Carbon: Devil's Rose #8

Chapter 15: Gabriella Jordan

I haven't built up the courage to go talk to the Old Ladies. They're more make or break than the men because the men are going to follow what the Old Ladies say. If I don't get along with the Old Ladies, the men are going to do anything to make their women comfortable, including excluding me from the group. 

I know it's not because they want to be rude but because it's built into them to make sure their women are comfortable and happy. If I were to do anything to mess that up, they wouldn't help me get on their good side. 

And while I think Roman wouldn't stop talking to me or anything, it would just make everything so incredibly awkward. I've been that person with my sister before. The person no one wants there. I know what it feels like to be that person, and it's not enjoyable at all, so I don't want to be that person anymore. 

It would suck if it was that way with the Old Ladies since the MC is such a close group. And while I appreciate Roman telling me to be myself and that I'm amazing and everything, that doesn't mean everyone likes me. I can list a few right now who don't.

But I'm never going to find out what they think about me if I don't go talk to them.

I stand up from Roman's arms and let him know that I'm going to go introduce myself. He rubs pebbles off my calves, nodding his head. Woah, what a vote of confidence from him. I wish he could read my mind, so he would know about my sarcastic comeback, but he can't, so I'm just going to have to deal with it. 

I take a deep breath and head in their direction. The feeling of eyes on me doesn't go unnoticed, but I have to ignore them. I can't allow the pressure to get the best of me even though there's quite a bit of it. I come over to the ladies drinking cold champagne and get their attention with the wave of my hand.

"Hi, uh, I'm Gabby. I came with Carbon and wanted to introduce myself."

"Gabby! I'm so glad you joined us. I'm Fiona, and I'm married to Reaper."

This woman is married to Reaper? I would not have guessed.

They go around the circle introducing themselves by their names and who they are with.

"Tell us the story of how you met Carbon. I've heard rumors but want to hear the whole thing. I want to know every detail," Persephone exclaims, turning their undivided attention to me.

I tell them pretty much everything but leave out the details of how much my sister's friends hate me. They don't need to know that. They ask me a bunch of questions about myself, but after that, we are soon having conversations about the Devil's Rose MC and their children and their jobs and just their lives. 

I know it's not insider information because they also have rules, and I'm sure that they follow the rules of the MC to keep things confidential, but regardless, I feel like I'm part of the group. 

They choose conversations wisely, so that I can be a part of them, and they make me feel like another one of the girls. So much so that they want to start talking about my sex life with Carbon since somehow they know we have one already.

"Oh, please, Gabby. It's so easy to see that he's obsessed with you. He hasn't taken his eyes off of you since you came over here."

"Yeah, but he's being protective and that's it, Kate. That's not anything odd."

"It's not odd, but these MC men don't do that shit for just anyone," Beatrice butts in.

"She's right. All of our men do it, but they only do it because they love us," Piper speaks up.

"We're just saying, he's yours when you want him. You don't have to rush anything, but he does like you, so if you wanted to be more at some point, I'm sure he would love it," Fiona chimes in.