Page 65 of Held-

“She’s here now, isn’t she?” I fire back at him. “Nowhere in our charter does it say you get to vet the people patches fuck, Big.”

Big's eyes narrow, his jovial demeanor evaporates. “This isn't just about who you're sticking your dick in, Brayden. This is about loyalty. About priorities.”

“My loyalty to the club has never been in question,” I snap. “Not once in ten fucking years.”

“Until now.” Big's voice drops, meant for my ears only. “You've been MIA for days. Missing runs. Skipping church. All for what? A piece of pussy that'll run screaming once she sees what we really are?”

I take a step forward, closing the distance between us until we're nearly chest to chest. “Watch your fucking mouth.”

Big doesn’t back down—he never does—but something shifts in his expression. Surprise, maybe. I’ve never challenged him this directly before.

“Interesting,” he says, studying me as though I’m some new species he’s just uncovered. “I’ve watched you drop men without blinking, but mention your little church mouse and suddenly you’re ready to square off with your own president.”

“She’s not what you think.”

“No?” Big’s eyebrows climb. “Then what is she? Because from where I’m standing, she’s a distraction. The kind that gets brothers killed. The kind that has a man picturing fences and Sunday dinners while he forgets who he really is.”

I clench my fists at my sides, fighting the urge to knock that knowing smirk off his face. “You don't know shit about her.”

“I know her type.” He takes a swig of his beer. “Good girls slumming it with bad men, thinking they can save us. Fix us.”

“She’s nothing of the sort,” I argue, unable to blunt the edge in my voice. “She’s not trying to fix me. She’s trying to claw her way out of the life she was trapped in.”

Big’s eyebrows shoot up, genuine surprise replacing the earlier condescension. “Out of what?”

“Out of a world where she’s only ever been what everyone else needed her to be. They kept her boxed in. She’s finally breaking free.”

“And you’re the crowbar she grabbed.”

“Maybe we’re both prying our way out of something.” I scan the crowd again, my unease growing every time I fail to spot her. “Where the hell did Tasha take her?”

“Ladies’ room, most likely,” Dom slurs, waving a hand toward the back hallway. “Tasha always scoops up the newcomers before the scene gets too much. She’s good at that.”

I toss back another shot, the burn sharpening my focus. My attention keeps snagging on the hallway where they vanished. Every second Cece is out of sight tightens something in my chest.

Yeah. That’s enough waiting. She’s been gone too long.

“I’ll be right back,” I tell Big and Dom. I slip past them in the direction I last spotted Cece. I push through the crowd, ignoring the brothers calling my name and the half-naked women trying to catch my eye. The music pounds in my skull, the smoke and sweat and booze making everything feel unreal. All I can think about is Cece—what she's seeing, what she's thinking. Whether she's already regretting ever getting involved with me.

The hallway leading to the bathrooms is dark, the bass vibrating through the walls. I spot Hammer pinning some girl against the wall, his hand up her skirt, her leg hooked around his waist. He doesn't even notice me passing by.

The women's bathroom door is closed. I hesitate, my hand hovering over it when I hear her voice coming from down the hallway. I follow the sound, rounding another corner where the hallway opens into a small lounge area. Cece's sitting on a worn leather couch with Tasha beside her, their heads bent close together in conversation. Relief floods through me, followed immediately by wariness when I notice they both go silent the moment they spot me.

“Um...hi?” Cece says, a nervous smile playing at her lips when she sees me standing there.

Tasha rolls her eyes dramatically. “Seriously, Bray?”

“What?” I shrug.

“You might be worse than Dom. She was gone for ten minutes from your sight.”

Twelve, but I definitely wasn’t counting. Not at all.

“See. Cave men, the entire club of them,” Tasha chuckles.

“What else have you told her?”

“That you couldn't have picked a worse time to bring her to the clubhouse for the first time.”