The following day Pipe watched as Elena stood at the kitchen sink at the clubhouse, and was washing up the breakfast dishes. They"d not talked about what had happened last night. The moment he got to the clubhouse, he"d told Knife to put Elena in his room, and then brought the rest of the brothers up to speed with what had happened.
They were all tense, waiting for the attack he was sure was going to come. He"d have taken her back to his cabin, but since her admission that she loved him, he couldn"t let her out of his sight. Pipe loved her. He loved her so d.a.m.n much that it scared him. Sipping at his coffee, he didn"t take his gaze off her, even as his men looked on, not impressed with the fact he hadn"t taken her home.
"Have you told her that she belongs to you?" Shawl asked.
"I will today. Last night when I got to bed, she"d been asleep." He"d taken note of her tears though. Elena had fallen asleep crying, and he didn"t like that.
"Are you sure this is the right decision?"
"Do the men have a problem with my decision?" he asked, countering the question with a question.
"No. They trust you, and so do I, Pipe."
"I"m not going to put the club at risk. The h.e.l.l"s Wolves is still my priority, and it"s not going to change. Elena is my woman, and she will have the best life I can give her. Making peace with the Saints and Sinners is my aim."
"When do you think Saint will arrive?"
"A couple of hours. He needs to calm down first." Getting to his feet, he made his way toward Elena. Once he stood behind her, he wrapped his arm around her waist. "Hey, baby."
She tensed up.
"You were asleep last night when I came to bed."
"You were gone a long time."
He kissed her neck. "I had to make the club aware of what is going on. Saint"s not going to let you go easily."
She held onto the edge of the counter, and he kept his hand on her stomach. "Should I even be here?"
"Yes."
"But we"re causing problems."
He turned her toward him, and cupped her face so that she had no choice but to look at him. "Listen to me closely, Elena, I love you. You"re my woman, and I"m not backing down, nor am I letting you go. I will fight Saint for you."
"You love me? You don"t have to say that you do."
The only way to silence her was with his lips. He slammed his mouth down on hers stopping all protest from her. Sinking his fingers into her hair, he held her tight against him with another hand cupping her a.s.s.
Releasing her lips, he didn"t back away from her, or give her the chance to pull away. "I once told you that you couldn"t handle what I feel for you. I"m in love with you, you"re my old lady, and we"re going to make this work. I promise you."
"I believe you."
He pressed a kiss against her mouth. "You"re my old lady now."
She smiled. "I never thought I"d be an old lady."
He let her go, and removed his leather jacket. "I"ll get you a cut soon enough, but I want you to wear this one." He placed his jacket over her shoulders, and she looked so d.a.m.n beautiful in the cut.
"It"s a little big," she said.
"It looks good on you."
"Pipe, they"re here," Shawl said, calling to him.
The smile that was on her face disappeared.
"Saint arrived sooner than I thought."
"He"s not alone. Several members of his club are here."
Gripping the lapels of the jacket, he kissed her hard. "Trust me, baby."
"I trust you."
Taking her hand, he made his way out of the club, and there in the parking lot at the head of the club sat Saint. He"d already climbed off his bike, and Pipe kept Elena by his side as he moved toward the front of his men. The h.e.l.l"s Wolves were all tense, ready to reach for their weapons, and so were the Saints and Sinners.
If he let it turn to a gunfight, it would be a bloodbath, and he wasn"t interested in that. None of them would make it out alive, and he had to protect his club and Elena.
"We"ve got a score to settle," Saint said, moving to stand in front of him.
"We do. I"ve been expecting you." Elena gripped his hand a little tighter. He did his best to rea.s.sure her.
"The only place I know this is going to go down is in the f.u.c.king ring."
"You want to fight?"
"You"ve got it."
"What? No, you can"t fight. That is archaic. Pipe, don"t fight him. I"m here, and you can leave him alone. You don"t need to fight."
Pipe saw the pain in Saint"s eyes. "I need to fight. When we"re in the ring, we"re going to negotiate what our relationship means. I love your sister, and I"m not going to let her go."
Saint"s jaw clenched. "Let"s fight this out."
He nodded toward Shawl to get it all set up. "Let"s fight."
Keeping hold of Elena"s hand, he made his way back into the clubhouse.
"You can"t fight him, Pipe. I don"t want you to fight him."
"I"m going to fight him so that you can get to know your brother."
"That makes no sense."
He chuckled. "You and Saint may not be on the best of terms right now, but you love him. He"s your brother, and he"s family. You"ll regret it, baby. I"m going to make sure you"re happy, and if this fight helps, I"ll do it."
"I don"t want to see either of you in pain."
"I can take a hit, babe. You can stay here, or come out. It"s up to you, but I"m going out there to strike a deal with him, for us."
"I don"t want you hurt."
"I"m not going to get hurt. Trust me." He cupped her cheek, kissed her lips, and reluctantly walked away. Knife was standing by the door. "Protect her."
He waited long enough for him to nod, and then made his way toward the fighting ring. The Saints and Sinners were on one part, and his club was on the other.
"Are you sure Elena is worth this?" Shawl asked.
"Without a doubt."
He made his way into the ring, and watched as Saint removed his leather cut, making his way toward him.
"You really want to do this?"
"We"ve got problems to resolve, and I think the only way I"m going to handle these problems is with our fists." Pipe kept his hands down by his sides as did Saint. They were both evenly matched, and he didn"t know who would win, him or Saint.
"How long you been s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g my sister?"
"None of your business. I"ve treated Elena with respect, and you should as well." Pipe was determined that he wasn"t going to lose his cool. This was what had to happen. They were two different leaders, and not only did they have to prove their strength to each other, they had to prove it to their clubs.
"I"ll treat my sister how I want to treat her."
"What"s that? Leaving her with a crazy b.i.t.c.h who beat her?"
Saint rushed him, and Pipe laid into him, landing punches where he could. Several swipes of their fists, and he pulled away, wiping his mouth.
"I didn"t f.u.c.king know what was going on. Do you think I"d let anyone hurt her? I love my f.u.c.king sister, and Elena should have come to me. I f.u.c.ked up!"
"I"m not going to hurt her. I love her." He took the blow to the face, and spitting out blood, he glared at Saint. "You can keep on hitting me. It"s not going to change the fact that I"m in love with your sister. She"s my whole world."
The fighting really commenced, and it was brutal. They yelled, fought, and Pipe proved to Saint that he wasn"t going to back down, nor was he going to give in when it came to Elena. He was in love with her, and whether Saint liked it or not, they were destined to be brothers-in-law.
They stood, facing each other, bleeding, and ready to fight some more.
"Saint?" Elena said, drawing their attention to the edge of the fighting ring. Knife held her arm, keeping her back. "I love him. I never shared any club information. I didn"t betray you, but I knew you wouldn"t let me see him."
"I didn"t ask her anything. We were seeing each other. The clubs never came into it."
Saint lowered his fists. "I"m sorry for losing my temper. Elena, I don"t think you"re a wh.o.r.e, and I"m so sorry." He opened his arms, and Pipe moved out of the way so Elena could embrace her brother.
"I"m not going to come between the two of you," Pipe said. "I love Elena, and I know she loves you. I won"t make her pick."
"You want to make this work, Elena with you?"
"Yes." Pipe had already got the backing of his club.
"This would mean we can"t go to war. We"re going to have to come to terms with sharing information, and pa.s.sing through each other"s territory?"
Pipe shrugged. "I"ve had worse things happen to my club. I"m prepared to do everything to make peace, and to keep the woman I love safe."
Saint looked back toward his club, and they nodded. "We"re not interested in war. We can make this work, not just for the clubs, but for my sister as well." He kissed Elena"s head, and reached out to shake his hand.
Pipe looked at the hand, and took it, shaking it.
It was going to be a rocky friendship, but he was determined to make it work.
Two weeks later Ralf parked his car outside of the cafe where Sarah worked. She"d been out of his life completely for two weeks, and he was dying inside. He loved the club, and would always be loyal to Saint.
Sarah was his woman, and he"d made the biggest f.u.c.king mistake. He"d gone back to the apartment, and it was completely empty. Her stuff was all gone, and he couldn"t bring himself to stay at night anymore.
He slept at the clubhouse, and stayed away from the club p.u.s.s.y. He"d not been with anyone since Sarah. Club p.u.s.s.y was more than willing to give in to him, but he didn"t want the s.k.a.n.ks that were on offer. He wanted Sarah.
Climbing out of his car, he made his way toward the cafe, and took a seat in the back. He picked up the menu and started reading through.
"What can I get you?" Sarah asked.
He lowered the menu and stared at his woman. Her hair was no longer dyed. The brown locks looking glossy, pulled back in a ponytail.
"What are you doing here, Ralf?"
"I want you to come home."
"I"m not coming home. I"m happy here."
"You"re happy in a city that offers you s.h.i.t?"
She sighed. "Are you going to order something?"
"Come home."
"No."
"You"re going to be difficult."
She released a s.e.xy growl, and took a seat opposite him. She folded her arms and leaned on the table. "You want to talk this through now? I thought your deal was to go back running to your club."
"I wasn"t running."
"I thought I was pregnant, Ralf, and in response, you ran. Guess what? I"m not pregnant, and we"re through. I don"t need a man who will run at the first sign of actual commitment. Leave me alone, and move on." She picked up her notebook and pen, moving away.
Ralf stayed at his table, and Sarah brought him a coffee. No one knew that they had nearly been pregnant. When Sarah had told him, he"d panicked, and run like a f.u.c.king a.s.shole. It was going to take more than an apology and asking for her to come back to win her over. He was going to win Sarah back, whether she liked it or not.