Danny had pushed too far.
They all knew it, and they recognized that Bishop had let him off easy.
“No one talks about our woman that way.” Ash, refusing to be left out of the party, stood beside me with his arms crossed.
His full-stop statement brought all the attention back to us.
His choice of words clicked.
Our woman.
Not some woman under our protection.
Ours.
Bishop walked backward until he stood on my other side.
He had to be hurting like a motherfucker, but he never let it show.
“Noelle made a choice. When her captain forced her hand, demanding that she arrest us on Christmas Eve or lose her job, she came to warn us that we were being set up. She could have destroyed us and kept her job. But she chose to risk everything to warn the people she’s come to care about.” I nodded toward Bishop, then to Ash. “She chose us.”
Marcus snorted. “After she got caught. Easy to choose when your cover’s blown.”
“Is it?” My voice dropped to a deathly calm tone.
I released Noelle, guided her to Bishop, and stalked over to Marcus.
I stood six inches taller than him, and I kept walking until he was forced to crane his neck to look up at me.
“She could have run. Disappeared.” I snapped my fingers in his face. “She could have let us walk into an ambush. Instead, she faced my wrath after being told not to show her face here again. She knew I might not listen, might not believe her, might not give a shit whether she lived or died.”
The room turned quiet enough that the soft patter of snow on the windows became loud as thunder.
“She came back because she loves us. We’re her family now, every last fucking one of you.”
I stabbed a finger into his chest. “This fucked up life we’ve built together is hers too. Because I love her.”
I turned away from him and gathered Noelle into my arms.
She’d expected me to defend her, but maybe not so publicly.
She didn’t know them like I did.
I had to confront them like this or we’d never get past the backbiting and snarky remarks.
I refused to put her through that for even a second. “I love you.” I said it loud enough for everyone to hear, then I kissed her.
I kissed her with all the emotions I’d kept from her since the first day we met.
I kissed her like I never wanted to let her go.
Her mouth opened beneath mine, and I didn’t give a shit if they saw me get hard for her right then and there.
When I finally released her, her cheeks were flushed and her breathing unsteady. Just the way I wanted.
“My turn.” Ash nudged me out of the way, grabbed Noelle around the waist, and spun her around.
Grinning, he dipped her backward and kissed her with enough passion that several men whistled.
