Free Wild Rebels: A Biker Erotic Romance (Karthadossian Riders MC) by Emily Stone Page B

love with Rex Pershing.
     
    ***
     
    Manny sat at his regular spot, surrounded by the usual suspects and repeated the same tired lines. The speech he’d given his son earlier was nothing compared to what had taken up residence in his head over the past few years.
     
    The first couple of years of his prison stay had been rough. He had a reputation and that reputation got tested every single day by one inmate or another wanting to make a name for themselves. More scars than he could count, broken ribs, bruised kidneys, a nose that permanently leaned to the far left and several teeth that were now made of some kind of cement were what he had to show for those first years.
     
    He didn’t have many visitors. His son came when his foster parents encouraged it, but the visits were awkward and he always felt like he failed to show Rex that he cared about him.
     
    Somewhere around the halfway mark he realized that most of the trouble in his life was caused by his own stupidity and rage. He could have revenge on Xander if he went about it the right way. Using his remaining time inside more wisely, he read everything he could get his hands on, learned ways to control his rage and planned out the best strategy to make sure Xander never saw the light of day again.
     
    A commotion at the door drew his attention back to the present. A crowd had gathered at the door, blocking his view. Standing, he motioned for the others at his table to follow. People moved out of his way and he laid eyes on a tall blonde, face twisted with rage screaming at another woman who was still out of eye sight.
     
    The blonde made a threatening motion with her arms and Manny waited to see what would happen. It wasn’t his place to step in to stop a catfight. Safer to let it play out and have them get it out of their systems. He shook his head, the man they were fighting over probably wasn’t worth a damn.
     
    The blonde and the woman she was screaming at both took a step to the side. Ellie stood across from the blonde, arms crossed at her waist and an indulgent smile on her lips. That look was pure Xander and it usually meant big trouble.
     
    He made up his mind to step in just as the blonde screamed something about Rex leaving her bed and Ellie being a fat cow. Before he could blink, Ellie had the blonde by her ears and was pulling the taller woman’s head down while raising her knee, smashing it into her face. Blood spurted from the blonde’s mouth and nose, her body hitting the ground with a thud.
     
    Ellie saw Manny rushing towards her. Moving over the half unconscious harpy that had attacked her the minute she’d come into the club, she leaned down and got in her face before Manny could pull her away. “You should never run your mouth if you don’t have the balls to back it up. My balls are bigger than yours—and they’re real.”
     
    Chuckles rang out all around and some of Manny’s tension eased. Still, he took Ellie by the arm and pulled her away from the circle of people, worried that someone might take up the blonde’s cause. She was the daughter of a man most people in his club despised and that would be enough for some to put a beating on her. “Come on. We’ll go to my office.”
     
    Ellie pulled to a stop. “I need to find Rex, then I’ll get out of here. I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”
     
    “Coming here was stupid, Ellie. What if your dad has someone following you?” Manny gestured her forward, unwilling to let her go until he got some healthy fear into her. “We’ll go to my office where I know I can keep you safe and call Rex. Okay?”
     
    Ellie nodded and followed him down the hall. She hadn’t been in the club since she was a little kid and it was in bad shape then, worse now. It was a real shame. “Only your guy is following me.”
     
    Manny unlocked the door and pushed it open, letting her enter before him. He closed the door behind them. “My guy isn’t trying to keep from being seen, Ellie.