The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, Books 1-3 (32 page)

“You don't think I can protect you.” A statement, not a question, and uttered with such venom, she flinched.

“I don't want to be ‘protected.'” Her voice quivered with emotion. “I don't want to live in a safe house and have a posse of Sinners following me everywhere I go. That isn't freedom. Freedom is never having to worry about Viper. Freedom is walking down the street and not needing to carry a gun. Freedom is being able to live where I want, and go where I want, and do what I want without being afraid someone will take it away from me.”

She turned her head to the side and bit her lip as a chill seeped through her bones. No wonder he'd taken her phone. If she'd had it in her hands right now, she would be texting Jeff to run.

Jagger leaned so close, his breath scorched her cheek. “You are not going anywhere, Arianne. You're mine until I release you. And when Jeff shows up, he isn't going anywhere either.” He pulled his phone from his inside pocket, flicked to a picture, then thrust it in her face. “That's him isn't it? That's Jeff at my old clubhouse.”

Nausea roiled in her belly as she stared at the blurry photograph of Jeff standing near the Sinner weapons shed, his blond hair gleaming against the dark background. Although the camera had caught him in profile, she would know her brother anywhere. But clearly Jagger wasn't so sure about the identification.

“I can't believe you would ask me that.” She gave the picture a disdainful sniff and pushed the phone away. “And I'm not even going to bother to answer.”

“Don't play games with me, Arianne.” His eyes darkened, almost to black and his upper lip curled. “Did you make up the story about your birthday? Trying to play my sympathy as you tried to play me? Are you spying for the Jacks? Now that I see how easy it is for you to walk away, I think you just might be.”

Her hand flew up before she had even considered the consequences of her actions, and she slapped him across the cheek, the crack of her hand echoing in the alley. “Bastard. I can't believe you think I would lie about something like that. I don't know what's going on with you, Jagger, or why you suddenly think I've betrayed you or why you're so angry. I've been nothing but open with you. I've told you things about my life I haven't even told Dawn.”

Jagger grabbed her hand and twisted her arm up behind her back, spinning her around and forcing her cheek painfully against the rough brick wall. For the first time since they'd met, she was truly afraid.

“You're not planning to leave Conundrum at all, are you?” He pressed his lips to her ear, his voice a sinister snarl. “I don't know why I didn't see it. You haven't packed anything. You haven't given up your apartment or stored your stuff. Even your bike. Sparky said you fixed it good as new, but you never put it up for sale.”

“Viper would have found out.” She shuddered under his touch. What the hell had happened in Jagger's meeting with Zane? “Everything I wanted to take, I put in my duffel bag. I never lied to you.”

Desperately, she tried to breathe through the tightening in her chest, the thunder of her pulse in her ears.
Jagger won't hurt me. He promised he would never hurt me.
But already she could feel the cold sinking in her emotions giving way to the armor she had built to survive Viper's wrath. Except this time it wasn't Viper that threatened her, but the one man she had thought would keep her safe.

“I didn't want it to be like this.” He shoved her harder against the wall, trapping her arm between them. She tried to turn her head, and the exposed mortar sliced across her cheek.

“I wanted you to want to stay.” Jagger's voice rose to an agonized shout. “I wanted you to trust me, to believe in me. I wanted you to accept that I could protect you. I wanted you to—”

“Please … Jagger. You're hurting me.” She fought back the panic flooding through her veins. He'd said he didn't harm women. But already her cheek burned from the cut and her arm screamed in pain.

“
I'm
hurting
you
.” His bitter words were poison to her heart, and the last of her hope withered and died.

He released her abruptly, dropping her arm. Even though instinct screamed for her to run, she didn't move, resting her forehead against the cool brick wall, indifferent to leaving her back exposed. She'd exposed so much already, and besides, nothing could hurt more than the pain slicing through her heart.

“Turn around.”

She turned slowly, no longer recognizing his handsome face, twisted now by pain and anger. His eyes dropped to the cut on her cheek, following the blood trickling down her cheek.

“Fuck.” His voice rose to a pained shout as he scrubbed his hands over his face as if to wash away the sight of her. “Fuck.” He slammed both fists on the wall on either side of her head and she finally screamed, her hands shooting up instinctively to protect herself.

Jagger jerked back, eyes glazed, body trembling. He reached for her cheek, and Arianne flinched before slapping his hand away.

“Don't touch me.”

“You don't have to worry about that.” His voice was cool, devoid of emotion. “I can walk away just as easily as you.”

*   *   *

Christ.

He didn't do emotions. And he most definitely didn't do emotional wreck. He'd lost it out there. Totally lost control. When he saw her dressed to kill, all cool and calm and about to walk out of his life forever, his longing had given way to fear, anger, and a determination to exert the control he hadn't had when his mother walked out the door so long ago. To stop the pain.

And he'd hurt her. Not just physically, but emotionally as well. He would never forget the look of devastation in her eyes.

He pounded the table with his fist as he cursed silently under his breath. He'd hurt her and he'd scared her away. Had she seen that potential in him? Was that why she'd decided to leave? Was that why his mother left? Because of some trait he shared with his father?

“You okay, Jag?” Cade leaned back in his chair, dragging his eyes off a pretty brunette onstage, working the pole. Their booth, a feast of red velvet cushions around a sparkling silver table, was set back in the corner, affording them a clear view of the club without exposing them to public scrutiny.

“Yeah, good.” He surveyed the cheap, tawdry strip club, making sure T-Rex and Wheels were in position near the exits. A raised circular stage dominated the space, with chairs scattered in front and a DJ pounding out the tunes in a small booth in one corner. Dark and dingy, lit only by garish neon signs on the walls and the floodlights on the stage, the place was pathetic and depressing and suited his mood to a T.

Lifting his gaze, he focused on Arianne, who sat alone in a booth along the opposite wall of the club. His heart ached as he rehashed the conversation outside yet again. What the fuck had he been thinking? Even if it was Jeff in the picture, did he really think she'd give him up? And did he really believe she was part of a plot to betray his club?

Two blond frat boys stopped at Arianne's table, and Jagger glared and jerked his chin at T-Rex to shoo them away. Every fucking bastard in the place was staring at her. Not only was she the sexiest woman in the club, but her distress was like a goddamn fucking beacon. He could see her pain in the hunch of her shoulders, the tremble of her hands, and the smear on her cheek from where she'd tried to wipe away the blood. Even now he had to clutch the tabletop to keep from going over to her. No doubt he'd get another slap across the face for his efforts.

He tried to imagine what he'd put her through. How he would feel if she'd accused him of such betrayal. When had he ever lost control before? When had he ever let emotion cloud his judgment? When had he ever cared about anyone so much, the thought of losing them cut deeper than the shrapnel lodged in his heart? Not since he was seven years old, when his mom had walked away.

“That stripper's been watching me ever since we came in.” Cade grinned. “I'm thinking I might be getting a private dance tonight.”

“Thought you'd hooked up with Dawn.” Jagger sipped his beer, letting the bitter liquid slide over his tongue, no worse than the sour taste in his mouth.

“Nah. She just wants me for sex.”

Jagger's head jerked up. “Well, that's a first. Usually it's the other way round.”

Cade's cheeks reddened. “She's got issues.”

“Who doesn't?” He checked his watch. Jeff was already half an hour late. A few more minutes, and they'd call it a night. He'd made sure the Sinners stayed out of sight, in case Jeff caught on to their plan. Of course, the plan hadn't included Arianne trying to slap him again when he pointed her to the booth, or calling him a fucking evil bastard, or telling him she would die before she let them touch Jeff. But here they were, and pain and regret were eating a hole through his heart.

Jagger stared at the stage, unseeing. He needed to get a grip. He was the president of the dominant outlaw MC in the state; the world was his for the taking. What did it matter whether she wanted to be with him or not? Or whether their time together had meant anything to her? She was his. He'd claimed her. He could do with her as he pleased. Not that he would ever touch her without her consent, but he could make her stay.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Arianne's gaze flicked to him and then away, her lips pressing into a thin line. She leaned back in the seat and folded her arms under her breasts, pulling taut the thin material of her top and exposing the crescents of her breasts. Jagger couldn't tear his gaze away.

Christ.
She was driving him fucking crazy. How could he still want her after she'd made it abundantly clear he meant nothing to her?

“You're not being very inconspicuous.” Cade waved a hand in front of Jagger's face. “Anyone looking at you would know exactly what you're thinking. You look like a lion ready to pounce.”

“Fuck off.”

“You're wrecked. I've never seen you wrecked before. Actually, ‘wrecked' isn't the right word. I think the word I'm looking for is ‘heartbroken,' or maybe it's ‘devastated.'”

“Fuck off again.”

“That's why I keep it simple,” Cade said with a wry grin. “One night, maybe two, then on to the next. No emotional entanglements. No pain. No gut-wrenching decisions about whether to let the girl you claimed as a blood price go because that's what she wants most in the world—more than you.…”

Damn Cade and his stupid insightful jokes. If they'd been outside, he would have punched him, wiped that smarmy grin off his face. “You don't know anything about me.”

“I know everything about you.” Cade shoved another beer across the table. “We served together too long not to know each other inside and out, and right now, your inside is out, brother.”

Jagger had slid partway out of the booth, already committed to slamming Cade's head into the table, when Arianne left her booth and walked toward them.

“I'm going to use the restroom.” Strained, quiet, her voice held none of her usual sass, and her eyes none of their usual fire. She didn't wait for him to respond, just continued on her way. Jagger looked around for T-Rex to send him to watch the door. Where the fuck was he? And where was Wheels? Jesus Christ. Had they learned nothing from their screw-up at the pool hall?

He texted them and stared at his phone, awaiting their response. But when it finally buzzed, it wasn't T-Rex or Wheels sending the text, but Zane.

Viper knows where you are. Headed your way. Will try to intercept.

“We need to get Arianne out of here.” He stood abruptly and stalked over to the bathroom. How could he make up for what he'd done? How could he tell her the thought of losing her had hurt so much, he had to push her away?

*   *   *

“Pssst. Arianne.”

Hands still under the dryer, Arianne turned to see a familiar face peering around the door to the ladies' restroom.

“Jeff!”

He held up a hand and pulled his ball cap low on his forehead. “Wait thirty seconds, then meet me out back. There's a hidden door through the storage room at the end of the hallway. The Sinners are watching, so I gotta be quick.”

Heart pounding, she counted off the seconds and then pushed open the door and glanced down the hallway. She could just make out Jagger's broad form at a table near the stage. Although facing her direction, he was looking down at his phone and a waitress blocked his view. Cade's attention was focused on the stage. She couldn't see Wheels or T-Rex. Pulse racing, she slipped out of the restroom and raced down the hallway to a gray metal door marked
WARDROBE
.

She walked through a huge room filled with costumes, then pushed open the back door and looked out into the night. “Jeff?”

“Over here.” He waved her over to a Ford battered Thunderbird parked in the shadows, and she raced across the lot to join him.

“I've been so worried.” She wrapped him in a hug. “After what happened at the vacant lot … I didn't know if you'd be okay.” And then she pulled away and her bottom lip trembled, loving and hating him at the same time. “How could you, Jeff? He was an innocent man. You're lucky he didn't die.”

“He didn't die?” Jeff gaped and took a step back under the parking lot light, brushing away the lank, dirty blond hair that perpetually hung over his face. Arianne caught a glimpse of his eyes, usually a brilliant blue, but now dull and filled with shadows. Fair where Viper was dark. Small where Viper was big. Weak where Viper was strong. Jeff was the opposite of Viper in every way.

“He'll be okay. I checked with the hospital.”

Jeff wrapped his arms around himself and his voice wavered. “It was killing me, Ari. Every moment of every day, I thought about him. He wasn't an innocent man like you said. He was a small-time dealer who tried to cheat Viper on a cut and then shot one of the Jacks when he tried to escape. But the idea I'd taken a life was too much for me. I loaded my apartment with crank and went on a binge to end all binges just so I could forget the pain. It was good, so good. But I've run out, and now that the ice house is gone, I can't get a new supply. I haven't slept for days.”