“Haven’t we been through enough? How can you possibly think killing them will help this? Can you live with that?” Patch chuckles before shifting in his seat.
“Sweetheart, I’ve killed before.”
“You what?”
“I don’t go around killin’ for fun. They were traffickers, killers.”
“You … oh my god. I can’t …” my words won’t form. I have no idea what the hell I’m trying to say. He’s killed before. I’ve sleptwith a killer. Ellie was right that night at the bar. What if he’s a killer? He is! I shove off the bench, not sure what to say to him. So I say nothing at all. I walk away, back toward the clubhouse in a slight daze.
“They all deserved it!” He calls out to me. I slowly turn to face him, and I don’t know what to do.
“You killed them. What kind of fucked up fairy tale am I living in?” I ask more of myself than of him. Patch walks toward me, and for some reason, I feel like I should be afraid of him, but I’m not. I’m not afraid of a man who has admitted to killing people. Am I okay? Is this okay?
His hands come to rest on my shoulders as I look up at him.
“Am I crazy?” I ask. He chuckles and shakes his head.
“No. You know what you feel, Anika. I wouldn’t hurt you,” he tells me, and I know he’s not lying. He wouldn’t hurt me, not like that.
“I don’t know what to say,” I tell him.
“It’s a lot to process, but you have to know this is who I am. I’m not gonna change.”
“You like it? Killing people?” His lips curl into a small grin as he shakes his head.
“You don’t get it. These people have sold humans. Women, children. They have taken their lives away from them. Don’t they deserve the same?” I get it, I do. They deserve what they got for that, but how can I look at Patch and know he’s the one doing it? He’s the one taking their lives? I stand in a shocked silence when his hand cups my cheek. Then I finally look back up at him. Before I can say anything else, his lips gently press into mine.His kiss is soft, unhurried. It’s sweet and powerful all at the same time, and all too quickly it’s over. Patch pulls away from me and lowers his hands to his side.
“You can choose to leave, Anika. I can’t force you to stay,” he tells me.
“What if I don’t want to leave?” I don’t want to leave, do I? No. I don’t think I do.
“Stayin’ means you’re mine.” His words have so much finality to them. I’m his. Is that what I want? To be his? To be with a man who has killed someone? Those plans on killing again? A man who has bared his soul to me?
“I’m staying.” The words come out before I can rethink them. Not that I really needed to, I know what I want. I want him. I want the man who saved me. I want the man who has given me whatever I needed and more.
Patch nods his head and holds out his hand to me. I slip mine into his, and he intertwines our fingers. Then he’s pulling me along back to the clubhouse.
“What does all this mean?” I ask him as we walk.
“You’ll see,” he says. He pulls the door open and leads me inside, straight to the middle of the room.
“I’m claimin’ her. She’s mine,” he announces. Cheers go up around the room as I stand here with heated cheeks. Guys walk over and fist bump Patch and congratulate him, as the girls do the same with me.
“Patch?”
“Yeah?”
“What’s all this mean?”
“It means you’re mine now.”
Chapter 23
Patch
My head spins as I sit here thinking about what I just did. I tip the beer to my lips and take another pull as the girls all laugh and hug Anika.
“Why do you look sick to your stomach?” Ban asks when he comes to sit next to me.
