Temperance had no doubt, but Tina, she had crossed a line. Still, she wasn’t going to force a woman out of the club just because she didn’t like her.
Getting to her feet, she climbed out of the booth, having to straddle Jay as she did. Her breasts ended up thrust in his face, and she stumbled on the hard floor. She wore a pair of tights, and her shoes were on the floor. “Are you done for the night?”
“No, I’m not done.” Richard looked past her shoulder. “Do you think you can get away with calling my woman names?”
“She was all up in his space. They were pretty much fucking.”
Temperance turned around to look at the other woman. “You’re kidding right? You’re going to tell a bunch of lies to get what you want.”
“Who are you going to believe?” Tina asked.
“First, I wouldn’t believe you even if I had seen it with my own two eyes. Second, Temperance belongs to me and Jay. If she wants to fuck him in front of the club, then she can. She’s ours. Third, that was your final strike for me. I want you out of the club for good.”
Richard looked pissed, and when she caught sight of the other club members, she knew that Tina had pissed them all off one too many times.
“I suggest you leave the club until we come to a decision,” Russ said.
“But—”
“No buts. Get the fuck out,” Jackson said.
Temperance watched as Tina glared at all of them. That woman was not going to back down without a fight.
****
Later that night, Jay sat back, stroking Temperance’s hair. Her feet were in Richard’s lap. It was that time of the months so fun and games were out of the question. They were snuggled on a large sofa. They were in their pajamas, and Temperance wore a large nightshirt with a kitten on it. The pajama pants had cows.
She cuddled a hot water bottle against her stomach, and had fallen asleep.
“What will happen to that woman at the club?” Jay asked.
Once they had sent Tina off, they had left the club.
“We’re going to get our club lawyer to handle it. We’ll pay her off, but she’ll be bound by an agreement that states she is to keep the running of the club a secret. If anything gets leaked, we have the means of making sure her life is ruined.”
“Wow, don’t you think that is a bit harsh?”
“Besides the fact she called Tempe fat, there is more at stake than just some rumors. Look what is happening to innocent women. I will not allow a spiteful woman to risk others. I don’t care about myself. She can talk about the club all day long to everyone, but we’re not just any club. We’ve made ourselves targets, and that is on us. I regret it, but there’s nothing we can do.”
“More women have been taken?”
Richard sighed. “Sadly, yes. More have been taken, and we can’t know for certain who it is.”
“No one can do a good deed anymore without it becoming an issue.”
“You’ve got that right.” Richard rubbed at his temples.
“Did you always want to be a biker?”
“No. The only thing I ever wanted was to help people. That’s it. I wanted to help people.”
“You are helping people,” Jay said.
“Am I? Right now it seems I’m killing more than I’m helping.”
“You can’t blame yourself for what is going on. You’re doing a good thing, and I bet you’ve saved hundreds of women.”
“Now women are being killed, and I can’t help but fear what will come next.”
Jay looked over at his friend. He never for a second thought he would be loving Temperance with another man. Richard was a good man.
“We’ll handle it together. We’re a team, right? We’ve got each other, which at times is more than others have.”
Richard touched her leg. “I can’t lose her.”
“We won’t. We have this, together.” Jay smiled. “I had lunch today with my bodyguard. His name is Curtis, and he’s ever so nice.”
Richard started to laugh. “You shouldn’t have noticed him.”
“It was kind of hard not to. At first I thought I had an admirer, and then I saw he was packing. I went out, shook his hand, and we had lunch. He’s a good guy. He’s got three kids, and a wife who worries about him.”
“Curtis is a good man. He’ll keep you safe.”
“I also know you’ve got two guards on Temperance.”
“I don’t think she knows about them,” Richard said. “I prefer that. I don’t want her aware of the danger that I may have caused her.”
“You’re not going to lose her. She loves you too damn much to lose you.”