Free Only by Helenkay Dimon Page B

back.”
    â€œThis conversation is over.”
    He’d already lost ground and pissed Wade off. Knowing he couldn’t lose any more, Elijah went for it. He snapped the top off of all those words bottled up inside him. At least Wade finally provided a reaction, which was more than he’d done so far.
    â€œDoes the ongoing punishment make you feel better? That’s what this is, right?” Elijah did a quick glance around and saw Bast staring at him but ignored the boss’s interest. “You want me to pay for not saying the right words when I was pissed off at someone else—not you, but the woman who had pulled a gun on me and held a knife at my throat.”
    â€œYour fight with Becca had nothing to do with me but you pulled me in by mentioning our relationship.” Wade executed the perfect exaggerated pause and held up his hand. “Oh, that’s right. We weren’t in a relationship. That’s what you told her, right? We were just engaged in mindless forgettable fucking.”
    â€œI warned you before that day how she set me off.” Elijah inhaled, searching for a final hold on his temper and finding the tether frayed. “Or were you looking for a reason to move on? To get rid of me? Maybe you were the one who wasn’t into it but it’s easier to blame the end on me.”
    Wade’s jaw snapped closed with enough force for Eli to hear the click. But he didn’t back down. Not now. Not after he finally got Wade to at least say something.
    For a second, Wade stood there, staring as his chest rose and fell on heavy breaths. When he did speak, his voice carried a slap. “You are so far out of line.”
    â€œYou going to kick me out again?”
    A red wash covered Wade’s face as he pointed at Eli. “You don’t belong to the club, so I can throw your ass on the street if I want to. It’s only out of respect for Bast—a loyal member—that you’re still standing here. Jarrett is willing to bend the rules to make Bast happy and I’ll go along with it for now, but do not push it.”
    As if saying his name conjured him up, Bast appeared at Wade’s side. “Is there a problem here? People are starting to stare.” He walked with his usual confidence and his voice sounded as calm and unruffled as ever.
    Whatever club policy might be about dealing with members, Wade didn’t back down. “Tell your guest we have rules here.”
    With his hands folded on the bar in front of him, Bast kept his attention centered on Wade. “I’m pretty sure Elijah knows that.”
    â€œHe’s not acting like it.”
    For the first time, Bast glanced at Elijah. “What exactly happened?”
    But Wade jumped in, his anger still raging. “The same thing that always happens with Eli, he pushes the boundaries too far and things go to hell.”
    â€œOkay.” Bast cleared his throat. “Could you be more specific?”
    Eli had had enough of being ignored and of Wade’s wrath and of wanting something he clearly could no longer have. “Wade doesn’t want me on the property.”
    â€œThat’s not his decision,” Bast said with the same steady calm exterior he used when negotiating with clients.
    â€œMy fight isn’t with you, Bast.” Some of the tension spinning around Wade eased.
    â€œThat’s pretty clear.”
    Wade took the towel off his shoulder and threw it on the bar. “I’m not dealing with this situation right now.”
    â€œOr ever, apparently,” Eli mumbled under his breath.
    â€œI have someone I
want
to talk with.” Wade pushed on the hip-height swinging door that protected his area from the rest of the room and stepped from behind the bar. He glanced at Shawn and then back to Eli again.
    The second kick, this one a gesture instead of words, hit Elijah’s gut just as hard. “And you say I’m the one who’s