Ridin' Dirty: An Outlaw Author Anthology (OAMC Book 1) (47 page)

Shannon looked between them, obviously wanting to protect her friend, the sisterhood and all that, but at the same time, hopefully having learned her lesson in the past about getting in Dog’s business. “I…”

She was saved from having to betray her friend when Crash appeared in the doorway. “Shannon.” He lifted his chin at her, an unspoken command to come to him.

She obeyed, thankful for the excuse to escape.

“Coward!” Mary yelled after her.

“Only coward I see is you.” Red Dog stared down at her. “I’m six hours down the road when you pull this stunt. You wait until I’m so far away I can’t do shit? Was that your plan? Well, how’d that work out for you?”

She sipped her drink, ignoring him. He took the glass from her hand and sniffed its contents. “Little early to tie one on, isn’t it?”

“You’re one to talk.”

He set the glass down and squatted before her, bringing his face level with hers. “Guess we got some shit to work out, huh?”

She folded her arms and looked away. Dog studied her stiff posture. This was so totally not her usual M.O. that it threw him. Mary was always up for a knockdown, drag-out fight. She never gave him the silent treatment. Never. Goddamn, he must have really fucked up this time. He’d never seen her this hurt before.

“Mary, talk to me.”

Still nothing.

Quietly he broached the subject, not really sure how to start. “You didn’t… it wasn’t another miscarriage was it?”

She looked off to the horizon.

“Baby?”

“No,” she whispered. “Not that.”

He blew out a relieved breath and studied her body language. She was telling him the truth. She was too pissed to be in that devastated dark place every previous miscarriage had taken her. No, this was something different. And judging by her mood, whatever had pissed her off was his fault.

“China Doll, you gotta tell me what the fuck I did.”

Her chin went up, and her jaw clenched, but still she said nothing.

“I love you. You know that, don’t you?”

No reaction. Nothing.

“I’ll be damned if I’ll let you break up this family. Especially when I don’t even know the reason. And if you think I’ll let you walk out on me, you’ve lost your mind.”

“I’m not the one breaking up our family, you big oaf. You are.”

He gritted his teeth. “I can’t fix it, if I don’t know what I did.”

Her eyes flashed to his. “You know what you did. Don’t pretend innocent with me.”

His frustration got the best of him. “Fucking hell. Don’t start that ‘you know what you did’ bullshit. You women always think we men know when we’ve fucked up. We fuck up all the time, so no; I don’t know what the hell I did. Just fucking tell me, woman!”

She whipped out her phone. He watched with suspicious eyes as she pulled something up and held it out to him.

Christ, he was afraid to look. At a glance, it appeared to be a photo. Fuck, whatever he’d done, she had photographic evidence. He took the phone from her, turned it around and studied the image.

He frowned, trying to place the photo. It was a shot of him, sure enough, bent down next to a car, changing a tire. Who the hell would take a picture of him changing a tire? And why would that piss her off? And then it hit him. Motherfucking Rosalie.

She was the club sweet-butt that Dog had cheated with. It had only lasted a couple days before he’d ended it, and since then she’d been banned from the club.

“Babe, it’s not what you think.”

“Swipe to the next shot.”

He moved his thumb across pulling up the next shot, a selfie with Rosalie in the foreground making a kissy face to the camera, and him in the background changing her tire. The caption read
my man takes good care of me
.

That little bitch, she’d texted this crap to his ol’ lady.

His eyes flashed up to Mary’s. “This is bullshit, Mary.”

Her brows shot up. “That’s not you?”

He blew out a breath, his eyes closing for a moment. “Yeah, it’s me, but I’m not her man. I’m not taking care of her. She’s fucking with you, baby. That’s all this is.”

“Oh, I think somebody’s fucking with somebody, all right.”

“So she feeds you a bunch of bullshit, and I don’t even get the benefit of the doubt, no chance to explain? You don’t come to me with this shit, you just up and leave me?”

“Yup.”

“Babe—”

“I’m done.”

Those were two words she’d never spoken to him. Not in fourteen years.

“Don’t say that, Mary.” He shook his head. “It’s not what you think. It’s not what she’s makin’ this out to be. I saw her broken down on the highway. She had her kid in the car. I put her spare on for her. End of story.”

“Right.”

“Baby, I swear to you, I’m done with her. She’s been banned. I made sure of it. She’s not allowed on club property anymore. You won’t ever see her again. Ask any of the boys, they’ll tell you. And I’ll make sure she never does something like this again.” He tossed her phone on the small side table. “I’ve been done with her for a long fucking time. And we already worked through that.” He touched his jaw. “I’ve got the dental work to prove it.”

She’d knocked his teeth out that time, and now he had five grand worth of dental implants in his mouth. She’d nearly broken his jaw, and he’d been lucky he hadn’t had to eat through a straw for a month.

“Last time you thought I was fucking around on you, you met me at the door with a baseball bat. This time you just pack your shit and leave? That’s not the woman I know. The woman I know is a fighter. She doesn’t just roll over.”

“Maybe I’ve had enough.”

“Baby, I did
not
do what you think I did. I learned my lesson. I’m done with that shit, all of it. Been done with it for a long fucking time. I swear to you. I only want you.”

She said nothing.

“After all we’ve been through, you’re gonna sit there and tell me it’s the end?”

She seemed totally unmoved by his argument, and that scared the shit out of him. For the first time in his life he began to fear he might really lose her, for real this time.

He swallowed and ran a palm over his face, a cold sick feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. Without her, he was nothing. She gave his life meaning. Yeah, he had the club, and he loved his brothers. But Mary was his center; she’s what grounded him like nothing else in his life, not the club, not his brothers, not even Billy. Of course he loved his son, always would, but it was Mary who was the center of his world. Without her, he’d be a fucking mess. It’d all go to shit, all of it.

And he couldn’t let that happen. So he’d better fucking tell her what she meant to him, and he’d better do it quick. He was a man, a biker, and therefore not good at this shit, but he knew he’d better man-up, swallow his pride and find the words. If it took baring his soul out here on this rooftop, then that’s what he’d do.

He rose to his feet, grasped her hands and pulled her up. Then he took her face in his hands, and brought his down to within an inch of hers.

“I love you, Mary. You are my world, my life. You’re everything to me. I swore to you I was done with that shit, and I am. The problems we had, we worked through them all. I haven’t been with anyone else, and I promise you,
promise you
I never will. Do you understand me?”

She stared up at him, her eyes glazing. He knew she wanted to believe the words, but the hurt she felt ran deep.

“I swear to you, Mary, I did nothing with her. It’s you I love. What you and I have, right here,” he shook her. “It’s special. Ain’t found it with anyone else. Knew the day I laid eyes on you, you were the one for me. And I know I’ve screwed up in the past. I haven’t always been there when you needed me most. And I know I don’t fucking deserve you. But I’m asking you please, don’t walk out on me.”

“Dog—”

“Not lettin’ you go. Not now. Not ever. You walk out that door; I’ll find you and bring you home. No matter how far you run.”

She stared up at him, saying nothing. Jesus Christ, was she really done with him?

“Do you still love me?” he asked, studying her eyes, searching, hoping he’d still see that love buried there somewhere.

When she didn’t reply, he shook her. “Do you? You don’t, I might as well take a walk off the edge of this roof right fucking now and get it over with, because I’m dead inside without you.”

“Dog—”

“I’m not playin’, Mary. You walk out on me it’ll break me. That what you want?”

She shook her head, tears rolling down her cheek. “I just want us to love each other.”

“We do, baby. We do.” He paused, his thumb brushing the tear away. “I know I’ve fucked up in the past. I know I put you through hell, but I’m done with all that. All the bad stuff that’s happened to us, that’s all in the past. I love you, Mary. You. I’d stop breathing if I didn’t have you anymore. And I don’t care if we never have another baby. I just can’t lose
you
.”

His mouth came down on hers. He tried to show her how he felt the only way he knew he was good at. The kiss was filled with all the feelings he didn’t know how to communicate with words. It was soft and tender, and achingly gentle.

Finally, he broke off.

“I’m sorry I put you through all this.” His eyes searched hers. “Forgive me?”

She stared back at him for the longest moment in his Goddamned life before finally nodding and giving him the reprieve he’d been waiting for like some inmate on death row. And swear to God he felt his body deflate in relief. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, holding it for a moment as he thanked God for her. Then he took her into his arms and just held her close. Finally he pulled back to look into her eyes.

“Come on. Let’s go home. We’ve got some makeup sex to get to.”

Before she could say a word or disagree, he tossed her over his shoulder and headed for the door.

“Dog!” she shrieked. “Put me down.”

He smacked her ass. “Nope. I’m takin’ my woman home.”

He carried her down into the loft.

The guys broke out in applause when they saw Dog hauling his ol’ lady through the loft.

“Hey, Mary, did the boy sufficiently grovel enough?” Cole teased.

“He must have, she’s goin’ with him,” Crash replied for her.

“Don’t look like she’s got a choice,” Wolf observed.

Dog paused to look at his son. “You good to hang here for a few?”

Crash’s daughter hugged his neck. “Yay!”

Billy tickled her. “I guess so.”

“He’s fine here, Dog,” Crash advised him.

“We’ll bring Billy home,” Cole offered.

Wolf teased, “Yeah, we’ll give you five minutes before we head that way. That should be enough time, right?”

Dog continued on his way, one hand holding Mary on his shoulder, and with the other flipping them all off.

“Make him earn it, Mary!” Green shouted.

“You boys need to shut up. All of you,” Red Dog snapped as he carried his wife into the elevator and slammed the gate shut. It wasn’t until they were descending that he set her on her feet.

He could hear the guys laughing, one of them shouting after them, “Make-up sex is the best!”

As the shaky old contraption descended, Red Dog backed Mary against the cage, his hands grasping the bars on either side of her head, corralling her in. Then his mouth came down on hers.

When the elevator reached the ground floor and stopped, he hefted her up and pressed her back against the bars as her legs wrapped around him. She moaned in delight as his mouth trailed down her throat. She began to slip, and he hefted her again, pinning her against the bars and shaking the entire elevator.

One of the guys yelled down, “We can hear you!”

They broke apart long enough to smile at each other. Dog twisted his head to look up the dark shaft to where one of them was shaking the gate and making lewd noises. He grinned back at Mary.

“Let’s go home and do this right.”

“I thought you were doing it pretty right,” she teased him, her finger tracing his ear.

“Woman, don’t tempt me. Or I
will
finish this right here.” She tilted her head as if considering it, and he chuckled.

“A bed
would
be nice,” she finally admitted.

“Damn straight.” He tossed her up higher in his arms, so that he was looking up into her face. “I ever tell you how much I love you, China Doll?”

She gave him a soft smile. “I could stand to hear it a few more times tonight.”

“Done.”

He tossed her again and she clutched at him, shrieking like she thought he might drop her. “Red Dog!”

“Hold on to me, baby, and never let me go.”

She smiled down at him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He carried her off the elevator and took his ol’ lady home.