“Stay out of my business.”
Her hand comes up and she jabs it in my chest. It doesn’t hurt, but I grab her wrist anyway, stopping her from doing it again.
“I’ll stay out of your business when you stop making it mine.”
Her glare is glacial. “You’re not my father, or my brother.”
The feelings I have for her are absolutely not familial, so that we both agree on. My dick stirs behind my zip, reminding me of this fact.
“Ain’t looking to be either, Brie, but I am looking to keep you safe.”
“Too late,” she whispers low, but I hear her. She quickly shakes herself and once again straightens her spine. “If I needed a protector, I’d ask for one. Leave me the hell alone.”
She turns on a heel and stalks back to the table, leaving me standing there, my dick trying to escape from my jeans.
Fuck.
6
Briella
As I move back to the table to sit down, Sasha’s eyes go to Daimon before coming back to me. I can see the question in her gaze, feel the weight of the stare she’s directing at me and I hate it. I’ve never enjoyed being the centre of attention, although somehow, I always manage to draw attention to myself.
“Everything okay?” she asks.
“Perfect.” I force a smile I do not feel.
I’m shaky after talking to Daimon. I let my guard down, let my walls tumble down for a moment and I shouldn’t have. I can feel his eyes boring into my back as I sit at the table, trying to ignore his presence. Why in the hell did I say those words in his hearing range? Icy fingers claw up my spine as my anxiety grows. The last thing I need is him or Levi poking around in my business.
I let my gaze slide towards the bar, where he’s still standing, gripping the edge of the counter with whitened knuckles. He looks like he’s about two heartbeats from losing his fucking mind. I swallow hard, my heart rate starting to gallop. Why did I open up to him? More importantly, why does he care? He seems to have appointed himself my guardian angel, but I don’t need saving from the darkness suffocating me. It’s too late anyway.
“Something going on with you and Daimon?” Bailey asks, suspicion in her voice as her eyes slide towards him.
My heart twitches. I don’t need everyone thinking me and Daimon are having some kind of clandestine affair. It couldn’t be further from the truth. I know he sees me as a stupid kid, and I don’t do much to change that view, but he, like everyone else around me, doesn’t see I’m drowning here.
“Not a thing,” I mutter, wishing I’d ordered a second drink.
Nox’s sister, Bailey, is in her mid-thirties with red hair she gave to both her daughters. I don’t know a lot about her past, but I do know her husband passed away not long after her second child, Mollie, was born.
Bailey has been on her own since, doing the best she can. Nox helps out where he can, but I get the impression his sister isn’t someone who can take help easily. Like me, though, she understands the overbearing sibling. I know Nox is just as protective of her as Levi is of me.
“Daimon is hot,” Lucy says, peering over her shoulder to look at the man. “If I wasn’t madly besotted with Nox…” She makes a noise of appreciation in the back of her throat.
Jealousy claws at my throat at her words. I don’t want to think about Daimon with someone else, even hypothetically. I don’t have any claim to him, but my brain doesn’t care about that. I push down the red that is clouding my vision and clasp my hands together on my lap, trying desperately to keep hold of my sanity. Not an easy task.
I’m not interested in him.
I repeat this over and over.
Bikers are not to be trusted. I knew that first hand, and I knew how bad things could get when one had you in their sights. I was never going there again. I would die before I let myself get entwined with another, but I know Daimon likes me. I can see it in the heated look in his eyes, the fire of desire that burns brightly when he looks at me. I’m not immune to him either, but I have to be. I can’t go there again. I can’t allow my walls to come down. I can’t let someone else slither into my life that might hurt me again.
“Daimon is a controlling jerk,” I spit, not even sure I mean the venom spewing from my mouth.
“I’m sensing there’s a story here,” Sasha presses. “Start talking.”
“There’s no story.” I push to my feet, snagging my bag and jacket off the chair. “I’ve got to head out.”
Sasha grabs my arm, pulling me up short. Her forehead wrinkles as she takes me in. Gone is the playful tone, and in its place is something serious. “You need to talk, sweetheart, you know we’re here for you.”
I shrug into my jacket as tears sting the back of my nose. I push them ruthlessly down. I won’t show weakness in front of these women—especially not Sasha. Dealing with their kindness when I don’t deserve it shreds what’s left of my control. I quickly turn and rush out of the common room. I probably look like I’ve lost my motherfucking mind, but I don’t care. I need to put some space between me and my nightmares, and as much as I love Sasha, she’s a reminder of what happened to me.
When I close the doors behind me and I get into the sanctuary of the corridor, I sag against the wall, letting all my emotions go for a brief moment. My stomach hurts and my head is whizzing. I spilt too much in there, I let too much out and that can’t happen again.
“Briella.”
Daimon’s voice has me straightening from the wall with a squeak. My heart hammers beneath my ribs and my mouth feels suddenly dry. I try to swallow, but there’s no moisture there. He looks furious, like an avenging angel. I wonder if he would want to avenge me if he knew the truth.
“What the hell was that about in there?”
“What?” I breathe, my brain short-circuiting at having him in my space again. I seem to lose all rationality any time he’s close.
Fire flares in his eyes.
“You know fucking what.”
He moves towards me and I try to disappear into the wall as his hands cage me in either side of my head. My breath rips out of me in heavy pants as my fear mounts. It’s Daimon. He won’t hurt me, but I thought that about his club brother.
I lick my lips, trying to get moisture into my mouth, and press my palms against the plaster as I meet his gaze. I should look away, but I can’t. My chest heaves as I draw oxygen into my suddenly starved lungs. The air feels heavy, thick, and too hard to breathe through.
“What are you doing?” I whisper, tipping my head back, so I can peer into his furious eyes.
His brows draw together. “I want answers.”
I swallow again and glance to the side. I’m not sure if I’m hoping someone will come out and save me, or if I want this moment alone with him. He makes my body writhe with need, and this close to me I can barely think straight.
“Daimon—”
“What the fuck did you mean in there?”
“W-what?” I stumble over my words as my mind empties. He makes my tongue loose, makes me want to open up to him, but I can’t. I won’t. No one will ever know the filth that covers me, the dirt that I can’t scrub clean.