not sure many men around here would like the idea of their woman putting herself in danger like that."

I tense, glaring at him, and feel Amity slide her hand over my thigh.

"I'd tell you why it's the perfect job for me, but trying to explain to a member of a club built on male privilege would be pointless."

Hannibal grins widely, like the Big Bad Wolf sizing up Little Red Riding Hood. Amity doesn't flinch, but she's on high alert. She's smart to be wary, but I'll step in before I let anything happen to her.

"Male privilege? That's a good one."

"How long until the movie wraps?" Blade interrupts.

Amity looks at him and shakes her head. "I'm not sure. I won't be there for the whole shoot. Most of the scenes they need me for are shot first. No point in paying someone for two months of work if they can finish in six weeks."

He nods at that and signals Dice. "Bring me and Hannibal a coffee."

I assume Dice does what he's told, but I watch Blade, not taking my eyes off him.

"So, you'll be leaving once you're done?"

Amity leans back in her chair, looking bored. "I go where the work is."

"Well, I doubt there'll be any more movies filmed here, so…" His voice trails off.

"Blade," I snap. President or not, he's really pissing me off.

"What? I'm just saying. I get that you want to fuck her, but don't get to hung up on each other when she's just passing through. I need you on the fucking ball. We've got a lot going on around here right now."

I clench my jaw, unable to believe the audacity of this man. I stand up and offer my hand to Amity. She takes it without hesitation.

"I've never given anything less than my all to this club. I'm VP now, just like you wanted, and I take that seriously. But my personal life has fuck-all to do with you. And did you forget that all this change in the club is because of your personal life?"

Blade jumps to his feet. Hannibal leans back in his chair with a smile, crossing his arms over his chest as he watches everything unfold.

"Come on, G. Let's just go," Amity says softly, trying to pull me out before things escalate. But Blade's not done, and he isn't used to people getting in his way.

Blade glares at her. "No offense, but this is club business. I know you're not out to try and hurt the club because G did a deep dive into you. But you're pulling his focus away from the club when it needs him right now, and that makes you a problem."

"I love how when someone starts a sentence with ‘no offense,' you know they're definitely going to say something offensive."

"I don't have time to worry about your hurt feelings, sweetheart," he says.

I'm two seconds away from lunging across the table at him. I can't believe he threw me under the bus like that. I wanted to be the one to tell Amity I did a background check on her and explain why, not have it thrown in her face like a weapon.

Feeling how tense I am, Amity leans into me and wraps her arm around my waist.

"Oh, you didn't offend me. Trust me, I've dealt with bigger assholes than you and walked away just fine. It's too bad G can't say the same. It seems to me like you don't have much faith in him if you think he'd ever let a woman pull him away from the club. But let me tell you a little secret: it's saying shit like that that'll be what actually makes him want to leave."

"Let's head out," I tell her before Blade loses his shit.

I start to pull her away, but Blade's voice stops me.

"Not a distraction, huh? Yet you're walking away from your president in the middle of a fucking conversation."

"I'm not walking away from my president. I'm leaving before my friend says something he'll regret."

I walk out, keeping a firm hold on Amity's hand, neither of us saying anything until we reach my bike.

"I'm sorry. I wanted to prove to you that we're not all assholes, but apparently, I was wrong. We are," I snap.

She reaches up and cups my face, tilting my head down so she can look into my eyes. "You investigated me?"

I close my eyes, fighting the urge to go back and knock Blade the fuck out for spilling that shit the way he did.

"I did. We check everyone who might come to the clubhouse. And after what happened when you were here last time, I was told to dig into you. I didn't like it, but it's part of my job."

"I get it. You have to protect the club. Am I happy you dug into my life and didn't tell me? No. But I understand you did it to keep people safe, not just because you're a nosy fucker. That being said, don't hide things from me. I feel stupid now, knowing you already knew everything about my accident while I was telling you about it. You could've saved me the whole spilling my guts thing."

"I didn't know all the details. I refused to look. I knew you were hurt and lost your mom, but I didn't read anything else. I wanted to hear it from you," I admit.

She sighs. "It's not a dealbreaker, but from now on, just ask me, okay?"

I wrap my arms around her and kiss her hard. I was so damn sure she'd lose her fucking mind when she found out.

"All that said…" she says when I pull back. She slides my brass knuckles from her fingers and slips them into my back pocket.

"Blade's a dick. I know he's your president, but all that crap he spewed was bullshit. I've only just met you, and even I know you'd never let your club down for me or anyone else. So for him to suggest otherwise just pisses me off."

"You and me both."

"Come on. Let's head back to the RV. You can fill me in on the rest, or we can just hang out. Nevaeh's probably up by now and could likely use some company."

I look out the warehouse door and up toward the clubhouse and nod. For the first time since shit went down with Bear, I really don't want to be here.