My stomach flips.
“And I’m not going to take your first offer and rush it,” he continues. “Not when I’ve spent years messing this up. When we do dinner, I want my full attention on you. No distractions. No phones. No interruptions.”
He steps just a little closer…not touching me.
“You deserve more than scraps of my time, Abby.”
The hurt I didn’t know was rising inside me… settles.
Oh.
He isn’t rejecting me.
“I thought…” I start, then stop.
“You thought I was changing my mind already?” he asks softly.
I don’t answer. I don’t have to.
His hands twitch like he wants to reach for me, but he keeps them both at his sides.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he says. “But I’m also not going to rush you. Or take what you offer when I can give you better.”
My chest feels too tight.
“So… another night?” I manage.
He smiles…slow, warm, patient.
“You pick it,” he says. “And I’ll clear my damn schedule.”
And suddenly the cliff doesn’t feel quite as terrifying.
Still high.
Still risky.
But maybe…
Maybe he’s building something at the bottom to catch me after all.
Chapter Fourteen
Tank
“So, we’re at war with the Iron Shadows MC,” Maverick says from his fucking throne.
And no, I’m not exaggerating.
He called us to his mansion for an update, and we’re led into this massive “meeting room” where there’s one chair at the front where Maverick is seated like he’s about to knight someone.
The man is literally seated like royalty.
Apart from Maverick and his underling Luca, the chair is the only thing in this massive room.
Skip takes one look at the setup and doesn’t even hesitate.
He drops into an overdramatic bow, sweeping one arm across his chest.
