Toxic (Satan's Death Riders MC Book 1), page 12
“You see, I can’t one hundred percent hate the guy anymore. I just can’t. He’s taking care of my bestie and I’ve been trying to get you to eat for days now, if not weeks, and you wouldn’t do it. He has his uses.”
“It’s … I just … eating has been a challenge.”
“I get it. I do. Life has been stressful. You’re married to a guy you don’t know. No offense, but I don’t think the scheduled fucking comes until like a decade down the line, when there are a couple of kids and spontaneity has gone out of the window.” Petal shrugged. “You and Colt have moved along in your marriage a decade without having the fun honeymoon period.”
“We need to get pregnant,” Rosalie said.
“No, you don’t. What you need to do is enjoy each other. Take time to get to know one another and the babies will come, and this is my point,” Petal said. “You don’t freak out when Colt arrives at the diner. You’re calm and collected, but the moment you see your dad, and he’s merely resting against his bike waiting for you to talk to him, you freak out. Don’t think I didn’t see that today!” She pointed a finger at her.
She couldn’t deny it, since it was the truth. She ran fingers through her hair and sighed. It had been awful.
“I know Colt is not the guy you wanted to marry, and I get that, but isn’t he the better choice here?” Petal asked.
Rosalie took a breath. “I don’t know.”
“Yeah, you do know. Your mom’s becoming BFFs with Kim, I’m always with you, the Satan’s Death Riders MC has picked Al’s diner to be their spot, I think it’s glaringly obvious, but I’ll take you back home.”
“No, wait, I’ll … take me to the clubhouse,” Rosalie said.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“Okey-doke.”
Petal pulled onto the road again and headed toward the Satan’s Death Riders MC clubhouse. Her friend hummed to herself and as she did, Rosalie couldn’t help but feel the panic filling her chest.
Daemon had arrived after Colt and his buddies had left. He rarely brought the same guys to the diner. She had started to recognize Ox and Myth, but that was because Kim always seemed to have Myth with her. She also believed Ox was Colt’s friend, in a way.
She had gotten to meet a lot of guys at the club, but she couldn’t remember most of the names. Rosalie didn’t want to go out to her father, but she had seen a lot of the customers becoming uneasy with an Evil Fuckers MC lurking. The rivalry between the two clubs was old news, and she had no choice but to go out to him.
****
“You’re scaring the customers. You have to come in and order, or leave.”
“Are you pregnant yet?”
She had gotten her period that morning, right on time. “No.”
“You know, it’s a pity. I give you one job to do, and you still don’t do it right. What is it with you? Are you not spreading your legs enough?”
“It takes time to make a baby.”
“It takes one spunk to make a baby,” Daemon said. “Trust me, I know.”
She knew deep down to her soul, he’d been referring to her, to what he did to her mother.
“You’re disgusting.”
He’d stepped right up to her face and smiled. “Do you think you can push me, you little bitch? Do you think I don’t know about the men that are tailing you?”
She had no idea what he was talking about.
Daemon tutted. “You are a thick fucker, aren’t you? I think it’s time I paid your mother a visit. She’s always on my mind and I just want another taste.”
“I’m trying,” Rosalie said. “I can’t force myself to have a baby, but I’m doing everything I can.”
“Are you fucking him every single night?” Daemon said.
This was wrong on so many levels. She knew that deep in her soul. This conversation shouldn’t be happening with her father.
“No,” she said.
All her life, she had hated lying. It was one of those habits she hadn’t learned.
Daemon tutted. “What you need to do, Rosalie, is fuck your husband every single day. You don’t want him straying and risking giving you a nasty disease or infection. I have it on good authority that he is surrounded by women who are more than happy to spread their legs for him.”
“What do you want?”
“Simple, Rosalie. Fuck your husband, get pregnant, and now, seeing as you’ve not given me what I need and I’ve kept my end of the bargain, you need to start learning everything about the Satan’s Death Riders MC.”
“What? What the hell are you talking about?” Rosalie asked.
Daemon shrugged. “Learn everything you need to know about them, or I can go and drag your mother from her cushy little job and spend the next couple of days reminding her who she belongs to.”
He took a step toward his bike.
“No!” She held her hands up, panic rising within her. “Fine. I’ll do it.”
****
She pulled out of the memory and felt tears fill her eyes. Petal wasn’t wrong. Colt was the better of two evils.
Petal pulled into the parking lot of the Satan’s Death Riders MC clubhouse. There was a party going on, which was clear to see.
“I know we’re heading toward spring, but come on, put on some clothes,” Petal said. “It’s fucking freezing.”
Rosalie chuckled. There were several women in miniskirts and bras. They had to be freezing, but they were also dancing around one of the trash bins that had flames coming out.
“Do you need me to wait?” Petal asked.
“No, it’s fine.”
Her friend had told her she had a family thing to get to. Petal had been vague about it, but Rosalie didn’t mind. Whatever her friend’s thing was, she knew it had to be important.
Climbing out of the car, she blew Petal a kiss and watched as her friend pulled out of the parking lot, leaving her alone on club territory. Her heart wasn’t racing at all. No, it pounded inside her chest, threatening to escape. She felt sick to her stomach.
She heard moans nearby and Rosalie turned to see one of the women wrapped around a guy. What they were doing was very, very clear. They were having sex, out in the open, for everyone to see. The sounds coming from them heated her cheeks. For a second, Rosalie couldn’t move as she watched the couple. They were sitting on the main wall, a few feet away from the fire. The men were cheering, and the woman slid up and down the man’s cock like it was a fun ride or something. She forced herself to look away. That wasn’t sex. No, sex was painful.
Rosalie moved toward the main clubhouse only to come to a stop when Ox stumbled outside. He had one arm across a naked woman’s shoulders, and in the other hand, he held a beer.
“Rose!”
She smiled at him and then at the woman who sneered at her.
“Have you come to make my man a happy one?” Ox asked.
She wasn’t used to him talking to her. Most of the time when the men came to the diner, they were silent, allowing Colt to do all the talking, or most of the time, all the ordering.
Colt constantly told her what to do, at least when it came to eating. He had nothing else to say about anyone else.
“Where’s Colt?” Rosalie asked.
“He’s in there, at the bar. Don’t be shocked by what you see,” Ox said. “I don’t know what you’ve done to him, Rose. I think you’ve broken him.”
She didn’t believe that for a second. She stared at the door then at Ox. “Is he with someone?”
“Nah, Colt hasn’t been with anyone in a long time.” Ox winked at her. “I see he’s starting to get under that ice skin of yours.”
Rosalie had heard enough. Stepping through the door, she took a deep breath, and then entered the main part of the clubhouse. She thought outside was intense, that had nothing on the inside.
The women were completely naked, and yes, there was a lot of sex going on. Stepping into the main clubhouse room, she spotted three couples in the throes. One woman was knelt between a man’s thighs, sucking on his cock. She even spotted another woman, servicing one man, while another slid right in behind her. She had no idea what had caused the party mood, but either way, it was none of her business.
Glancing toward the bar, she spotted Colt. He held a glass to his lips, as she recognized the woman from her hen party moving closer to him. Just seeing her trying to gain Colt’s attention pissed her off. She knew she had no right to be pissed off, none at all, but seeing that woman near him, touching his shoulder, made her want to lash out.
Rosalie wasn’t a violent person. She avoided aggression as much as possible, but she wanted to claw the woman’s eyes out. How dare she touch Colt! Without giving herself time to back down, she closed the distance between her and Colt and moved up behind him, tapping him on the shoulder.
Colt chuckled and spun around, only to show surprise when he saw her. “Rosalie,” he said.
The music wasn’t too loud.
“Hey, Colt.” She shot the other woman a glare.
“You texted,” he said.
“I know but I wanted … can we go somewhere to talk?” she asked.
Colt finished his drink and put the glass down on the counter. Rosalie felt a little better as he took her hand and completely ignored the other woman. They moved through the throngs of people. Rosalie was a little worried of being pulled or rubbed against by someone she didn’t want to get close to.
They crossed the clubhouse, Colt opened one of the far doors, and they stepped through. There were steps against the wall, but he walked them down a long corridor, into what looked like a game room.
“Out,” Colt said. “You know the Warden doesn’t like fucking happening in the game room.” He clicked his fingers and out the couples went.
The door closed behind them and Rosalie stood staring at Colt.
“Some party. Are you guys celebrating anything?”
“It’s Friday. Admittedly, there’s no hard and fast rule about how we party, it sometimes gets out of hand. This is one of those nights. Probably because my pop went to the craft thing with our moms.”
Rosalie hadn’t realized Warden had done that.
“Oh, that’s … nice.”
“Babe, it’s fucked up. My dad does not have a single craft within his fingers. Unless you count producing an awesome club, then he’s top of his game.”
She nodded and rubbed the back of her head. “This happens every Friday?” She pointed toward the door.
Colt shrugged. “The guys need to let off steam and the women are more than happy to provide the entertainment. They’re here because they want to be here.”
“I’m not, it wasn’t that, I was just wondering, because you normally come to … well, you know.”
“I come to do my duty on a Friday night unless she’s cycling. I know what I do, Rose.”
Rose, Rosalie, Babe, she was struggling to keep up with his terms of endearment. They seemed to be taking her by surprise. She nibbled her lip.
“What’s the matter, babe?” he asked.
Rosalie looked at him and words just fled her brain. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but it all seemed so hard. Could she truly trust him? She thought about her father and knew deep down in her soul, there was no choice, not a single one.
“Can you truly protect my mom?” Rosalie asked.
Colt lost his smile and he tensed up, all play going out of his body. “Yeah, I swear it, on my life. The club can protect your mother.”
“Because she has been through a lot, and I know the last few months she and Kim have gotten close. I don’t want that to be affected.”
“Rosalie, the club can and will protect your mother. She’s already being protected.”
“I want to believe you, I do, but my dad—”
“Daemon paid you a visit,” Colt said. “I know.”
“You know?”
“You don’t think I’d let you work at that shitty diner without one of my guys being there to keep an eye. I’m an asshole, babe, not a monster.”
“He knows.”
“Who knows?”
“My dad. Daemon, he knew. He said he couldn’t hurt me because you had someone there, watching him, waiting for him to fuck up.” She ducked her head and stared down at her hands. If she did this, there was no turning back. “He told me that I need to … that I need to fuck you every single night. That to get pregnant, I have to be with you all the time, but he now wants me to watch you guys. To learn all your secrets,” Rosalie said.
“He made his move,” Colt said.
“I don’t know if you call threatening my mother making his move but I don’t want to do this. I never wanted any part of this.” She felt the tears filling her eyes. “I just … all I want to do is take care of my mom.”
The tears fell and she hated herself for being so weak. She swatted at her cheek, feeling the annoyance building within her.
Colt closed the distance between them. He stepped toward her and pulled her close. “I’ve got you,” he said.
“He’s going to hurt my mom, Colt. He is going to hurt her if I don’t do something. I don’t know what to do.”
She couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around his waist, holding onto him.
“I’ve got you. Let it go. I’ve got you. He’s not going to hurt you and he’s not going to get close to your mother, Rosalie. I promise.”
“I don’t want to do this.”
Colt let go of her and cupped her face. “Then don’t. You’re mine to protect. You, Gabrielle, and I know you’ll want Petal protected. You’ve got it. You have to trust me.”
“You hate me.”
“No, I don’t. There is no way I can hate my wife. I will protect them all, I promise.”
And then, he did something Rosalie wasn’t expecting.
He kissed her.
Chapter Eleven
Colt stared down at a sleeping Rosalie. She wore a pair of his sweatpants along with one of his oversized sweatshirts. She had been exhausted last night. Reaching out, he tucked some of her raven curls behind her ear. She was so beautiful, even more so in sleep, as the troubled brow disappeared.
Rosalie had told him everything last night about the threat Daemon had over her mother. That was how he controlled Rosalie and got her to marry him, which only pissed him off. She had to have his baby, but why? Did Daemon think that by forcing a woman onto Colt, that he would get attached? Was that the simplicity of Daemon’s plan? Get him attached to Rosalie, and then what? Did he plan to take her away? What would he do to his own daughter?
Colt stared down at her and realized he couldn’t look at Rosalie and Daemon as father and daughter. Their relationship was nothing like that. Daemon used his daughter to get what he wanted. There was no love, nothing paternal. She was a commodity. A pawn.
Pulling away from Rosalie, he left his bedroom at the clubhouse and headed down toward the kitchen, intent on making them both some coffee. He was surprised to see Ox already up and rubbing his head. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked.
“Don’t speak so loud. Nah, no trouble in paradise. I don’t like waking up to a slut attempting to ride me without wearing a condom.”
Colt winced. “Man, that’s tough.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve already kicked the bitch out of the club. I know the rules. No one gets away with attempting to trap a buddy.”
Again, one of Warden’s rules. He didn’t mind the women hanging around at the club for the boys to enjoy but any devious behavior like forcing or attempting to trap one of the guys, and it was over for them. There had been a couple of women over the years who’d tried it. They had all failed. So far, they didn’t have any unwanted babies on their record.
“Did you see Rose?” Ox asked.
“She’s upstairs,” Colt said.
Ox whistled and then groaned. “I’m never drinking again.”
“Until next Friday.”
“Nah, I’m good. I’ve learned my lesson. No drink, nothing.” He rubbed at his temple. “It’s hurting my head. What’s she doing here?”
“She needs our help. Daemon’s threatening her mom. It’s how he got her to do everything she’s done so far.”
“Marry you, fuck you, that kind of thing.”
Colt nodded.
“Dude, that is cold.”
He didn’t need to agree as he was right there with Ox.
“What are you going to do?” Ox asked.
“Talk to Warden, get shit moving.”
“Kim won’t let anything happen to Gabrielle. She’ll be safe.”
It was what he was hoping for.
The kettle whistled and Ox pressed his forehead to the table. “I’m going to die.”
“Why not get one of those women to order some food or at least cook you something?”
“No, God, no, I’ll order. There’s no way in hell I’m trusting any of them to feed me. They’d likely give me food poisoning. When do you think your mom will be stopping by?” Ox asked.
“Probably not today. Maybe Sunday.”
Ox groaned. “I’ll starve by then.”
Colt grabbed a couple of menus off the board. “Then order yourself some breakfast.” He picked up the two mugs of coffee.
Ox stared at the menus and then groaned. “You’ve made my life hell. Now I’ve got to pick what I want as well. Why do you hate me?”
Colt ignored him, carrying the two mugs of coffee from the kitchen up to his bedroom. On his way, he saw Raine coming out of one of the guy’s rooms. The moment she saw him, she tried to act like that wasn’t what she was doing.
“Ox could use your help with ordering himself some food,” he said.
“Yes, of course. Anything you want. You never, er, came back last night.”
“Rosalie’s here, Raine. I had no intention of coming back.”
Raine took a step toward him and he smelled the other guy’s cologne. It was strange, Rosalie worked at a diner, surrounded by other scents, and yet she had never come to him smelling of anything or anyone else.
He stepped into his room and found Rosalie sitting up on the edge of his bed.
