Evie’s mouth opened and closed again. She was at a complete loss for words. Had everything between Her and Viper been an act? Every word? Every conversation? His gentle kisses and soft words? As with Derek and Mark, had she failed to see the monster behind the man? Was she making the same mistake with Zane? How could she ever trust herself?
“I’m sorry.” Arianne grimaced. “I shouldn’t have said that. You obviously saw a side of him no one else has seen. Maybe he was different with you. There were times when he was caring with my mother. Obviously. Or she would never have stuck it out.”
Was that it? Or had she been wearing blinders all her life, shutting out what she didn’t want to see in her dogged pursuit of a dream that never was going to come true? “Maybe she stayed because of you,” Evie said. “I stayed in a bad marriage for Ty. That’s why I’m done with relationships.”
Arianne lifted an admonishing eyebrow. “Better tell that to Zane. He came down here and laid down the law. It was the usual possessive, protective, territorial biker thing: you’re his, blah, blah, blah; he’ll kill anyone who touches you, blah, blah, blah; no one who wants to keep his balls can look at you, blah, blah, blah; don’t even breathe the same air … you get the drill.”
“He said that?”
“He said it with a difference.” Arianne’s smile faded. “Because he’s Zane. He doesn’t talk much, but when he says something, he means it.”
* * *
Sparky’s shop shook with the hard beat of metal music, the thud of the bass carrying up the stairs where Evie had just put Ty to bed before changing for the party. She had only packed one fancy outfit in her suitcase, a Scandinavian-style black dress in a crepe fabric with unique cut outs on the sides and front, and a wide bandeau strip across her breasts. Not really her style, but Connie had convinced her to buy it one Saturday afternoon by feigning a collapse in the store dressing room when she tried it on.
Zane met her in the hallway at the foot of the stairs. He’d been out all day at the clubhouse dealing with the situation with T-Rex. Evie’s gaze skittered from the tips of his heavy, dust-covered biker boots, to his low-riding jeans, snug in all the right places, and then over his muscle-hugging T-shirt to his tanned, frowning face. Memories of what they’d done last night sent a wave of heat through her body and her cheeks flushed.
“You’re showing a lot of skin.” His frown became a scowl as his gaze swept over her body. “Do you know what it does to a man when he gets a glimpse of something he’s not supposed to see?”
“Does that mean you like it?”
Zane splayed his hand under the back panel of the dress, his fingers skimming the edge of her panties as he pulled her against him. “It means I only got two hands, and there’s a lot of brothers who won’t be able to take their eyes off you since you’re showing more skin than dress.” He pulled his hand from beneath her dress, and slapped her ass. “Go change.”
Evie cried out in surprise. The slap was more of a sting than true pain, but the responding throb in her sex shocked her, made her wonder what would happen if he slapped her again. But the sudden thrill quickly turned to indignation.
“Seriously?” Evie glared at him, her mouth agape. “You’re ordering me to go and change my clothes? I’ve seen some of the clothes the old ladies are wearing. I look like a nun compared to them.”
“You got a habit upstairs, I’ll be a happy man.”
“I’m not changing, Zane.” She leaned against the wall, folded her arms over her chest. “Even if we were together, which we’re not, I wouldn’t let you tell me what to wear. I went through that with Mark. He was insecure right from the start because he never felt he could measure up to you and Jagger. When he lost his job, he started drinking again and that just made it worse. And when we had to rely on my income, he couldn’t deal with it. He started following me around, trying to cut me off from my friends, checking my phone, and showing up at work. He threw out some of my clothes, called me a slut…”
“Jesus Christ. Once we get T-Rex, I’m fucking going after him.” Zane leaned one elbow beside her and traced the cutout on the left side of her dress with his free hand, his finger warm against her skin. “What if I ask real nice?”
Evie bit back a smile at his sudden change in demeanor. “Jagger saw my dress. He didn’t have a problem.”
“Because you aren’t his.” He slid his hand beneath the front panel of her dress, his finger dipping down to her mound, sending a sizzle of erotic sensation straight to her clit. “You’re mine.”
Flustered by his possessiveness given that she’d pretty much booted him out of her room last night, she had no idea what to say. And when he pulled her in close and lowered his face until their noses were almost touching, she wanted nothing more than to run her tongue over his lips and forget about speech all together.
“You showing something that belongs to me makes it my problem,” he murmured.
“I don’t belong to you, Zane.”
“Last night.” He feathered kisses along her jaw, following her jugular to the hollow at the base of her throat. “Says you do.” His hands slid down to her ass and his fingers dug into her cheeks. “Way I feel now, thinking of the brothers lookin’ at you, touching you, and you showing off what you shared with me last night, says you do.”
Desire pulsed through her, a deep throb that intensified with every second. “It was just sex.”
“You and me, sweetheart … it’s never just anything.”
“C’mon you two. Jagger’s about to give a speech.” Sparky’s voice pulled Evie out of the moment and she clasped Zane’s hand.
“Looks like I win by default,” Evie said. “I wouldn’t want to disrespect Jagger by missing his speech.”
He stared at her for a long moment, and then he dropped her hand and slid his arm around her waist. “It’s gonna be a long fucking night.”
They made their way into the shop, now emptied of bikes and filled with bikers. Zane introduced her to Cade, the club treasurer, a blond, blue-eyed, drop-dead gorgeous biker with a cheeky smile, and his old lady, Dawn, who could have passed for his sister. After chatting with them and meeting a few more bikers, she spotted Tank sipping a beer at the far edge of the garage and excused herself to join him.
“You’re looking kinda down.” Relieved to be away from the crowd, she eased herself up on the bench beside him, her feet dangling off the floor.
“Missing T-Rex.”
Evie wasn’t surprised. In the short time she’d been around the Sinners, Tank and T-Rex were always together. “Yeah, I was surprised the Sinners were having a party when T-Rex was still … with Viper.”
He shrugged. “It’s Jagger’s way of boosting morale before the big raid. We’re goin’ in to get him, and he says not all of us are gonna come out in one piece.”
Evie caught her breath. “Jagger’s sending you on a suicide mission?”
“We gotta get T-Rex. We don’t leave brothers behind. And while we’re there, we’re gonna take down the Jacks. They’re outta control. One-percenters like us don’t got many rules, but we got some and the Jacks are breaking them all. No one is safe—old ladies, kids, even civilians.”
“Is everyone going on the raid?”
Tank gave her a sympathetic look. “Every brother who can ride. Even the family men. We’re all in or we’re all dead, the way things are going now. Zane’s on point. That means he’s going in first, taking the biggest risk. He says it’s ’cause he owes T-Rex a debt and if someone’s gotta die—”
“No one is dying on my watch.” Jagger came up behind Evie and rested his hand on her shoulder. “And this isn’t going be some haphazard raid. Everything will be planned with military precision. Nothing will be left to chance.”