Chapter Twenty-Three

 

Audrey

 

“Can I have everyone’s attention?” my brother shouts over the noise of the crowd and the thumping music. “I want you to all meet…my sister, Audrey.”

Someone whistles and Warren glares in their direction. “She’s with Maddox, so all of you need to keep your hands off of her!” he yells. “Oh, and girls, you better leave Maddox alone too. Messing with him is messing with my sister.”

“Yes, Daddy!” one of the guys calls out in a falsetto, and I get to see one of the rare times my brother flips someone the finger in front of me. Maybe he really is ready to admit I’ve grown up.

“Thank you for inviting me,” I tell Warren.

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever,” he huffs before slipping an arm around Nova’s shoulders. “You’re not a child. Blah, blah, blah. I get it, okay?”

“I pity you, woman,” I say to Nova. “How do you put up with my brother’s constant need for control?”

Her cheeks turn rosy red before she says, “Oh, we’ve found a few…creative ways to help him let out his dominating side.”

Nose wrinkling with disgust, I grumble, “Eww, now I wish I hadn’t asked,” right before the door to the bar opens. I turn around just in time to see two tall, tough-looking bearded men walk in…followed by Maddox.

Instead of yelling “Surprise!” there’s a chorus of deep masculine whoops in celebration as my man stares in shock at the large gathering of people. Most are Savage Kings interspersed with scantily-clad women.

Elbowing my brother in his side, I hiss, “Go! Take him his cut.”

“Fine,” Warren grumbles before he removes his arm from Nova. He then reaches for the leather cut that’s draped on one of the empty barstools. I follow him through the crowd that’s gathered around to greet Maddox, most of the men offering him handshakes and backslapping hugs.

“Here,” I hear Warren say when he holds out the leather to Maddox. “Don’t step into this clubhouse again without it.”

“Yes, sir.” Maddox starts to take the cut with a grin before his gaze drifts over Warren’s shoulder and he spots me.

“Hey,” I say, with a little wave of my fingers.

“Audrey!” Maddox looks from Warren to me several times with his jaw gaping. “What are you doing here?”

“I made my brother give me a ride on his Harley.” I shoulder through to throw my arms around his neck. “Congratulations!” I tell him, placing a kiss to his cheek.

“You knew about all this?” he asks.

“I did,” I agree with a broad smile.

I take the cut from my brother’s hands, holding it up for Maddox to slip on.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” he says as he puts one arm in and then the other.

When the leather is finally where it belongs, I run both of my palms over his chest that’s now decorated with additional patches proclaiming him as a member. Seeing him wearing the cut again also reminds me of the first day we met. “This is a good look on you. I’ve missed it the last few months.”

“Me too,” Maddox agrees, covering my hands with his. “Are you sure you’re okay with all of this?”

“She is,” Warren speaks up before I can. “Trust me, I’ve tried my best to talk her out of it.”

“You won’t regret it,” Maddox says with a kiss to my lips, even though I’m pretty sure he was talking to my brother as much as he was to me.

“I know I won’t,” I reply before I kiss him back, harder this time, and with enough tongue that I hear Warren mutter a curse.

He calls out, “Hurt her, and I’ll kill you,” then leaves us alone.

“You must be Audrey,” a rumbly, authoritative voice says from beside us, followed by a chuckle. When I glance over at him, the bearded guy says, “And you may want that key back for a little longer.”

He holds up a keychain dangling from his finger that Maddox snatches from him with a word of thanks.

“Congrats, brother,” another younger guy, one covered in tattoos, says when he strolls up to us with a beer in his hand. “Let me know when you’re ready to get your new ink.”

 “New ink?” I ask.

“The Savage Kings patches,” Maddox responds. “And I can’t wait,” he tells the guy who I’m assuming must do the club’s tattoos. “Any chance we could do it later tonight?”

“Absolutely,” the man agrees. “We can get started, but it may take a few days to do your entire back.”

“Actually, Gabe, man, if it’s okay, I was thinking about putting mine here,” Maddox says, flattening his palm on the left side of his chest. “Will that work?”

“That will look awesome, brother. I’ve used photos of the ink on all the original members to design the new ones. That’s exactly where Deacon had his.”

“No shit?” Maddox asks.

“Yeah, it was Chase who got the Kings’ back tat trend started,” Gabe responds. “But I’m all for something new.”

 “Thanks, Gabe,” Maddox says, offering him a fist bump.

“Come over to the shop whenever you’re ready,” he tells him.

“We’re probably gonna celebrate for a few hours first,” Maddox says, pulling me closer.

“Understood,” Gabe replies with a chuckle, then disappears back into the crowd.

“So how do you plan for us to celebrate for the next few hours?” I look up at Maddox’s face.

“I think you can guess,” he answers with a grin.