Page 40 of The Originals
Jack arched his brow. “Give you any pushback?”
Changes were being made, not only for the club but those they serviced. Protection was a huge moneymaker, but it came at a hefty price tag.
Mick shook his head. “Wasn’t fucking happy but he gets it.” Mick tapped the bar and one of the girls immediately grabbed the bottle from the shelf, pouring him a drink. She sauntered over with a smile, but Mick glared. Since Meg’s absence at the club, a few of the girls had considered it open season, offering up everything. Mick had no interest, abruptly turning them all down. There was only one woman he wanted.
“Talk to Meg?” Jack asked. His president already knew the answer. All of them did. There was only one reason he’d be this pissed off. It was amazing the power of love had, especially when it was lost.
Mick grabbed his drink and shot it back. He slammed the glass on the bar and pointed to his empty glass, ordering a refill. He wiped his mouth and stared straight across the bar.
“Gonna give you some fucking advice, brother,” Grain said, and Mick was only half listening.
He respected Grain, honored him as a brother, and loved him. But Grain was the last person Mick would be taking advice from about women. He had the charm of a lion who hadn’t eaten in weeks. Grain went through women like he was in a race to get through the female population and break records for bedding the most.
“Best way to get over a woman is fucking another.” Grain waved his arm theatrically around the room. “Take your fucking pick, brother. Hell, pick two.” Grain furrowed his brows and squinted, staring at the short blonde grinding on Mack. “Except that one. Uses too much teeth when she sucks you off.”
As expected, Mick wouldn’t be entertaining Grain’s advice. Maybe if his connection to Meg had been strictly physical, banging another woman would be an easy fix. But it went deeper with Meg. He was starting to see a life with her down the road. A real future. Mick had never been much of a planner, preferring to live life by the seat of his pants. But in the last month he’d started thinking about the two of them getting their own place. There were a few small houses in Ghosttown. It would keep him close to the club and give them their own space.
“Gonna let her go?” Jack took a deep drag of his smoke.
Mick wasn’t prepared to give her up, but he had no idea how to resolve it with her.She won’t fucking talk to me. He wouldn’tgo into detail with a room full of brothers. He settled on a short answer.
Mick drew in a breath, sighing. “Don’t know if I have much of a fucking choice.”
Jack stared across the bar, lifted his beer to his lips, and took a sip. “You always got a choice, brother.”
“She ended it, Jack. Not me.”
There was a lingering silence.
“You bring her into a world she doesn’t know, there’s gonna be a lot of teaching on your end. You look around at the brothers with old ladies, most of them been in the life forever. They either grew up in it or around it. That’s the draw for them. The others?” Jack gestured to the club whores at the end of the bar. “They’re just here to party until they get bored with our asses and move on. But someone like Meg and” —he glanced across the room at Tully and his wife— “Maureen? Those are lifers. Solid women. You gotta be prepared to have patience with them. Also, gotta make sure you’re not asking her to trade her life for yours, brother. You ain’t willing to give up the club, you can’t ask her to give up hers. Or expect our life to make sense to her unless you walk it with her.” Jack finished off his beer, placed the bottle on the bar, and stood. “You walk in front of her, you’re telling her to fall in line. You walk beside her, you’re telling her that her place iswithyouandthe club.”
Mick cupped his mouth, watching Jack walk through the room and out the front door.
Walk beside her.
Chapter Ten
“And I’m going to have seven bridesmaids, all in pink chiffon with lace and tulle.”
It sounds hideous.Meg forced herself to smile while all the women gathered around Vivian, admiring her engagement ring. When Linda had invited her to come out to dinner with friends, she’d had no idea it would be an impromptu celebration for her high school friend who had recently gotten engaged. Linda profusely apologized, but Meg waved it off. As much as coming off a breakup was hard, Vivian’s future was never the one Meg wanted for herself anyway.
“I need you all to mark your calendars for next Saturday for the dress fitting.”
One of their friends, Sheryl, cocked her head, “You said seven bridesmaids.” She glanced around the table, looking uncomfortable as she shifted in her chair. It wasn’t until she brought attention to it that Meg realized, aside from Vivian, there were eight girls at the table.
Vivian smiled with a nervous chuckle, staring directly at Meg. “Well, we wanted to pair couples, and since you aren’t dating any of Mitch’s friends, and um…” Vivian blinked incessantly. “I’m sorry, Meg. Maybe we can have you…”
Meg instantly held up her hand. “Vi, it’s completely fine. I understand.”
To her credit, Vivian looked remorseful, and her apology was heartfelt. It was a relief to Meg anyway. While it was some girls’ dream to be in a wedding with all the planning and catering to the bride, it wasn’t Meg’s.It actually sounds like a nightmare.
Apparently, Meg wasn’t the only one sharing that thought.
“I’m tempted to break up with Eddie just to get out of wearing that dress,” Linda whispered under her breath.
Meg tightened her lips to keep herself from smiling. It was ironic. She hadn’t so much as smiled in the last two weeks, and this one time she had to stop herself. It was a good sign, though. It meant she was returning to the living.Barely.
Today marked two weeks since Mick had driven off from her house, taking her heart with him. It may have been dramatic, but it summed up exactly how she felt. She constantly had to remind herself it was the right decision. Mick’s life was not hers.