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CHAPTER SIX

GRIZ

Spanked.

Swear to fuck, when I get my hands on her tomorrow, I’m going to spank her ass.

It’s bad enough I had to leave her place to deal with this bullshit. Why Markus had to come this late at night and not in the morning, I’ll never know. But fuck. I’m gonna have to dub his ass the Cockblocker from Hell.

I walk into the clubhouse, shove my phone in my pocket after saving the damn picture she sent me, and find the men I’m looking for. They all have their bodies twisted in the seats where they’re sitting and watching me closely.

“He looks ready to kill someone.” Lucky smirks, that cocky grin of his in place.

“Think you blocked him from getting laid tonight.” Surge snorts.

“Fuck y’all,” I grumble and take a seat between the two of them, eyes locking on Markus. “Why the fuck couldn’t this wait until the morning?”

Markus chuckles and lifts his beer to his lips, taking a long pull before lowering it. “I wanted a beer. Didn’t feel like dealing with the bullshit of going to a bar or sitting at home.” He shrugs and slouches back in his seat. “Plus, I’ve got shit to share with you about the protective order against you.”

“It better be some damn good news.” For pulling me away from Marley the way they did, it better be worth it because I’d been enjoying what I was doing to Marley.

Fuck me.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a woman react to my touch the way she does. It’s like she ignites right up into a burning flame of fire. My jeans were still wet from where her pussy had soaked through the barely-there fabric of her panties saturating my jeans. I’d felt the heat between her legs and knew once I got my mouth down there, I wouldn’t be disappointed.

Damn her.

She’s under my skin in a way I don’t know how to work her out. The fucked-up part? I’m not sure I want to. With only a couple of times speaking to her, she’s consumed me.

“Considering that I spoke with Hattie and her father myself, which I might add put me on his radar, she dropped the order against you. Her old man wasn’t pleased to hear she’d lied about it. Said he wasn’t going to tolerate her being with a gang member, but he also wasn’t gonna tolerate her being the reason a war was brought against this town because of an accusation that she claimed happened.”

Well, la de da .

“And?” I promote.

“Well, she had been beaten, and said it was you. Her face was all battered, so someone had to have done it . . .”

“She just wasn’t saying who,” I finish for him.

“Exactly.” Markus nods, clears his throat, and rolls his shoulders, cocking his head side to side. “Adam caught up with me a bit ago. Told me that Hattie’s dad was ranting at the station about his daughter doing something as stupid. Heard him rant about how his daughter couldn’t get over some hooligan that was no good for her. Adam also heard him say he thinks she caused the bruises to her face herself to make it look like someone had beat her.”

“Why the fuck would she do something like that?” Surge scoffs, shaking his head.

“She’s pissed I broke it off with her because I wasn’t putting up with the bullshit lies.” There’s no other explanation for it.

“Talk about one scorned woman with a grudge,” Lucky mutters, “It’s a good thing she ain’t my ex. Think Chelsea would go ballistic on her. Hell, she finds this shit out, which by the by I ain’t tellin’ her, she’ll lose her mind. Who knows what she’d end up doing to some unknown poor soul. Even if they deserve it.”

“The bitch ain’t scorned, she’s downright psycho,” Markus remarks.

“What needs to happen now? Is she dropping the order? Do we still have to go to court?” I ask, wanting to make sure of what’s gonna happen next.

“Don’t worry about anything. You don’t have to show up, but I’ll be there already, so I’ll make sure everything is handled myself,” Markus says and finishes his beer.

Nodding, I lean back and glance around the table. “Is that all y’all needed me here for?”

“Were you doing something that we interrupted?” Blow asks, a shit-eating grin on his face as my brothers join him laughing.

“You could say that,” I grumble, rub a hand over my face, and release a harsh breath. “Fuckers are some serious cockblockers.”

“Is it the woman from the diner?” Surge asks.

“What woman?” Lucky asks, cocking a brow. “Didn’t know you were seeing anyone?”

“Her name is Marley,” I mutter.

“Marley Keys?’ Markus asks, brows drawing together.

“Yeah, why? You know her?”

I watch him closely, tension slowly growing inside me.

“She’s the one who served you the papers. She’s a process server for the courthouse.”

“I know. She freelances, and she also does skip traces. Keys looked into her for me,” I tell him and glance over to Blow, then Nines. “I wasn’t going to do anything stupid without knowing anything about her first.

“She must’ve made an impression on ya, Griz,” Blow states more in question than in statement, but it was a loud statement all the same.

“You could say that.”

Marley did more than make an impression. She seared that impression in my head in a way there’s no getting her out.

“You think it’s a good idea to get mixed up with her?” Markus asks cautiously.

“You know something I don’t?” I ask in return.

“Don’t really know her. Seen her around the courthouse when I’m there. One of the deputies has been hitting on her. Trying to get her to go on a date with him, but she’s been politely rebuffing him. She’s a pretty thing. Clerks there like her. She’s also Mag Ryan’s granddaughter.”

Now, that was something I hadn’t known. Mag Ryan is the owner of the farm just down the road from the clubhouse. Her land buts up against the woods that sit between the clubhouse and Mag’s farm.

“You talking about little Marley Keys?” Sniper asks, coming to join the group.

“Yeah, why, you know her?” Nines asks.

“Ain’t seen that girl since she was a little girl. Her momma and daddy are from the area,” Sniper explains, taking a seat across from me at the round table we’re all surrounding. “Why y’all talking about Marley Keys?”

“Griz’s is seein’ her,” Surge answers with a chuckle.

Sniper slowly brings his gaze to me with a questioning look. “You seein’ Marley Keys?”

“When the hell did I have to start reporting who I fuck?” I was starting to get pissed. “Yeah, I fucked up once.” I jerk up out of my seat and glare at them all. “I know I fucked up bringing this bullshit with Hattie to the club. I carry that fuck up with me. I own it.”

“Brother, no one’s blaming you for that shit,” Blow states getting to his feet.

Sniper also gets to his feet. “I only asked if you were seeing Marley because I knew her dad, Michael Keys.”

Letting out a harsh breath, I retake my seat. “Why the fuck does that matter?”

“It doesn’t, but you should know her daddy, last I heard, was a Seal.” Sniper keeps his gaze locked solely on me. “Remember him, and he’d been a damn good man. Took his woman away from here right after he finished his training. Rain visits Mag Ryan’s at least once a month. According to Rain, her daughter wanted her to move closer to her, but she refused to leave the land she’s lived all her life on.”

We all know the woman. She’s not scared to speak her mind or tell you what to do. Her husband died some years back, and she’s been alone since. Her farm butts against the back of the land that our clubhouse sits on. On the other side of her land sits the farmhouse we own.

“That woman would shoot anyone who dared take her away from that land.” Blow snorts, shaking his head.

The tension was still surrounding me, but the more they talk, the more it eases. The fact I blew up so easily shows just how much I’m still sitting on the edge where that shit is concerned. Because of Hattie, I could’ve lost everything that mattered to me.

Maybe I should cool things down and back off of Marley. She’s too much of a damn temptation. I can’t afford to fuck things up with the club. I’m the damn Road Captain of this club, and I know, just like every other member of this club knows, the club comes first. Always.