Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46461 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 232(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
“No,” I said automatically, holding my hands up and taking a couple steps back. “I was just looking around.”
“You’re not Bane. You’re not allowed anywhere but in the main room. Who you with, anyway?” The girl kept advancing on me, backing me up until I was close to the wall. I put my hand over my belly protectively.
“I just got here last night.” I looked around, suddenly terrified I was getting ready to be ambushed. “I’m staying on the third f-floor.”
“No one stays up there but ol’ ladies and officers. And you ain’t neither.” The woman was joined by two more women. They didn’t seem as aggressive as the first one, but I still didn’t want to be in the hallway with them by myself.
“I am. Lucy can vouch for me. Doc can.”
“Yeah,” the woman sneered. “We heard all about Ripper taking you to Doc.” She indicated my swollen belly with a sneer. “Just ’cause you got yourself knocked up don’t mean you’re with Ripper. What would he want with a woman getting ready to have someone else’s kid?” Her smirk was cruel. “You’ll have the fucking kid, then he’ll move on when he can’t fuck you any longer. Surprised he took you on in the first place. Ain’t like you’re all that much to begin with. He won’t stick around long.”
One of the others giggled but kept her distance. “Just long enough to show you you don’t belong here. Ain’t Rivet right, Taz?”
“Ripper never stays with anyone long, Foxy,’’ Taz said. She looked a little more wary than her companions. “But he’s also never taken an interest in a woman like this before. I don’t think we need to be doing this,” she said softly, backing away. “Rivet, Ripper’ll kick us out or worse if he finds out and you’re wrong.”
As if to press her point to the other two, the first woman, Rivet, stepped close enough to be in my personal space again, stabbing me in the chest with her finger. It was hard enough to make me wince. “Don’t think you can worm your way into the club by making him feel sorry for you because of that fucking brat you’re carrying. It won’t work.” She gave me an evil grin. “No one wants you here. Least of all Ripper. I mean, what would a man like him want with someone else’s brat to raise?” She shook her head. “No. If he ain’t fucking you, he has no use for you. Same as all the other men here.” Giving me a once over from head to toe, she snorted in disgust. “Hell, from the looks of you, it won’t be long until you’re begging off the fucking. How it makes you uncomfortable or what if it hurts the baby?” Rivet mocked me, pretending to be sad or in pain before laughing along with Foxy. Taz just looked at Rivet and shook her head, backing back down the hall but stopping short of abandoning her friends.
“You know him well?” It was a stupid question to ask, but I couldn’t help myself.
Rivet laughed heartily. “Oh, yes, baby girl. I know Ripper. He’s reclusive. Stays in his office most days. But he’s a great fuck. Man loves it rough. He might have shown you a good time, but he’s forgotten about you by now.”
“If he hasn’t,” Foxy said with a giggle, “he soon will. We’ll see to it.”
“We see to all the men here.” Rivet shoved me back against the wall, pinning my shoulders there for long moments while staring me down. “You don’t belong. Best you pack up and move before you get hurt, baby girl. You and your little brat.”
I clutched my belly protectively, the other hand flat against the wall. “I’m not here to cause trouble. And I only stayed because Gid… I mean, Ripper made me. I was going to just leave.”
“Well, he ain’t here making you stay. I suggest you be on your way before someone takes matters into their own hands,” she hissed. “Leave!”
“That’s enough, Rivet.” I turned to see another woman with long, straight black hair. She was dressed in black leather pants with a matching tank. The heels she wore were positively wicked on the thigh-high black boots. “She’s not to be touched. You all know this.”
“Yet she’s out here alone. Roaming the halls of the club like she owns the damned place.”
“She can go where she wants. You three, on the other hand, aren’t allowed past your second-floor rooms, and only in designated areas. Which, strangely, you’re out of. You know the rules.”
“She’s breaking them, too! What the fuck, Isadora?” Rivet looked positively livid as she glanced from Isadora back to me.
“She’s Ripper’s.” Isadora shrugged. “Or might be. Doesn’t really matter. The ol’ ladies have given her free rein of the clubhouse if she chooses, and their men are with them on this. Even Thorn. All you need to do is leave her alone. It’s not that difficult to understand or hard to comply with.”