What Doesn't Destroy Us (The Devil's Dust #1)(48)

“Shit!” Bobby says, swiping the beer from my hand and rushing toward one of the rooms down the hall. I look up at Shadow and see concern written all over his face. I know I’m getting a peek at the monster under the mask now. What I don't think he understands is that getting a glimpse behind his mask might give me a better idea of what exactly I have hiding behind my own mask.

“I’ll be fine; everything will be fine,” I assure him, whispering so nobody can hear me.

He nods toward the hallway, gesturing for me to follow. Once we are in my bedroom, he locks the door and turns to me. “I don’t want you out there tonight, Dani.” Even when he’s mad, he’s gorgeous.

“Yeah, well, I want to be out there. Are you afraid I will see this beast you claim you are?”

“You think being out there tonight is going to give you a glimpse of my demons? Ha! Maybe a little, but most of my beast lies closer to the idea of what was on Bobby’s hands, Dani.”

I’m completely taken aback by his comment. Does he think he’s a beast because he has killed? Is he a murderer like my mother says; like the news articles said? The thought that he has murdered is a little scary. I'm sure he could kill me in a split second if he wanted to.

“Tonight will just be guys trying to pick you up and get you drunk to have their way with you. Not everyone will back down just because you are the president’s daughter,” he says, snapping me from my thoughts.

“Like you?” I smile.

He laughs as he runs his hand back and forth through that messy top. “Yeah, like me.”

By 6pm there are tons of bikers at the clubhouse; some I have never met before. There’s also a sea of half-naked girls. I can't see where Shadow went off to because there are so many bodies and I am being yelled at left and right for shots or bottles of beer.

I am pretty busy, but every once in a while I look out into the crowd and see things I have never seen before. In the corner is a guy from another club who has his head thrown back in ecstasy while a girl is bobbing up and down in his lap giving him a blow job. It turns me on, surprisingly. There are multiple people sniffing coke off the coffee table with rolled up dollar bills. The half-dressed girls are now running around completely naked. After an hour, I have pretty much seen it all. The club becomes thicker with the smell of smoke and cheap perfume; and louder with the cacophony of voices and blaring music. To actually hear what anyone is saying, I have to be face to face and sometimes just lip read.

“Well, look at you,” yells a guy with a black bandanna and black beard grown out into a braid. “You must be new. I would remember a gal like yourself.” He has a black shirt on with a cut that says he is one of our own; his name, 'OLD MAN', sketched on his worn patch. I haven’t seen him before, but there are plenty of the members I haven't met personally.

“What can I get you?” I yell, before taking a sip of the beer I have setting under the bar. His attempt to charm is lost on me; everyone has been flirting. Everyone except Shadow, that is. Where is he?

“How about you on your knees?” he yells back and flicks his tongue out at me. I can only laugh. Seriously, is this a line they use on girls?

“Something funny, bitch?” he sneers, puffing his chest out.

“Yeah, the fact that you think you're God’s gift to women. Either tell me what you want to drink or get the hell out of the way so I can help someone else,” I yell back at him while sipping my beer again; this being my third one, I can feel my nerves ease and my confidence rise.

“You little cunt!” All of a sudden, he jumps over the counter to grab hold of me with his meaty hands. I instantly grasp the neck of my bottle, ready to wallop the man in the head with it. Before he can make contact, though, his arm is ripped backward. I look past him, following the tattooed arm holding the dirt bag, to find Bobby shaking his head at the man. He leans in and whispers something in Old Man’s ear. Old Man’s face nearly turns pale, then serious.

“Your dad should get a hold of you before that mouth of yours gets you into trouble,” he sneers as he's walking away.

“You are a brave woman talking shit like that to a biker; and what the hell were you going to do with that bottle?” Bobby asks amused; his face full of laughter.

I look at the bottle I'm still clutching in my hand. I'm a little stunned that my first instinct was to fight back.

“You're different,” he says, trying to size me up.

“How so?” I ask, taking a swig of the beer.

“Most women don’t mouth bikers,” he says, laughing. I shrug in response and grin.

Looking out into the crowd, a swarm of people move as one and I spy Shadow standing in a circle of boobs and legs. The sight makes me slightly gasp and my palms sweat. I hate how jealous I am and that just makes me even more pissed. A girl just looking at Shadow makes my claws come out and he isn’t doing anything wrong; he is just talking.

Suddenly, in my line of sight, I see a pair of dainty fingers snap. They belong to a woman I haven't seen before. Her short hair is black with streaks of blond slicing through it. Her smoky eyes and bright red lipstick have been meticulously applied. A black leather jacket is covering a red tube top but the counter blocks my view below that. She is quite fierce looking; nothing like the other girls I've seen around here.

“Can I get two beers here!” she yells at me, her voice like silk yet sassy.