Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

LONDON

I'm going to kill him.

Slowly.

Very, very slowly.

I can't believe he had the nerve to knock me unconscious. How did I not see it coming? Probably because he had me in his arms, and he already kissed me. My body was reacting to him in ways it's never acted before.

With Taylor, I mean Craig, whatever his name is, I found him cute. He was a good kisser, but my body never hummed like it did when Damari, ugh, Diablo made kissed me.

We didn't get to finish our discussion. I didn't get to lay into him about the decision he made. Like it was his to make in the first place, it's not. Not when it comes to me. I have a say so, and he's not going to take my choice away from me.

Pacing the room, I woke up in not long ago, I struggle to keep my bearings. I should be at home, with a hot cup of cocoa in hand, my e-reader balanced on my lap, and a good book on its screen with me entering the world of whichever book I decided to read. Ever since seeing Damari again, seeing him in what I learned from reading, his cut, I've been on an MC romance kick. Right now, I'm reading a series where the MC takes on a cult. It's interesting, and I love how strong the female characters are.

But it's just a book. I highly doubt anything like that could be real. Men in books just make life simpler.

The turning of the doorknob catches my attention, and I whirl around to see it's not Diablo coming in the room but rather Everleigh, Hendrik's stepmom.

"Hey," she greets, cradling Hendrik's little brother to her chest. "I was just coming to check on you after Daemon told me what happened. Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not. And neither is that asshole when I get my hands on him," I answer, not meaning to sound like a bitch. She didn't do anything to me.

"He'd deserve it," Everleigh agrees. "I can't believe Diablo actually knocked you out the way he did. What a jerk move."

"Jerk move? More like asshole from hell move," I scoff.

Everleigh laughs, shaking her head. "I knew at the beginning of the school year when I met you I was gonna like you. You're Hendrik's favorite teacher. He enjoys going to science class. Hates going to English, though."

"He has Ms. Marshall?" I ask, not remembering if he has Tamara or not.

"Yeah, he says he doesn't understand the way she's teaching it," she explains.

"Tamara has a unique way of doing things. She likes to have the students write everything out while she's going over it. What she doesn't get is that the way she's doing it, doesn't work for all the students." It's the only thing the two of us really disagree on. I feel if a student isn't getting it one way, than I need to switch things up, and make it so they understand. "I hate to suggest it, but if he's struggling with Tamara as a teacher, maybe switch him to Mrs. Lumberton. She's awesome."

"Thanks, I'll talk to Daemon about it. See what he thinks. He's told Hendrik that sometimes he's going to have teachers that just aren't easy."

"It is definitely true," I agree completely. Every teacher is different, and when it comes to the curriculums, it's not easy to make sure the students get everything they need to know in a timely manner with the timeline we're given.

"Anyway, since you're awake and good, why don't you come join the rest of us? I'll introduce you to the other ol' ladies."

"Ol' ladies as in?—"

"The women our men claim," she states, interrupting me. "It's what the club members call their wives or girlfriends. But it has to be serious for them when it comes to a girlfriend. If you're just a piece of ass they're banging, you won't get the title. They don't just claim a woman for shits and giggles. Same when it comes to their protection. They don't give it for the simple fact of giving it. You have to mean something to a member for the whole club to get involved."

I get it, yet I don't.

I'm not anything to Diablo. Not anymore. I had known him for six months when I was still just a child. But even I have to admit, in that time, he marked me. Any guy I dated in high school, I measured up to him. It's probably why I rarely had a date in high school. Shoot, I didn't even go with a guy to the prom. I'd gone with a few friends who were also dateless, though it didn't suck, we had a blast. Afterward, my dad took us all down to Galveston for the weekend.

"Come on," Everleigh says, breaking through my trip down memory lane.

"Okay."

Following her down the dimly lit hallway, a loud commotion can be heard before we even step into the main room of the clubhouse. It's a pretty massive space. By the bar, I see a tall man toe-to-toe with a younger woman standing in front of him. While another blonde woman stands close, hands on her hips, looking ready to intervene at any moment.

"I don't need you to do anything for me, Uncle Reaper. I can handle myself perfectly fine," the younger woman snaps. "Just because I'm back home doesn't mean you can control me. I won't allow it."

"Ember, I swear to fuck?—."

"Language," the blonde mutters a bit loudly, interrupting him.

"Yeah, language, Uncle Reaper," the younger woman who Reaper, I'm guessing that's his name and hers, called Ember, says.

"Oh boy," Everleigh murmurs next to me. "Reaper's about to get it from Ivy from the looks of it."

"Ember, you're not helping matters with the attitude," Ivy says and moves in front of her to face off with Reaper. "She's an adult, and you can't treat her any other way. You want her to stick around this time now that she's home, well, knock the overprotective BS off."

Reaper glares at his woman then looks past her and points at Ember. "We're not done with this discussion."

"Ember moved back not long ago. She's Reaper, Angel, and Tombstone's niece," Everleigh explains. "She left to go to school in New York, I believe, ended up moving to Montana, and now she's back home. The guys have had a hard time leaving her to find her way. They're a bit protective of her. Can't blame them either."

"Why not?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Daemon told me she'd lost both her parents in a fire. The three guys raised her here at the clubhouse. She was a wild child, but they loved her like their own. Reaper especially."

"I can see it." I nod.

"Daddy," a little girl shouts. She can't be more than two or three. "Weave Ember awone."

Ember laughs. So does Ivy and every other woman in the room.

Reaper glowers at the little girl, squats down, and scoops her up as she moves toward him. He stands, eyes on the girl. But he's got a grin on his face. "You little girl?—"

"Don't you say it," Ivy stops him yet again, though she said it through laughter.

"Fine, whatever," Reaper growls. "Y'all are teaming up on me."

"What are you doing out here?"

I spin to find Diablo standing behind me, looking a bit perturbed.

"I didn't know I had to stay confined," I snap, narrowing my gaze on him.

"I told her she should come out here with us," Everleigh adds.

"We still need to finish our talk," Diablo mutters.

"Oh, we have plenty to talk about, mister. One of them being who you think you are to have knocked me out in the first damn place." Fuming, I step forward and poke at his chest. "You had no right to do that. Or to bring me here without my consent."

"Damn, I think I like her," I hear someone say behind me, but the voice was a new one I hadn't heard before.

"Sutton, quiet," a deep baritone grumbles.

Diablo looks at the finger I have pressed into his chest and back to my face. His dark eyes glimmer with what, I'm not sure, but deep down, it excites me. Between my legs grows wet, and I didn't know that was even possible.

"Chiquita, you wanna drop that finger," he growls.

"No, Diablo ," I mutter, punctuating every syllable of his name. "I will not. You think it's okay to knock me out after following me to my apartment. You even looked into me rather than, ugh, I don't know, calling me . . ."The last word comes out on a squeal ‘cause one second, I'm chastising him, and the next, I'm being thrown over his shoulder.