Outlaw MC Bear (5 page)

S
ilas looked
over at Sabrina from the corner of his eye, catching her full-blown deer in headlights reaction. Sure, his family—mostly comprised of his closest friends—was a little rough around the edges, but as soon as she got to know them—

Mother. Fucker.

What the hell do I mean by ‘get to know them’?

He was thinking crazy, as if she’d be sticking around indefinitely. It wasn’t even close to possible, let alone accurate. He’d make sure she was safe over the next few hours, no more than a couple of days at most. When the coast was clear, he’d deliver her back to a friend or her condo. No harm, no foul. What he’d done for her was a courtesy. He couldn’t ignore a woman who was nearly poisoned and shuttled off by thugs who were ready to fuck him over. Silas was without a doubt in the badass category, but damn it, he had some principles. All he had to do was put the word out on the street with the crew he trusted. With her full name, someone would have a solid lead during the time it took to finish a few shots.

She’ll be out of the club’s hair, and I’ll have a lighter conscience.

It’s a win-win.

So why wasn’t he pulling her forward to announce his game plan now? Everyone in the clubhouse stared at him as if he’d suddenly shifted to a big brown grizzly right in the foyer of the clubhouse. Silas blew out a breath, shoving a hand through his hair. Fuck, this seemed like a good plan before. He needed to get his damn head examined, because now that his mother was walking through the intimate crowd, he knew it was a dumb idea. The group parted for her as if she was their queen. Which, in a way, she was, and more so since the day Silas took over as president of the Beartooth Brotherhood after his father died. As widow of the past President and his mother, Cindy Corrigan was MC royalty now.

“Who’s the broad?” His mother’s head nodded toward Sabrina, and she put her hands on her hips. She pursed her lips for emphasis and added, “I don’t remember approving an expansion of our twisted claw ranks.”

How did he ever believe this would be easy?

Silas widened his stance and cracked his neck, ready to put his foot down. “She’s a friend who needs help. I’m letting her stay here for a few days. Any objections?” His gaze swept over the room, a reminder of who was boss around here. As far as he was concerned, there was enough alpha authority in his pinky finger to ensure he made himself clear and wasn’t changing his mind. Just as he expected, he had their respect. It felt like everyone’s breath went tight in their lungs. “I didn’t think so.”

Just to make sure the murmur from his mother wasn’t outright disagreement, he stepped towards her. “Ma?”

He locked eyes with her blue-green stare and noticed she’d done some weird wing thing with the liner around her eyes. Since when was she wearing this much makeup again?

“I think you know how I feel about it, sonny.”

Her lips tipped up in a fake smile, shut tight and hiding all her teeth. She was not on side, but he’d have to win her over in private. For now, he’d take the half hearted submission. Sabrina moved up a few steps and centered herself a bit more behind him. Smart girl. It was in her best interest to keep away from this shitstorm. The next couple of minutes were crucial as hell.

His mother looked up at him, eyes narrowed now. “Can I have a second of your precious time, Einstein?”

Without giving him a chance to say much of anything, his mother all but grabbed him by the junk and stalked them toward the clubhouse meeting room. She shut the door with a decisive slam. He knew exactly what she would say, but this was his club, so he had to let her know how this was going to go down. It was better to argue now than find Sabrina beat up and slumped over in a corner of the clubhouse later.

“What were you thinking, brainiac? Bringing a strange, unvetted human into our world…well…you just crossed the line. Have you gone deaf, dumb, and blind around here the past two weeks, or are you so married to the idea of following your cock?”

“That’s enough—”

“I don’t want to hear it. We’ve been up to our ears in enemies, Si. The panthers are up our asses after we pulled out of that Smith and Wesson deal, and you know they’re strong allies with the wolves. How do you think that’s going to go down for us when we’re walking targets? Now you have the bright idea to bring this plaything into the mix? Why? To liven things up a bit? And where the hell did you pick up a piece in a Dior gown to begin with?”

Silas couldn’t make heads or tails of what she’d said while she kept going on with her rant. This wasn’t going to end anytime soon, so he crossed his arms and let her continue.

“Answer me, Si.”

“I got done with our business tonight, and she needed help. I supplied the help. That’s as far as it goes, okay?”

“What’s her name?”

“Sabrina Temple. We’ll keep her here for a little while until I can release her and her Dior back into her natural habitat. No biggie.”

“Sure, if she doesn’t get snatched by the panthers or the wolves just for shacking up with you.”

That reality bristled across his flesh, and he flinched backward. He pressed his lips together until they hurt, still trying to remember why he thought it was a good idea to keep her here with him in the first place. She was just another rich broad. A dime a dozen. Still, the idea of taking her back to the condo made his lips part, and the beginnings of a growl lingered in the back of his throat. His lungs tightened, hands fisted at either side.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Silas.” His mother threw up her hands and turned to the side so he couldn’t see her face anymore. “Please don’t tell me you’ve bonded with her?” She turned again and studied his face more closely. “You’ve bonded with her. You
have
. Christ… She’s not one of us. God knows what that rich little trollop could spew to the rest of the world after her cozy little stay with us.”

“Stop. She won’t. There’s no chance.” He plucked her phone from his pocket and waved the tech around so his mother could see it. Fuck, he wasn’t going to acknowledge all the other shit she’d said. “I’ve got her phone. There won’t be any security leaks, and she can’t call anyone for help.”

“And what about after you release her?”

“Hmmm.”

“So she’s your prisoner.”

That was vaguely what Sabrina had mentioned a few minutes ago. Silas blinked, and wondered if woman-speak was universal. He grunted, shrugged, and shoved the phone back in his front pocket. If his new pseudo-prisoner wanted it that badly, she could have a fun time diving for it. The sudden idea of her petite manicured hand dipping into his pockets so close to his cock made him grit his teeth. But then his stomach rolled. It had something to do with the fact that his mother was in the vicinity and his whole line of thinking was downright weird at a time like this.

“She’s staying. End of story.” Silas cleared his throat, leveled a no-nonsense look that rivaled the one on his mother’s face, and strode out of the meeting room.

“We’re not done here, Si!” she called out as the door slammed behind him.

Nope, that would be too damn easy.

Without looking back, he strode over toward Axe, who was grinning at the pool table.

“Do me a favor.” Silas jerked his head toward Sabrina, who still stood exactly where he’d left her while everyone else went about their usual business as if she wasn’t even there.

“What do you need, bro? Keep an eye on her? Because I got to tell you, spit roasting that piece of ass in my bed tonight wouldn’t hurt my feelings in the least.”

“Shut the fuck up and listen.” Silas got up in his best friend’s personal space as his beast crawled beneath his skin. “Don’t talk about her like that. In fact, don’t even say anything in her fucking direction.”

Axe’s eyes grew wide, aware that Silas was close to going fully over to his beast. “Sure, whatever. Sorry, man.” Axe put his hands up with the pool cue still between his fingers. He licked his lips and grinned a harmless and happy-go-lucky smile.

“Cool.” Silas wasn’t so sure. Beneath his flesh he was boiling, as if his animal would take over without his consent. He took a breath and stopped it, keeping himself on a tight leash. He’d never had a reaction like the one he was having, but at the moment there was no time to explore the reasons why. “Axe, I need you to watch her while I get some things upstairs. Cindy’s on the warpath. I don’t want her in the crossfire.”

“Roger that.”

“And don’t touch her. She’s off limits.”

“I figured.”

Silas gave Axe a suspicious look. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Forget what I said. I’ll make sure they leave her alone.”

“Thanks.”

Silas dodged any further questions and booked it up the stairs to his private apartment at the end of the long hallway. Inside, he grabbed the first t-shirt and sweatpants in his drawer and headed back out the door. A minute later he was on the bottom step of the stairs, watching while his mother got in Sabrina’s face.

“Goddamn it, Axe,” he grumbled with a curl of his upper lip.

S
abrina may have been backed
into a corner, but she was ready to fight for her life. Her fingers closed around the picture frame hanging low on the wall behind her. After the woman had introduced herself as Mrs. Cindy Corrigan, that was the end of the pleasantries. It was pretty much a given that Silas’s mother was not the welcoming committee. That was for sure, so an impromptu weapon seemed like a good thing for Sabrina to have on standby, given the circumstances. Trying to keep her movements smooth, she blinked and nodded as the middle-aged lady continued her intense line of questioning.

“Bitch, are you even listening?”

Mostly, Sabrina was wondering why the woman had so many questions about her own son. It made no sense, but she nodded anyway. She had easily bluffed her way out of way more intimidating situations. “Ma’am, I’m sure this is a huge inconvenience for you. I apologize for that, but if you’d just get your son to give me back my phone or give me some change to use the payphone outside, I promise I’ll be gone from here within half an hour and you’ll never hear from me again.”

Sabrina put on a polite smile for extra effect after that request.

It didn’t work.

Mrs. Corrigan arched a brow. “You think it’s that easy, huh?” Her skepticism was thick in her high-pitched voice, and her aquamarine eyes seemed to take on a mix of calm and wildness all at the same time.

“I don’t see why it has to be difficult, Ma’am. Your son helped me, and now I’m fine. I don’t need any more assistance, so if I could just get my phone back, I’ll be gone and no one ever has to know I was here. In fact, I don’t even know where
here
is. I’m great at forgetting.”

“I see.” The older woman bobbed her head in a considerate nod, then she proceeded to tie up her long, layered black locks into a bun at the top of her head. “It appears we have a slight problem, young lady. Mainly, my son doesn’t see things the way we do, and he can be a spoiled bastard when he gets his mind on certain things.”

“I don’t understand.”

“It looks like we’re at an impasse. As much as I’d love for you to leave, he’s determined for you to stay. Maybe you should have thought twice about giving him a taste of your wondersnatch on the way over here.”

Sabrina yanked backward into the wall as if the other woman had struck her in the face. “Excuse me?”

“What? Too much of a snobby priss for my language, princess?”

Was this woman joking? Sabrina clutched the picture frame until her palm hurt, pushing down her impulse to ram the thing down this woman’s throat, followed by her clutch purse. Now she knew where Silas got his arrogance from…and his insolence, for that matter. It ran in the family.

She took a deep breath and tried a little brush with reason again. “Ma’am, I really don’t want any trouble. I’m not here for anything you’re worried about, and you don’t have to get involved in my personal affairs either. You’re under no obligation to help me, but if you would please allow me to leave, I’ll figure out getting back on my own—”

A more suspicious Mrs. Corrigan got up in Sabrina’s face. “What’s your angle? Did the panther’s hire you to do this? You’re a high-class escort playing damsel in distress, aren’t you? Answer me, you little bitch.”

This was not the time to crouch in fear, so Sabrina took a step forward so they were almost nose to nose. “I don’t know what the hell your problem is, but I keep telling you I don’t want a damn thing from your club,” Sabrina said through clenched teeth. “I don’t know any panthers. I am not an escort, or a damsel in distress. And I don’t have an angle. If someone around here would just listen to me and let me go, maybe you wouldn’t have a problem at all.”

The woman’s lips quirked up in a half-smile. God, that only made Sabrina want to lash out more. That suspicious,
screw you
gleam in the woman’s eyes could push her over the edge if she let it. Mrs. Corrigan wasn’t phased in the slightest, but Sabrina made an educated guess that being the matriarch of such a notorious motorcycle club took massive amounts of moxie. Even so, the woman wasn’t the worst Sabrina had come up against. If she had to, she would take her on, but dammit her Christian Dior one-of-a-kind would probably be ripped to shreds.

Now, if only I can find someone around here to figure out I don’t even want to be here at all and let me go.

That was plan A. Plan B was to sneak out of here on foot in the middle of the night. If that didn’t work, plan C was to cause a distraction and steal off with someone’s car keys, and plan D, well she hoped she wouldn’t have to burn the place down to get the hell out of there.

“Ma, lay off her, okay? You can continue the interrogation after she’s had a little time to ease into things.” Silas physically wedged himself in between them and his hand reached back and circled around one of Sabrina’s.

God, that man’s touch did it for her every time, causing a tingle to run up her arm and through her entire body. Why did she want to press forward into his almost irresistible heat? Sabrina shook her head, unable to move away from him with this wall against her back.

“She says she wants to leave.”

“She’s not going anywhere, Mom.”

“Why are you both talking like I’m not right here. Look, if you’re going to hold me against my will, can someone at least let me get a beer out of the deal? I’m thirsty, and I’ve had a long day.”

Sabrina shut up when both Silas and his mother looked backward at her as if they actually had forgotten she was still right there.

“I’ll get it.” Silas shoved crumpled clothes at her until she had a grip on the bundle. “Give me a sec and I’ll find you a place to change.”

She had to admit it was oddly thoughtful that he anticipated she’d want to change her damn clothes. Then she took a look around at all the lace, fishnet, and leather-wearing women around her and thought maybe his choices had more to do with logic than any kind of kindness. With what she was wearing she was a bright red human dartboard waiting to be someone’s target. No wonder his mother wouldn’t leave her alone.

“Time to blend in…and plot,” Sabrina said under her breath as she watched Silas walk away with a firm hand on his mother’s upper arm. Whatever discussion they were continuing on their way to the bar didn’t seem to be going well. There were a lot more hand gestures, wild eyes and furrowed brows when they stood at the bar waiting for her drink.