Free Taking It All: A Hellfire Riders MC Romance (The Motorcycle Clubs Book 6) by Kati Wilde Page B

joint out by the county line. Mostly only the Eighty-Eight frequents the place now.
    My dad and Lily both look to me but don’t answer. So it’s club business and none of mine.
    “All right, then. I’ll leave you ladies to it,” he says but pauses before leaving. “That kutte fits you well, Lily. The Riders were right to let you in.”
    Her expression tightens as if she’s been punched in the gut. Her voice is strained. “Thank you, sir.”
    He nods and closes the door. Lily’s still standing there with a white face.
    What the hell? “Are you okay?”
    She swallows hard. “My dad would never have said that in a million years. Shit.” Suddenly turning away, she drags her hands through her hair. “My mouth just keeps running. I’m going to go sleep it off. Thanks, Jenny.”
    “Any time,” I say.
    “Fuck. Fuck.” She pivots back around, her gray eyes fierce. “You mean it, don’t you? Any time.”
    “I do.” Why wouldn’t I?
    “All right, then. You did me a solid, letting me borrow this bike. I’m going to do you one. Normally I wouldn’t ever talk about club business but this is about you, too, so—You heard about the First Lady shit?”
    My gut tightens. “Yes. Saxon said it’s nothing to worry about.”
    “I don’t know if he’s right about that but he’s right that it’s all bullshit. Anyway, he told them the First Lady clause is in conflict with our rule that we don’t hurt women. And because of your issues, following through would be hurting you. So we’re voting on whether we’re going to make him follow through on it or not.”
    So they’re all deciding whether I should fuck him. My cheeks are burning. “Okay.”
    “I’m not telling you to embarrass you. I’m just telling you where the talk you might hear is coming from, because I heard some of the brothers’ conversations last night. Now some of them are saying that the rules aren’t in conflict but you are. We’re supposed to approve any woman the prez chooses. So the solution some of them came up with isn’t to let the First Lady clause slide, but to tell Saxon he needs to find another woman. One who isn’t…damaged.”
    She looks pained as she says it, so I know it isn’t her word but something she heard. It still punches me in the throat.
    “Oh,” I whisper. There’s nothing else to say.
    “They’re fucking wrong,” she says, her cheeks sporting flags of angry color. “I will have the back of any brother. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think some of them are assholes.”
    Dad says the same thing about some of the Titans. “Okay.”
    “I just wanted you to know, so that if you hear this shit being tossed around, it doesn’t catch you by surprise. Saxon never would think it, okay? And I’ve seen that thing you do. You put your chin up and walk on like you don’t care if they’re looking or what they’re saying. Just keep on doing that.”
    By her tone, I don’t think she’s only talking to me—or that it’s the first time she’s said those words. “Is that what you do—just keep on going like you don’t give a fuck?”
    “Yeah, I do. So you’re all right?”
    “I am. And I appreciate the heads-up.” Though my head is still spinning as she straddles the bike. The rumble of the engine settles me for a second. I lift my voice over the noise. “Lily.”
    She looks up at me.
    “Sunday night, Anna and I usually go out. Kind of a girls’ night with dinner and a few drinks. You want to join us?”
    Her gray eyes narrow. “You’re already swaying and now you have to work. Will you even be on your feet tonight?”
    I tap my fingernails along the side of my coffee cup. “There’s a lot more caffeine where this came from.”
    She smiles a little. “All right. See you tonight, then.”
    “Tonight,” I reply, but it’s lost in the roar of her engine. I watch her leave, tires kicking up a long cloud of dust down the drive. I go upstairs and change, then e-mail Anna—asking her to keep her ears