Page 29 of Coal (QUEENS WRAITHS MC #2)

The clubhouse has filled up since we left.

Ignoring the strange that are making eyes at me as I walk through the throng of people makes me wish I’d kept this to family only.

Spotting Cross, Copper, Tinman, and my mom at the bar, I walk over to them and stand next to Copper, who is leaning back, elbows resting on the bar, surveying the room.

The music is pumping, and the brothers are letting loose.

Usually, Copper would be in the mix, joining in.

I know this isn’t Cross’s scene, and he’ll disappear once I’ve given Thea her cut.

As usual, Blue’s behind the bar. I offered to hire a bartender for tonight so he could have some fun, but he’d declined, saying he’d rather be behind the bar than mingling.

It’s not the first time I’ve offered nor the first time he’d declined, so I hadn’t pushed.

I’ve noticed over the months that while he didn’t mind his brothers and my family, he wasn’t one to mix with others, preferring solitude.

I’m guessing it’s what made him a good sniper. He was happy in his own company.

“You not joining in?” I ask Copper. He shakes his head, “Nah, man. I’m done with the party scene, and I’ve got too much on my mind with what’s coming up.”

“Yeah,” I hum under my breath. He wasn’t the only one who was worried. “You’ll let us know if you need us, and we’ll be there. You’re not alone.”

“I know,” he nods again, then turns to look at me. “Where’s your woman?”

“Getting changed,” I reply, turning a little when Blue says, “Here you go, Pres.” Taking the beer he offers, I thank him. “Thanks, Blue.”

Lifting the bottle to my mouth, I’m taking a sip when I hear some dumb fuck say, “Oh, yeah, now that’s what I’m talking about. I’m going home with her tonight.” Next to me, Copper chokes slightly on his beer and taps my shoulder. Looking at him in confusion, I ask, “What?”

He points in the direction of my office.

Turning, I just about swallow my tongue.

Thea is standing on the edge of the common room, gaze roaming, and I know she’s looking for me.

She’s wearing a tight, low-cut emerald green top, shoulders bare, and her beautiful red curls hanging wild and long down her back.

I’m not sure what magic she’s done to her hair, but I love it.

Her green top is tucked into a pair of flared jeans that fit her like a glove.

On her feet, she’s wearing a pair of heeled boots.

Behind me, I hear Blue murmur, “You are one lucky man, Pres.”

From the corner of my eye, I see my dad laughing, his head buried in my mom’s shoulder. She’s laughing along with him, too. Why? I know why. I’ve seen this exact reaction from brothers when my mother got herself togged up .

When Thea’s gaze lit on me, her face lit up with a smile that shone, making everything else fall away.

I’ve been so busy admiring my gorgeous wife that I’d forgotten about the idiot’s comment until Copper nudged me again, saying, “Best you go and get your wife and make your claim as her Old Man and get her vest on her ASAP, brother, because the vultures are moving in.”

“Oh, fuck no,” I growl, slamming my beer onto the bar and pushing my way through the crowds of people to get to Thea, who’s frowning at the dickhead and holding up her finger to show him her tattoo.

She’s pissed because her accent’s strong when she tells him, “Listen here, you gobshite. I’ve told you twice now that I’m married and not interested. Best you leave before you get hurt.”

“Yeah, baby,” he smirks at her, “you can hurt me all you want. I won’t mind as long as I get to slap that arse back.”

Thea’s eyebrows rise as she looks at him in disbelief, asking, “Are ye simple, man? I’m not interested; I’m taken. Don’t ya understand English?”

“If you’re taken, where’s your man?” the pissant demands, pushing closer to her. I’ve had enough. Picking him up by the collar, I haul him up and away from Thea, pinning him to the wall with my hand at his throat.

“I’m her husband and Old Man, dickwad, and this is my house.

That doesn’t matter, though. If a lady says no, it means no.

Not maybe, or yes. N.O. Say it with me.” I shake him, and his eyes widen at the anger in my tone.

The clubhouse has gone silent; the music has been switched off.

I have everyone’s attention now. “Say it,” I demand.

“No,” he whispers, his voice garbled with my hand still around his throat. A soft hand runs along my arm to my hand.

“You may want to let the fecker breathe, mo ghrá , he’s obviously missing a few screws, and I don’t want to be visiting you in prison,” Thea murmurs as she gently strokes my hand. The hand choking the life out of the cunt who’d dared touch what was mine.

Relaxing my hold on his neck, I let him fall to the ground. Iron and Brass are there, grabbing him. “Make sure he understands what NO means,” I order them.

Iron flashes a grin at me, replying, “No problem, Pres. Thea,” he nods at her. “Looking good, babe.”

Thea blushes and looks down at her boots. “Fucker,” I say, but I’m smiling, no longer feeling murderous, especially as Thea’s tucked herself close to me. Bolt has put the music back on now that the excitement has died down.

When Iron and Brass are gone, I look at Thea, who, in her boots, stands eye to eye with me. “You look stunning, sweetheart.”

“Thank you,” she smiles at me, wrapping her arms around mine and looking around. When she finds my parents, she waves and starts toward them, taking me along with her.

I help her up on the stool next to my mom, who wraps an arm around her in welcome, “Hi, sweetie, you look fantastic.” Thea blushes again as she thanks my mom.

“What can I get you, Thea?” Blue asks.

“Hi, Blue,” Thea greets him sweetly before asking for a whisky on the rocks.

When she’s got her drink, she swings around on her chair, and I step between her legs with my back to her front, ignoring a laughing Copper.

Thea says nothing about my possessive stance.

She wraps an arm around my waist and turns to continue a conversation with my mother.

I’m just relaxing when I see one of my bad decisions walking towards us.

Of course, I should have known that the woman I’d fucked on New Year’s would be here and that she’d not taken my warning seriously that it was one and done.

Copper clocks her too, and his muttered, “Oh fuck,” isn’t as quiet as I think he expects it to be because I know as soon as Thea sees where we’re looking. I’m gutted when she removes her arm, but then I feel her moving, and her legs wrap themselves around my calves.

She pats my shoulder, saying, “I’ll let you handle this, but fair warning, I’ll step in if I feel I have to. And if you think you’re possessive, mo ghrá, y ou haven’t seen me lay claim yet.”

I only had time to squeeze her knee before the woman’s in front of me, smiling at me with those same calculating green eyes she’d used before. Running her finger down my arm, she purrs. “Hi, handsome, want to have some fun?”

Catching her hand, I remove it from my arm, “No. I told you before it was a fuck and that was it. You agreed. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Ah come on, baby,” she pouts, “we had so much fun. You fucked me so good, I felt you for days. ”

Beside me, my mother gags, and I feel Thea shaking behind me. The thing is, without turning, I can’t tell if it’s from laughter or from tears. It better not be tears.

“Look,” I say in frustration, “it’s not happening. I’m married and I don’t cheat. You need to leave. There are plenty of other men around for you to get your rocks off with.”

I can see by the look on her face that she’s not going to let this go, and I was right when she leans forward to whisper, “Your wife won’t know. I mean, how could she? She’s not even here. You’ve fucked me once while married. What’s once more?”

“Feck this shite,” Thea mutters. Her arm flashes out and something wraps around the woman’s neck.

I move aside in the nick of time as Thea pulls the woman towards her and gets in her face.

Her brown eyes flash with anger, her cheeks flushed.

There’s something wrong with me because my cock instantly hardens at my wife looking a little murderous.

“Listen to me, you geebag ,” Thea growls at the wide-eyed woman, who is turning an alarming shade of purple. It’s then that I notice what I thought was a pretty bracelet on Thea is a small chain she snapped around the whore’s neck. Jesus, my woman’s hot when angry.

Deciding I better pay attention to what Thea’s saying, I’m hard put not to laugh when her words match mine almost to the letter to what I’d said to the prick that approached Thea.

“My husband said no.” She shakes the chain slightly, tightening it a bit more, “No means no.” Thea shakes the chain again, “Say it with me now. N.O. means no. Say it with me, you sap . Come on now, don’t be shy. You weren’t when you were pawing at my man.”

Copper is laughing his ass off and my parents are wiping at their eyes, tears of laughter on their cheeks. We’ve gathered an audience again.

Thea isn’t finished, though. Nope. She pushes me away and stands up, towering over the woman in her hold. “What was it you said? His wife wouldn’t know? Well, feck you and the horse you rode in on; his wife knows and she’s the one now telling you NO, so you’d better fecking listen.”

Fucking hell, my wife is stunning. Stunning and hot.

I adjust myself in my jeans as Thea sweeps her leg, taking the pain-in-the-ass woman’s legs from under her.

Thea adjusts the chain in her hand. I can see right away that she knows just how much pressure to put on because the woman draws in a gasping breath that’s abruptly cut off as Thea adjusts it again and drags her towards the doors where Iron and Brass are standing, arms crossed and watching, amusement on their faces as they listen to Thea berate the woman the whole time she’s dragging her across the floor.