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“Have you ever been to a bar at all, Bela?” Jinx quips.
Everyone’s eyes shift to Bela, anxiously awaiting her answer. Bella is what I would call a classic beauty. Her mocha skin, almond-shaped eyes, and soft voice draw you into a false senseof security. She might be one to go with the flow, but I don’t doubt for one second that if push came to shove, she could do some significant damage to someone. There’s an underlying current in her eyes that, if you look carefully, would make anyone wary.
Bela huffs and crosses her arms. “I’ve been to bars. I can’t help it if I get thrown out of most of them.”
“I knew it!” Loki hollers. “She’s not as sweet as she pretends to be.”
Bela bats her lashes. “I’m sweet until I’m forced to be a bitch.”
Jinx pats her arm. “It’s always the quiet ones.”
Diabla turns to Cece and changes the subject. “What’s it like to be married to the president of an MC?”
Cece grins. “It’s the best.”
“I don’t think I could deal with his arrogant ass,” Diabla admits.
I draw in a sharp breath. I know my team isn’t used to an MC. Hell, even I get frustrated with the infrastructure of it all, too. But the one thing you don’t do as an outsider is insult the president, especially in front of his wife. Unfortunately, Diabla has had a chip on her shoulder since she found out my secret and has never been good at biting her tongue. I have a feeling something else is going on with her, though. She always comes off as a bitch, but nothing this blatantly disrespectful. I open my mouth to admonish her when Mel starts gabbing.
“Neither can Cece half the time,” Mel says with a smirk. “But all Soul has to do is give her a good dicking, and she’s putty in his hands.”
“You’re one to talk, Princess,” Cece taunts. “I recall Abyss wanting to discontinue your birth control shots, and you threatening to cut off his balls. How’d that work out again? Oh yeah, me walking into the medical wing for some Tylenol forHarper only to find you bent over an examination table getting pounded, which by the way, I never need to see again.”
“I can’t help that he has the power to tame me with his giant cock,” Mel replies.
“Did you ever get your shot?” Loki asks.
Mel frowns as she tries to recall the memory. “That fucker!” she shouts when realization dawns. “He fucked me into a sex coma. I totally forgot that’s what we were fighting about.”
Everyone howls with laughter, and the tension in the air immediately dissipates. Skye sashays over with two of the other bartenders in tow, each of whom are carrying trays of booze.
After drinks are passed out, Delaney raises her glass. “To new friends.” She salutes toward my team and then faces Mel. “And to the future baby Abyss,” she tacks on as Mel downs her shot of tequila.
The liquor shoots out of Mel’s mouth, and Ivory screams in disgust. “Damn it, Carmella!”
Heather hands Ivory a couple of napkins to clean up while Ivory glares at Mel.
Mel shoots off her stool and marches over to Delaney. “You take that back!”
“Now, now, Mel,” Apple soothes. “All that stress isn’t good for the baby.”
“Yeah, Mel,” Skye agrees. “Should you even be drinking?”
Mel raises her finger in the air and marches toward Abyss. Something tells me this is going to get bloody or end with him fucking her against a wall in a dark corner.
“That was mean,” Violet says with an angelic smile. “Serves her right, though. All those comments about me and Grim, and our sex life. The woman knows no boundaries.”
“See, it's always the quiet ones,” Jinx points out.
The ladies have gotten to know each other quite a bit over the past few days. We’ve had some time to come out for air from ourcave at the clubhouse, and everyone welcomed my hackers with open arms. I had no doubt that they would, but it’s still nice to see the camaraderie between my family and my team.
Apple salutes the table before hopping to her feet. “Duty calls, ladies.”
I grin at Loki’s wide eyes as she watches Apple walk to the stage and laugh when I recall the moment she found out that Apple wasthe Apple Caldwell, Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter.
“Holy shit! You’re Apple… Apple Caldwell,”Loki says before glaring at me. “How come you never told us you knew her?”
I shrug. “It’s not like we open up about our lives. We do a job together, and we do it well.”