Page 11

Lynx

Sitting at the bar, staring at the folder that Neo gave me.

I hear Jessikah’s story from across the room where she’s sitting with the others, and the heartache it causes me makes it hard to breathe.

I lose focus staring at the words he has written on the sticky note, Not Her Real Name and wonder what her real name is.

“You motherfucking asshole!” Liquid shouts, followed by the sounds of chairs hitting the floor and fists pounding flesh.

I turn my head and notice the chaos. Skoden has grabbed Liquid and is holding her back, glaring at Neo.

Maple and Spin’s eyes are wide, and mouths are hanging open as they stare at Neo on the floor.

He has a busted nose, a split lip and two swollen eyes.

“What the fuck is going on?” I shout, turning around on the barstool, placing my elbows behind me on the bar top.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Liquid growls, twisting out of Skoden’s arms. She takes a step forward, but Spin stops her by stepping in front of her.

“You all know the reason I stayed here was because I felt protected. I felt like no one judged me.” We all nod as Spin takes a deep breath.

“I don’t feel safe here anymore. You guys get one piece of information on someone new, and instead of waiting to hear her story, or even asking what her story is, you insinuate she’s a fake and a fraud.

” She steps back and turns to pick up her purse.

“I’ll have the apartment cleaned once I find another one. ”

“Spin,” Slick states. She shakes her head and leaves.

“Where did Jessikah go?” I ask, finally being able to look around the room. Liquid screams, throws her hands in the air and storms out after Spin.

Watching everyone standing there, their mouths hanging open. The girls that were in the clubhouse are all following Liquid and Spin out. Leaving no one but the men who sit at the table.

Neo groans on the floor, rolling to his side as his drink he had while working on Jessikah’s background check comes spewing out of his mouth. “Which one of you fuckheads hit me?” Neo groans, as all the guy’s chuckle.

“Fuck, we need to find Jessikah!” I shout, jumping down from my stool as I message the phone number I had for her. “What the fuck!” Her message kicks back undeliverable. Pressing the call button, ‘ The number you have dialled is no longer in service’, blares from the speaker on my phone.

“You want to know what happened ask Neo. By the look on your face, you can’t get a hold of the woman who suppose to be yours.

I know where she is, I will go and talk to her.

You all stay here. Because right now, I wouldn’t trust you to tell me I shit myself, let alone protect someone who doesn’t even belong to one of us,” Skoden’s words hit me in the chest.

“She’s mine,” I state, walking towards Skoden.

“No, Pres, she isn’t. If she was yours, whatever Neo found wouldn’t have taken you out of the conversation that was going on behind you.

The one where the woman you claim to be yours was spilling her guts about all the abuse and near-death experiences she had at the hand of her abuser.

Only to have Neo insinuate she is a fraud and a fake.

You would think a woman who works in an industry where she has to be able to detect frauds and fake information would be believed by a man who works to find frauds and fakes.

” Skoden never uncrosses his arms from his chest. His eyes narrow as he waits for me to react, and when I do, he shakes his head.

“Protect her until I can get her back.” Dropping my head, life was going perfectly, until one simple mistake made it imperfect.

“You know you are going to have to grovel to get her back. Then you will have to figure out how to make Spin and Liquid come back,” someone says, causing me to glance at them.

“When did we start accusing women of lying?” My eyes flash to Neo.

“You of all people know how important it is to protect women. You sister is currently in hiding from her former partner. She tried to kill your sister. So, tell me with the information you found on Jessikah, what made you think treating her like that would go over any other way than her trying to protect her peace?”

“Pres. I didn’t think. Spun said she was a fake and I let her get in my head.” My eyebrows shoot up.

“Spun was here?” I ask.

“I needed a fix, and she is a freak,” Neo states, shrugging his shoulders.

“Wow, dude. There are a ton of willing women in this club and around town, some with even more kinks, and you went with the one woman who has been banned from the property?” Sue asks. Neo facial expression changes, he knows he fucked up.

“Listen, I always said loyalty is why y’all are here.

But with loyalty comes respect. It’s easy as hell to break respect.

It’s usually harder for me to accuse someone of feigning loyalty, but I think you just did that.

Damn, at least I was smarter when doing the background check and asked Sherlock from the Montreal chapter to run it.

He got more information. I’m sure if you were focused on what you were doing, you would have found it, too.

” Walking toward my room at the back, my head starts to pound from the information that was just given to me.

“Are you going to take my patch?” Neo asks, a little shake in his voice.

I shrug my shoulders and continue to walk.

Do I want to take his cut? Maybe, but there has to be a vote in order for that to happen.

Do I want to pound the shit out of him? Hell yes, but then every man that was focused on his dick would have to get the same punishment.

“Pres, are you going to take my patch?” Neo yells, as I enter my room and close the door behind me, not bothering to acknowledge him.

Pulling open my laptop, I pull up the email I had for Jessikah. She is still working on my equity takeout to rebuild my house—or at least I hoped she was—or would she walk away from the business she’d built. I stare at the blinking cursor debating what to say to her.

Jessikah,

Sorry doesn’t even begin to cut it. I should have stood up. I should have stepped in and made sure everyone knew that you are mine. And Jessikah, you are mine.

Not having you here beside me is killing me. Knowing you disconnected your phone number to hide again makes me angry and sad. Please, tell me what can I do to fix this?

I’m sorry.

Paul

I close my laptop and lay back on my mattress. Sleep isn’t going to come because she is supposed to be here with me. She is supposed to be under my roof so I can make sure she feels protected. She is supposed to be in my arms so I know she is safe.