Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Zoe

I take one last look in the mirror, adjusting the gold headpiece resting delicately on my long, ombre locks.

The metallic red and gold Wonder Woman bra top hugs my curves in all the right places, the lace-up front detail revealing a tantalizing glimpse of cleavage.

I tug on the matching blue high-cut bottoms, ensuring the gold belt sits just so on my hips.

Bridget comes sauntering over, her auburn hair is styled in a cute bob with bangs."Damn girl, you look smokin' hot!"

It doesn't take a genius to figure out who she's dressed as this year.

Velma from Scooby-Doo.

She's in an orange sweater cropped up to show her midriff, ultra-short red pleated skirt, knee high socks, and Mary Janes.

Danica nods in agreement, the hood of her racy Little Red Riding Hood cape falling back to reveal tumbling black curls.

Her outfit consists of a red satin corseted minidress with a ruffled white petticoat peeking out the bottom.

Sheer thigh-high stockings and sky-high red heels complete the look.

"Thanks ladies, you two are giving me a run for my money though," I reply with a grin, doing one last twirl.

The thigh-high red leather boots gleam under the lights.

I have to admit, I'm feeling myself tonight.

It's not like I get many chances to really let loose and embrace my sexy side, not with my dad's watchful gaze following me everywhere I go in the clubhouse.

But it's Halloween, and dammit, I'm going to have some fun for a change.

Bridget hands me another shot of tequila and I knock it back, feeling the warmth spreading through my veins.

This is exactly what I need to loosen up before facing the crowd.

"Widow's gonna flip his shit when he sees you in this getup," Danica snickers, pouring herself a generous shot of vodka.

I roll my eyes good-naturedly as I swipe on some red lipstick. "Well, dad's just gonna have to deal. I'm not a little girl anymore. I'm a grown ass woman who can dress how she wants. Plus, Hawk is gonna lose it when he sees you two."

Hawk is Bridget and Danica's brother-in-law. He married Raven, who's their older half-sister.

When their father was arrested when they were little girls, Raven took custody of them and raised them alongside Hawk.

"Damn straight," Bridget chimes in. "It's time for him to take the blinders off and see you for the total smoke show you are. As far as Hawk goes, he knows me and Danica are wild as hell." She grabs the tequila and does another shot.

I take a deep breath, stealing one last glance at my reflection.

The woman staring back at me looks confident, sexy, ready to take on the world...or at least, the club's Halloween party.

"All right ladies, let's get this party started!" I announce, striding toward the door with a determined swagger.

Bridget and Danica whoop and holler behind me as we exit the modular and make our way across the compound.

I can already hear the heavy bass thumping from the clubhouse as we approach, the muted roar of voices and laughter rising in the night air.

A thrill of anticipation zings through me.

With my girls by my side and this superhero costume giving me a major confidence boost, I feel unstoppable. Desirable. Maybe even a little dangerous.

As I mount the steps, I pause to adjust my bra top one last time, making sure my assets are locked and loaded.

Bridget gives me a playful smack on the ass.

I shoot her a mock glare over my shoulder. "Watch yourself, Velma. I'm an Amazon princess, remember? I won't hesitate to put you in your place."

"Oooh, I'm shaking in my Mary Janes," she volleys back with a smirk.

Danica snorts and shakes her head. "Children, behave. Don't make me sic the Big Bad Wolf on you," she warns, nodding toward the clubhouse door.

I square my shoulders and reach for the handle, but hesitate.

Despite all my bravado, I can't help wondering what the night has in store.

How will the guys react to seeing me all dolled up like this?

Will they finally start to see me as more than just Widow's untouchable daughter?

I guess it doesn't really matter what any of them think except one man specifically, Spark.

I've caught him watching me when he thinks I'm not looking, a certain heat in his gaze that sends shivers down my spine.

I don't want anyone to know about what we have going on, but I love the way he runs his rough biker hands all over my body when we're alone together.

Maybe I can sneak him out early…

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

God, I need to get through this party first.

With that thought in mind, I pull open the heavy steel door and step inside, ready to take the clubhouse by storm.

Wonder Woman ain't got nothing on me tonight.

The heavy bass of the music thrums through my body as we enter the clubhouse, the party already in full swing.

Costumes of every variety fill the large open space—sexy cops and robbers, naughty nurses, and even a guy in a giant banana suit doing shots at the bar. Typical Reapers Rejects MC Halloween party.

I made sure to arrive after all the kids would have gone to bed. This way I can be as wild as I want.

Bridget grabs my hand and pulls me along, her Velma costume leaving little to the imagination as she shimmies to the beat. "Come on Wonder Woman, let's get you a drink to loosen up that lasso!"

We make our way to the bar where Spark is playing mixologist, his muscular arms flexing as he pours and shakes cocktails with expert precision.

He's shirtless except for a bowtie and suspenders, black slacks clinging to his toned thighs.

The man is pure walking sex and he damn well knows it.

"Well well, what do we have here?" he asks with a wolfish grin as we approach.

His eyes rake over my costume appreciatively, lingering on the way my metallic bra top pushes my cleavage to new heights. "Looking good, Spicy. Let me guess - tequila shooter?"

I lean forward on the bar, giving him an eyeful as I whisper conspiratorially. "You know me too well, Sparky. Think you can handle a real woman's drink order?"

"Sweetheart, I can handle anything you throw my way," he replies smoothly, reaching for the top-shelf tequila without breaking eye contact.

The air between us practically sizzles.

Bridget elbows me knowingly as Spark pours my shot with a flourish.

I knock it back, the tequila burning a fiery path down my throat.

He watches my mouth, tongue gliding along his bottom lip.

Fuck, he's gonna be the death of me.

Just then, Cobra calls out to him from across the room. "Yo Prospect! Need you over here."

"Be right there," Spark calls back. He turns to me with a wink. "Duty calls. You ladies don't do anything I wouldn't do while I'm gone."

As he walks away, Danica jabs me in the ribs with her elbow. "Oh my god, could he be any more obvious? He is totally vibing on you, Zoe!"

Bridget nods enthusiastically, her Velma glasses slipping down her nose. "Seriously, the sexual tension was palpable. I thought my ovaries were going to explode."

I roll my eyes and knock back my shot.

The tequila burns my throat. "Oh please, he was not flirting. He's just being a good host."

"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, honey," Danica sing-songs.

De-Nile…god, Danica and her dad jokes.

A screeching voice cuts through the tension. "Well, if it isn't Daddy's little princess, all dressed up like a big girl."

I turn to see Sassy sauntering up in a slutty nurse costume straight out of a porno, complete with garters and fishnets.

She eyes Bridget, Danica and I with disdain.

Sassy saunters up beside us, her cheap perfume invading my nostrils.

She's barely wearing any clothes, just scraps of black lace that leave nothing to the imagination. Typical.

"I'd be careful getting mixed up with anyone here if I were you," she sneers, eyeing me up and down with disdain. "Especially considering you probably don't want my sloppy seconds again. Then again, maybe that's your thing now after Jacob..."

White hot rage flashes through me.

How dare this bitch throw my ex in my face?

My hands ball into fists at my sides.

I want nothing more than to launch myself at her and rip her fake hair out by the roots.

But I won't give her the satisfaction.

I'm better than that.

Instead, I plaster on a saccharine sweet smile.

"Sassy, so good to see you!" I gush with mock sincerity. "I love your costume. Let me guess—zombie stripper chic?"

Her jaw clenches and her eyes narrow into slits.

Before she can fire back, I lean in close, my voice dripping with venom. "As for your sloppy seconds, don't you worry your pretty little head. I've moved on to bigger and better things. You should try it sometime."

With that, I toss my hair over my shoulder and spin on my heel, making sure to ‘accidentally' slosh my drink on her in the process.

Her outraged shriek follows me as I strut away, Bridget and Danica cackling behind me.

Eat your heart out, bitch.

This princess is nobody's fool.

"Oh, stop acting like such a hardass, Zoe. We all know you're a weak one."

Her words force me to stop right in my tracks.

I thought I could be the bigger person, but fuck that.

Rage consumes me, blinding and all-encompassing.

Before I can even process what I'm doing, I lunge at Sassy, a feral growl ripping from my throat.

My fingers claw at her face as we tumble to the ground in a tangle of flailing limbs and flying hair.

"You fucking bitch!" I screech, straddling her chest and raining down blows.

Sassy shrieks and tries to buck me off, her nails raking angry welts across my bare thighs.

But I'm relentless, driven by a fury I've never known.

Distantly, I hear Bridget and Danica shouting my name, feel hands trying to pry me away.

But I'm lost to the red haze, to the satisfying crunch of cartilage beneath my knuckles as I smash Sassy's perfectly sculpted nose.

Blood splatters across her bleach blonde hair, staining her ivory skin.

Part of me revels in it, in finally wiping that smug look off her face.

How dare she throw my failed relationship in my face?

How dare she rub her conquest in like salt in an open wound?

And yet, even as I pummel her with all the hurt and humiliation churning inside me, my mind spins with sickening thoughts.

I knew Jacob had been with other women before we dated.

Of course he had.

I wasn't naive enough to think I was his first.

But Sassy? While we were together?

The betrayal slices deep, as agonizing as it is infuriating.

I thought what we had was real.

I thought he loved me.

What a fucking joke.

He probably laughed with her afterwards about what an idiot I was.

Poor, pathetic Zoe, so desperate to be wanted that she couldn't see what was right in front of her face.

Suddenly, Spark's handsome features flash through my mind.

The way his eyes sparkle with mischief when he flirts with me at the bar.

That sexy smirk that makes my stomach flip and my thighs clench.

Had he been with Sassy too?

The thought makes me feel queasy even as I silently admit that I couldn't blame him if he had.

It's not like we were dating whenever they could be together.

Sure, we have a bit of charged banter, a few lingering glances, and some phenomenal sex, but that's it.

I certainly don't have any claim on him.

I'm pulled from my spiraling thoughts by strong arms wrapping around my waist and hauling me up and away from Sassy's prone form.

I thrash against the hold, still spitting curses and clawing at the air. But it's futile.

"Enough, Zoe!" Spark's deep voice rumbles in my ear as he tightens his grip on me. "She's not worth it."

I sag in his arms, the fight draining out of me as quickly as it had exploded.

He's right, damn him.

Sassy isn't worth shit.

She certainly isn't worth ruining my night over.

But Sassy, it seems, isn't done with me yet.

She staggers to her feet, one hand cupping her bloody nose while the other points an accusing finger in my direction.

"You crazy bitch!" she screeches, her voice thick and nasally. "You broke my fucking nose!"

I bare my teeth at her in a feral grin, a surge of vicious satisfaction rushing through me. "You're lucky that's all I broke," I snarl back.

Sassy's eyes narrow to furious slits.

She takes a step toward me and Spark's arms flex, his body tensing as if readying for another brawl.

But Sassy doesn't lunge.

Instead, her split lips curl into a cruel sneer.

"Oh, your daddy isn't gonna like this," she taunts in a sing-song voice. "His precious little princess, getting hot and bothered by a prospect in his club."

My blood runs cold and then hot, pounding in my ears as panic and rage war within me.

She wouldn't dare.

She couldn't possibly be stupid enough to involve my father in this. Could she?

But even as the question flits through my mind, I know the answer.

Of course she would.

Sassy is the type of girl who fights dirty, who aims right for the jugular.

And she knows that the threat of my dad's disapproval is the sharpest weapon in her arsenal.

I suck in a sharp breath through my teeth, my fingers curling into impotent fists at my sides.

I want to scream at her that she has no idea what she's talking about.

That my father will take my side, that he'll see her for the manipulative skank she is.

But the words lodge in my throat, trapped under the weight of my own uncertainty.

Because the ugly truth is, I'm not sure whose side he would take.

Shame and fear churn in my gut, souring my earlier triumph.

Sassy sees it in my face and her sneer widens into a smug, terrible grin.

She knows she has me cornered. Knows she's won this round.

"That's what I thought," she coos, "Run along now, little girl. Before you get yourself into any more trouble."

My father's gruff voice cuts through the tension like a whip's crack, making me flinch. "What the fuck is going on here?"

I feel Spark's arm tighten around my waist reflexively, but I yank myself free of his grip.

Can't risk Daddy Dearest getting the wrong idea. Or the right one.

"Get your paws off me," I snap, injecting as much venom into my voice as I can muster.

Spark recoils like I've slapped him, confusion and hurt flickering across his face.

I hate myself a little for putting that look there.

But better a bruised ego than a body bag, and my father would be the type to kill him and bury him in the desert.

In this world, perception is everything.

And I can't afford for anyone, least of all my father, to perceive me as weak. Or worse, as Spark's property.

I swallow hard, my throat suddenly dry as the desert outside.

This is it. The moment of truth.

If I crack now, if I let my father see even a hint of weakness, it's all over.

For me, for Spark, for any hope of a future together.

Spark reels his head back in surprise and raises his hands in surrender. "I was only trying to help," he says, his voice low and soothing.

Like he's talking to a scared animal instead of a grown-ass woman.

I shoot him a glare, hot and sharp as a knife. "I can handle myself," I snap, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Spark blinks, his expression flickering with hurt before it smooths out into careful neutrality.

He nods once, a quick jerk of his chin, and takes a step back.

Message received.

I turn on my heel and stalk out of the clubhouse, my head held high and my fists clenched at my sides.

I can feel my father's eyes boring into my back, Sassy's mocking laughter nipping at my heels.

But I don't look back. I can't.

As soon as I'm outside, I fumble for my phone with shaking hands. "I'm so fucking sorry," I type, my vision blurring with tears I refuse to let fall. "It was just for show."

The response comes almost instantly. "It's okay. I know, Spicy."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding, my shoulders sagging with relief.

He understands.

Of course he does.

It feels like Spark always understands me, even when I don't understand myself.