Page 33 of Glacier

“Okay.” Taking his hand, I pressed a kiss to his palm. “I’ll clean up. You go shower.”

“Thanks, baby.” He stood and leaned over, sliding his fingers through the hair at my nape. Tilting my head, he took my mouth in a possessive kiss.

“We’ll revisit why you haven’t slept through the night for sixteen years,” he murmured as he pulled back.

I swallowed. “Okay.”

Glacier pressed a quick kiss to my lips and left me to clean up.

I stood on shaky legs.

As much as I hated the thought of raking it up again, if we took this further, Glacier needed to know my history.

***

By mid-afternoon, the drinks were flowing and the food—good Lord, the food. Harriet and Rita had gone all out. I didn’t think I’d ever seen so much.

Glacier had warned me that he asked them to arrange days like this. Not that it bothered me; they’d been a part of the club way longer than I had. It wouldn't do me any good to usurp them when I didn’t know the ins and outs of how things worked. I wasn’t a bitch, and as long as they treated me with respect, I’d do the same. Their life choices were their own. I wasn’t one to judge. I’d been judged often in my life, and I always knew there was more to a person than what they showed on the surface.

Jen, Tru, Janis, and North were sitting at the picnic table with me. Carnage had wandered off to talk with some of the Kings. I liked this group of young women—they were hilarious. North looked torn between laughing at them and rolling his eyes at their antics, but the affection between them was obvious.

We had just finished dessert, and North was making noises about leaving.

That was when it happened.

I was laughing so hard at something Tru said that I didn’t notice the blonde Tart approaching the table until she shoved Jen into the edge of the picnic table. Jen let out a low groan of pain as the air left her lungs.

The blonde shoved Jen again and hissed, “Too good for us now, Jen?”

Jen turned towards the brassy blonde, tears rimming her eyes. Her face flushed red as she struggled to pull in a breath.

The tart leaned closer, her voice dripping with venom. “You’ll always be a whore. Doesn’t matter what clothes you wear or what job you pretend to have. You’ll be back to spreading your legs soon enough,” she sneered. “Nobody wants a used-up cunt like you.”

A low growl rumbled from North as he stood. Across the table, Tru and Janis looked like they were two seconds from spitting fire.

Jen sat there, tears streaming down her cheeks, while the blonde smirked, clearly pleased with herself.

“Fuck this shit.” I surged to my feet, the words out of my mouth before I’d fully registered what I was doing.

My fist connected hard with the blonde’s face, square and solid. Blood sprayed from her nose as she stumbled back with a screech.

“You broke my nose, bitch!” she wailed, clutching her face as blood poured between her fingers.

I hit her again, this time in the stomach. I was never more grateful that my dad and brother had made sure I knew how to throw a punch. Everyone had fallen silent. Someone had turned the music off, and the brothers were watching my every move.

The blonde was now on the ground, her hands clamped over her nose, legs splayed wide.

Not an unfamiliar position for her, I thought to myself with a snort of amusement. She’d pissed me off, but there was nothing wrong with my sense of humour.

Sliding a hand into the back of my boot, I pulled out my knife and swung a knee over her chest, settling my weight on her so she couldn’t move. With the flat of the blade, I tapped her cheek lightly.

“You need to shut the fuck up,” I said quietly. “You brought this on yourself.”

A pair of familiar boots stopped beside us. Glacier.

Tilting my head back, I met his gaze and waited, wondering if he was going to stop me.

He didn’t.