Relief laid a huge smile on my face; this was the best news I'd had in days. "Thank Christ for that."

"Yeah, well, you were right about him, but don't let that go to your head."

"Shit, never say 'you were right' to Nash," Erika chimed in.

"That's the fucking truth," Jamison agreed, "He'll never let you forget it now."

I raised my hands. "Nope, I promise not to remind you of just how often I'm right," I winked at Carla, "but let the record show, it happens often."

My mother rolled her eyes. "My cocky son. You haven't changed much over the years."

"And yet, you still love me just as much," I joked with her.

"Most days. On the other days, I remind myself that there's a nice guy in there somewhere."

Erika chose this moment to bring up her issues with me. "I'm having one of those days with Nash today; reminding myself he's not all bad."

"You still going on about your neighbour?" I asked.

She put her hands on her hips and glared at me. "Yes, I'm still going on about that. Why did you confront him when I told you not to?"

"You said you'd call the cops; they'd do nothing for you, so I did."

"Well, he came and had a go at me about it last night."

"I'll come and see him again."

"God, no! Just stay out of it, okay? I think we've come to an understanding."

I grinned. "Hate to break it to you, sis, but it looks like I was right again." I held up my fists. "People listen to these."

She rolled her eyes. I laughed and turned to Carla. "So kiddo, what do you want for your birthday?"

She groaned. "Nash, I'm a grown woman, I'm not your kiddo anymore."

I hooked my arm around her neck and dragged her closer to me. "I think if we could just get this one thing agreed upon, it would make my life a lot easier. You'll always be a kid to me and as such you shouldn't date ever again. Okay?"

Jamison started laughing. "I'm with Nash on that one, Carla. If he and I didn't have to deal with the guys that want into your pants, our stress levels would dramatically decrease."

She struggled out of my hold. "I'm only thirteen years younger than you so I'm not sure why that's a huge deal to you."

"Hell, even if there was only three years between us, I'd still have issues with it," I muttered. Carla had given us many reasons over the years to worry about her; Erika too. But Carla seemed to have a knack for finding the biggest dickheads around.

Mum stepped into the conversation again. "Thank God Nash and Jamison worry about you, Carla, I've lost track of the number of times they've had to bail you out, baby."

"And score three to Nash. Right again," I boasted with another huge grin on my face.

Everyone in the room groaned, but I continued to flash my shit-eating grin at them. Family. It was just what I'd needed tonight. And to think I'd almost walked away from them after I served time years ago. Thank fuck Griff had talked some sense into me and led me back to them.

I walked out of church the next day in a worse mood than I'd walked in. The feeling in the club at the moment was very apprehensive after the fall out between Marcus and J, and Marcus had just cemented his asshole status. Problem was that most of the boys were behind him, leaving the few of us behind J with our dicks swinging in the wind.

"Nash, got a minute?"

I turned to see Marcus walking towards me. "What's up?"

"You know where J has gone?"

"No, that fucker doesn't tell me anything," I lied.

He assessed me for a second. His scrutiny pissed me off; actually, everything about him pissed me off.

"You seen Madison lately?"

"Fuck, Marcus, I don't keep tabs on your daughter. If you wanna see her, you sort that shit out, don't go through me."

His anger threatened to erupt, but he kept it in check. "You need to learn some fuckin' respect. Shit's gonna go down and if you don't pull your head in, things are gonna get real messy, real fuckin' quick."

I stepped closer to him. "Have the fuck at it, asshole, because the way I'm feeling, I could give a flying fuck." My anger burned in me; it was getting harder each passing day to contain it, and Marcus copped a lick of it.

He growled. "Remember you said that."

I watched him walk away; his shoulders were rigid and he strode like he was on a warpath.

"Marcus giving you grief?" Scott caught up with me, a scowl on his face as we watched Marcus talking to some other club members.

"Asked about J and then threatened me. What the hell was up with that meeting?"

Scott shrugged. "Got no idea. He keeps shit to himself these days; doesn't tell me much of what's going on."

"Looks like his intention is to get us back into drugs. Not a good fuckin' move."

"That run he's organised is a bad move. Cops are all over shit at the moment, the last thing we need is to be caught up in that."

"You need to talk to him, brother," I suggested. Marcus had volunteered our guys as protection for a drug run the Adelaide chapter was organising.

Our eyes were drawn to Griff who had just approached Marcus. Marcus gave him a friendly slap on the back and Griff hit him with a smile.

"That looks fuckin' friendly," I mused, "You know what's going on there?" The last I knew, Griff had come around to our way of thinking and was trying to figure out what Marcus was up to.

Scott frowned. "Yeah. No idea what that's all about." He directed his attention back to our conversation. "Problem with this Adelaide deal is that Marcus seems to have convinced everyone else it's a good plan. We're in the minority on this one which doesn't give us many options."

"You heard from J?"

He shook his head. "Not yet. He'll have to come back soon though or Marcus is going to get suspicious."

Our attention was drawn again to Griff. He was laughing at something Marcus had said. That was odd because Griff never laughed at anything.

"Definitely something going on there," I said, feeling mild irritation at Griff.

Scott watched them for another couple of moments. "Yeah."

"Fuck!"

Scott raised his brows at me, questioning my outburst.

"It just feels like if it's not one thing, it's another at the moment." I lifted my hand and rubbed my neck but it did little to alleviate the knots that had formed there. Shit was hitting the fan in all directions and I wasn't sure if I would escape unscathed.

Chapter 12.

Man I Feel Like A Woman ~ Shania Twain Velvet "Cheers!" I clinked Harlow's glass and threw the shot down my throat. It burned on the way down but the warm buzz it gave me felt really fucking good. This week had been long and crappy, and I was glad it was over. I'd organised a girls night out at Graggs, a new bar in town. Never having been here before, I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a popular place and the party atmosphere ensured we were having a great time.

Harlow's face flushed with excitement as she ordered more drinks. "This was such a good idea, Velvet!"

Roxie bumped her hip against mine and chimed in, "Fuck, yeah! I haven't had a girl's night out in ages. It's a shame that Madison couldn't be here."

"She's got a good excuse though," Harlow was almost slurring her words. We'd consumed a lot of alcohol in a short amount of time; it was probably time to slow it down because I didn't think she could hold much more.

"What's that?" Roxie asked.

"She's babysitting Nash."

Her words hit me in the gut. I hadn't seen or heard from Nash in six days. Indigo was a lonely place without him, but he'd made his intentions clear, and I was getting on with life.

"Why does Nash need babysitting?" Roxie asked, clearly confused.

"I don't know really, it's just what Scott said when I asked why Nash was going over to Madison's house. It's a bit odd though, isn't it?"

Roxie finished her next drink, and said, "Yeah. I mean, what biker have you ever heard of who needs babysitting?" She eyed me. "You sort your shit out with him?"

I could have killed her. I hadn't told Harlow about Nash and I, but she was looking at me with interest now, waiting for my response as much as Roxie was. "Yes," was all I said.

"And?" Roxie prompted.

"And nothing. He just wanted a bit of fun and now he's done with me." The words physically hurt to say.

Harlow's eyes widened. "You slept with him?"

I shot Roxie a foul look before answering Harlow, "Yes, once."

Harlow looked like she was about to burst with excitement. "I knew you two were totally suited!"

"No, we're not." I sculled my drink; maybe the alcohol would numb the pain that thinking about Nash caused. "Can we please change the subject?"

I must have said that with enough oomph to make them realise I really didn't want to discuss Nash.

Roxie was straight on it. "When do you finish your beauty course? Cause I'm thinking I need a beautician in my salon."

"Shit, that would be awesome. I finish in about a month."

She grinned. "Good. That's settled; we'll get a room set up for you." She beckoned to the bar tender to bring us more drinks while I let the happiness settle in me that she'd made that offer. Nothing in my life had ever come easy, often it felt like I was pushing shit up a hill, but some things were finally falling into place. And this was a huge step in the direction I wanted to go.

"I think we've had enough to drink," I suggested, looking at Harlow who was swaying like there was a bloody cyclone passing through.

Roxie followed my gaze and began laughing. She reached out and grabbed Harlow, trying to steady her. "Doll, it might be time to take you home to lover boy."

Harlow smiled a drunken smile. "Yeah, he'd like that."

Roxie murmured, "Oh, I'm sure he would." She indicated for me to help her get Harlow under control and we made our way outside to find a cab. "Does she always get this drunk this quick?"

"No, she can usually hold her liquor. Maybe she didn't eat much today," I suggested.

Harlow interrupted us. "Was busy at the cafe today, didn't get to eat anything after breakfast," she slurred.

"Scott's going to be pissed at us for letting you drink this much," Roxie said.

"Totally not our fault," I said. I wasn't taking the blame for this if Scott wanted to have a go.

Harlow giggled. "Don't worry about Scott. He's easy to control."

I laughed out loud. "Umm, only for you, Harlow. No-one else gets away with the shit you do where Scott's concerned."

She giggled again just as a guy approached us on the footpath. "Ladies, you ready to go home?"

"That's one of the worst pick up lines I've ever heard," I scoffed. "And that's a damn shame, dude, because you're rocking some serious hotness there." I drank in his muscles, his dark hair, his tats; he had the exact look that did good things to a woman, but he seriously needed to work on his flirting skills.

Nash could teach him a thing or two.

Shit. Random thought number five hundred about Nash for the week; I had to get him out of my system. Maybe this guy could help me after all.

Before I could think about that any further, Harlow trilled, "No, silly, he's the prospect. Scott must have sent him to take us home."

"Either that, or he sent him to keep an eye on you. That's a little too controlling for me," Roxie didn't hide her aversion to men who took charge like Scott did.

Harlow cocked her head. "No, I don't see it that way. Scott likes to make sure I'm safe; I think he only has good intentions when he does stuff like this."

"Yeah, I'm not so convinced." Roxie wasn't a man-hater; she just valued her independence and didn't cope well when her man involved himself in her life like Scott did with Harlow.

The prospect tried to hurry us up. "While I find your conversation about men amusing, ladies, I'd like to get you home so that I can get back to more pleasurable activities." He winked at me as he said this, and his hotness rating skyrocketed.