in front of me.
‘Hey, Cat,’ Tiger said as he spotted me, his deep voice rough. ‘What’s brought you down here?’
Ignoring the prospect, I looked over at Tiger, who was standing at the top of the steps. ‘Is Smoke around? I need to see him. It’s urgent.’
I didn’t particularly want to talk to Tiger about Annie either. He was opinionated about a lot of things, and kids was one of them.
Tiger leaned against the doorframe, lifted his beer and took a sip. He looked casual, but the gleam in his amber eyes was anything but. ‘Yeah, he’s around. But I don’t know if you’d want to see him right now.’
‘Why not? Like I said, it’s urgent.’ I shifted on my feet, not wanting to give away too much. ‘Like...life or death urgent.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Tiger’s gaze sharpened, though he kept on leaning against the doorframe lazily. ‘Well, he’s down the corridor. By the bedrooms.’
That was all I needed to hear. Not wanting to waste any time, I didn’t spare the glowering prospect a glance as I went quickly up the steps. ‘Thanks, Tiger,’ I murmured as I slipped through the doors past him.
He gave a low laugh. ‘Don’t thank me. Just remember that this is a party. Don’t blame me if you run into something you don’t like.’
I should have listened to him. But I didn’t. My head was too full of my kid and the asshole who’d picked her up from school and hadn’t brought her back like he’d told me he would. Who wouldn’t respond to my texts or calls.
Fear sat heavy and cold in my gut, but I tried to ignore it as I stepped into the clubhouse. Panicking wouldn’t help anyone—least of all Annie.
‘Watch out for yourself, Cat,’ Tiger called behind me. ‘You know what a Knights party is like. An unspoken-for woman is fair game.’
Actually, I didn’t know what a Knights party was like. I’d never been to one. But Smoke had told me enough about them. Lots of drinking, smoking and loud music. Drugs. Public sex.
Sounded hideous to me, but then again, I wasn’t a Knight and I didn’t go to parties, so it wasn’t my place to judge.
Still, as I made my way down the corridor I realised I was in the thick of it now. And, yeah, I was damn well judging.
The common area of the clubhouse looked like a group of frat boys had gone wild in a huge draughty warehouse—fat black leather couches, pictures of bikes and naked women on the wall, a couple of tables covered in beer bottles. The air stank of cigarette smoke, joints and spilled beer.
There was a bar down one end, where a guy was pouring shots onto the stomach of a mostly naked girl who was laughing and in danger of overturning the shot glasses.
I headed straight through the doorway without stopping or looking around, trying not to draw the attention of the mass of leather-clad bikers sitting on the couches or standing around near the bar. There were a couple of guys over by a pool table with two very naked women who carried cues, and a few who looked like they were having a serious conversation in one corner—except the woman had her head in one lap while her hand worked the guy next him.
Jesus. Smoke hadn’t been kidding about these parties.
I’d only been in the clubhouse a couple of times, but I knew where the bedrooms were and I headed straight there, with my attention firmly on the doorway that led to them. Only to be stopped by a massive dude with tats everywhere, a heavy black beard and the weirdest pale green eyes I’d ever seen.
‘Big Red’ the name on his cut said. The VP. I hadn’t met him before, but Smoke had told me about him. Meanest motherfucker this side of Genghis Khan, apparently.
Just my luck to run into him.
‘Hey, darlin’, whatcha doing here?’ he asked lazily. ‘I ain’t seen you before.’
I gave him a smile, trying to be nice. ‘I’m looking for Smoke. Tiger said he was down this way.’
‘Aw, you don’t need to see Smoke. You can see me.’
Great—first the prospect, now this guy. Could this night get any better?
I widened my smile. ‘Perhaps I could come see you afterward?’
He laughed, raised a hand and gave my chin a pinch—which I did not appreciate. ‘Smoke’s kinda busy at the moment, sweetheart.’
‘Why? What’s he doing?’
Big Red laughed again. ‘He’s with Hannah. He won’t want to be interrupted.’
Of course. Smoke was with a woman. Well, every other guy appeared to be, so why not him?
Simmering anger coiled tight in my gut. So, not only had I been forced to come down here to beg for help during a goddamn party, I was now being forced to interrupt my best friend having sex. And all because my asshole ex, Justin, hadn’t brought Annie home when he’d promised.
I caught that anger, held fast to it—because it sure as hell was better than the cold fear that lay beneath it.
Keeping the smile plastered firmly to my face, I sidestepped the massive VP. ‘Oh, I think he’ll appreciate an extra,’ I said as I moved past him, giving him a wink.
Leaving Big Red safely behind me, I stepped through the door into the corridor beyond. It was quiet back here; the only sounds were the beat of some kind of heavy house music coming from behind one door and the groans coming from behind another.
Oh, God, please don’t let him be behind that door.
I moved down the corridor and was wondering where the hell he was and whether I needed to start knocking on doors and embarrassing myself, when I rounded the corner.
And stopped.
Dead.
A tall figure leaned against the wall. A familiar figure. Six three. Wide shoulders. Lean hips. Hair the colour of black ink cut short and close to his skull. Cheekbones God himself would envy. A strong, hard jaw. Straight nose and straight black brows. A mouth that apparently had sin written all over it—at least it did according to some of my friends.
Smoke. The person I knew best in the world and who knew me best, too. Whom I’d met when I was five and he was seven and we were next-door neighbours. I was his friend the moment he jumped on his skateboard, a skinny little kid in torn jeans and scraped knees, showing off for the new girl next door.
He’d done magic on that board. He’d been like the wind—smooth and fluid and powerful. Even at seven. Right then and there I decided I was going to marry him.
I didn’t, of course.
Because if I had I certainly wouldn’t be here, standing in a bikers’ clubhouse, watching him with his long fingers buried in the dark hair of the woman kneeling in front of him. Obviously getting a blow job.
A wave of the weirdest heat went through me. He always had women hanging around, and I’d seen him making out with them on more than one occasion and it had never
