Beyond the Horizon (Sons of Templar MC #4)(79)

See? Alpha male protectiveness. There must be classes on it.

My back straightened, and I felt my face flame upon the realization that both Lucky and Rosie, who was unusually quiet in the corner, had seen me sucking on my inhaler after having a small tussle with random men and running a couple of meters. These guys dodged bullets without a breaking a sweat, maybe not Rosie, but I knew she could take care of herself. Me? I wheezed and whimpered after a minor altercation.

“I’m fine,” I said quietly, my eyes moving downward self-consciously.

Again, Asher’s hand moved to make our eyes meet once more. I noticed his hand was still resting lightly on my chest.

“You were just attacked in your own parking lot, no one expects you to be fine, Lily,” he told me quietly.

I met his eyes. “I am,” I replied firmly. “I won’t be if someone doesn’t tell me what’s going on.” I moved my eyes around the room. Lucky had gingerly put my handbag on the ground and was watching me with knitted brows, his gaze kept flickering to Bex, with something that looked like annoyance and concern. It was something I’d never seen on him. Granted, I didn’t spend huge amounts of time with him, so I wasn’t exactly flush with knowledge of his facial expressions, but it seemed unusual. Rosie was sitting across from us, her eyes were glued to Asher and me, her brows knitted with worry. Bex looked at her hands.

The silence hung heavy in the room for a moment before Bex looked up with watery eyes.

“It was because of me,” she whispered in a voice I didn’t recognize. Broken. Defeated.

“It is not because of you,” Lucky interrupted with a face like a hurricane. “That’s the last time you’re laying the blame of this shit at your pretty little feet, got it?” he commanded roughly, his eyes locked in some sort of stare off with Bex. I watched in amazement as she held it for a moment then nodded, looking away. Lucky’s jaw was hard and he kept watching her. Bex never lost stare-offs, never. Even though Lucky may have been a scary, albeit well-tempered biker, she normally wouldn’t have flinched at his stormy gaze. But today she did. Her mask had been ripped off, now she was battling with her demon, and the vulnerable girl underneath peeked out. It broke my heart. Reason number a million and one why I wished my mom was still here. To heal her. To help me fix her.

“They were here because they’re the scum of the earth who consider women property and don’t like it when they get told otherwise,” Asher cut in.

I restrained a snort. Despite the sorrow edging into the forefront of my mind, I couldn’t help but see the irony.

Asher saw something in my face. “We never see women as property, flower. Not our club. Women aren’t possessions to be owned and traded. Any f*cker that thinks that is someone that needs to taste lead,” he declared hotly.

“And who are these specific ... f*ckers?” I asked softly.

Lucky, who had been seriously regarding Bex, let out a choked sound. We all looked at him. He waved his hand.

“Sorry, shit. I’m well aware of the need to teach these f*ckers a serious lesson. But I wasn’t even sure you could utter the word ‘f*ck,’ Lily,” he told me seriously.

Despite myself, I grinned. I was the only one.

“You know Bex’s boss?” Asher asked, getting us back on track.

I nodded. “I’ve had the displeasure.”

His face tightened. “The strip club serves as a recruiting tool for his main business, peddling flesh,” he stated flatly.

I nodded again.

Asher looked at me in surprise.

“You knew?” he asked.

“No, but I’m not surprised. That guy gave me the serious heebie-jeebies,” I declared, my concerned eyes on Bex. I didn’t know where this story was leading, but it wasn’t anywhere good for my troubled best friend.

“Bex?” I said slowly, needing the rest to come from her.

“I said no,” she told me quickly, as if I would doubt her, judge her. I would never do either. We all did what we had to do to survive, to make it through. There were choices that people had to make that weren’t pretty or ideal, but they were necessary.

“Or I may have used more colorful words than a one syllable response, just to get my message across.” She grinned, a glimpse of the old Bex shining through. “I thought that was the end of it. Obviously not,” she finished.

I felt like I’d missed something. “That’s why those thugs were here? To bully you into prostitution?” I guessed.

The way the air turned wired had me thinking my guess was correct. I glanced over to a hard-jawed Lucky.

“Thing one and thing two came knocking at the door, trying to intimidate the little female into letting them in or they’d huff and puff and blow my house down. Didn’t count on the fact I’d seen way worse than them. And I had bigger, badder, wolves on speed dial,” Rosie spoke for the first time, grinning, as was her way. Growing up with bikers had her slightly insane. In a good way.

“I don’t get it,” I said, furrowing my brows. “Carlos may be an *, but he can’t expect you to go back working there after that? What did he have to gain from it?” I asked Bex.

She shrugged. “The fact I’ve got nothing else. That I need to eat.”

My eyes popped out. “You’re not going back there?” I asked in disbelief.