“So, you seeing what I’m seeing?” I asked Tech as I lined up another shot. I was beyond pissed off at the moment and I was scratching every fucking ball that I aimed to hit, and it was all because of Rowan. She was so desperate to protect everyone around her that she forgot to protect her own sweet, perky ass.

“I sure am. Damn the little woman does have some spitfire in her, doesn’t she?” Tech asked and took a swig from the beer that Rowan had brought us. “I can see why you are all so protective of her.” I saw Tech look at me with that calculating look in his eyes.

Oh, hell no, I couldn’t let him know just how she affected me.

“She’s Stone’s cousin. What else do you expect? She’s made of steel and tempered in hell, so of course she’s got a spine to her.” I hoped that would be enough to get Tech off my ass long enough for me to figure out how the fuck to best protect Rowan without getting Stone on my ass, too.

“It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t Hector Juarez that was currently eyeing her like she was his next meal,” Tech said and took his next shot. “You do realize that this complicates shit, right? The Scorps are on our turf, Stone is going to have a shit fit, and it’s going to mean war if the fucker isn’t in here for just a drink.” Leave it to Tech to state the utter obvious.

“I fucking know,” I growled at him and looked back to Rowan once more. The bastard had touched her, and I still couldn’t get over that fact. That fucker had touched what was mine, and she had let him. I had to pull back from that dark place inside of me because I knew I had no right to call her mine when I hadn’t even really admitted it to myself. No, I needed to let her do her and simply live her life. Being with me would be too dangerous for her.

“We should call or text him and let him know. You know as well as I do that he’s going to be even more pissed off that one of those bastards touched his cousin.” There went Tech stating the perfectly fucking obvious once more.

I looked up at my friend and slammed my hand on the pool table hard enough that the balls jumped. “I. Fucking. Know.”

God dammit, everything about this situation was in the shitter, and it pissed me off. I didn’t like the fact that Rowan was in the path of possible destruction, and I detested the fact that one of those fuckers felt that he had the right to touch her, even if she pushed him back after. The fact of the matter was he felt he had that right because she didn’t have a protector, and that was something that couldn’t continue.

“Right now, all I can see is that fucker touching her, so you call him,” I told my friend. I usually didn’t pass anything off, especially when it dealt with calling the boss, but right now all I could see and think about was that asshole touching Rowan and the way that she kept trying to get us out of the bar. There was some shady shit going down, especially if a Black Scorpion felt that he could walk right into this bar and looked as if he owned the fucking place. This was Silver Devils’ turf and everyone knew it, so the fact that this asshole was here only confirmed the fact that Jake was playing fast and loose with the rules that he had been given so long ago.

“God damn, if I didn’t know any better, I would think you were laying claim on her. You are acting like Stone did when he met Ava. What the fuck is wrong with you, man?” Tech asked with a frown.

“She’s fucking mine, and no one touches her.” I said the words before they even registered in my brain. I couldn’t believe that I had come right out and said those words when I hadn’t intended to say jack shit about Rowan and how possessive I was feeling about her.