Shadow pulls back, stops the swing from moving, the humor in his eyes gone.
“Years ago, did you help me get home one night?”
His question is like a splash of cold water in the face.
“Why?” I ask.
“Just answer the question.”
“Yes, I did.” I get off the swing to put distance between us, only Shadow pulls me back on the swing next to him.
“Tell me what happened,” he orders. His voice soothing and his eyes far too assessing for my liking.
“Why do you want to know this?”
“Because today I had it thrown in my face, and I need to know what the hell happened. Did I hurt you?”
“You called me Marcy,” I blurt out.
“Fuck.” Shadow pulls back and shakes his head, letting out a heavy breath. “That bitch was right.
I stiffen and narrow my eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t remember any of what you or Marcy shared. The only thing I recall is being drunk off my ass. Back then, I was dealing with a lot and drinking to deal with it all.”
“You were,” I agree. “You showed up with Maddox at a party and got drunk. I stopped you from a fight with a kid that would have landed you in jail. I walked you home, and you tried to get me inside while calling me Marcy.”
Shadow groans and closes his eyes while leaning back in the swing. “I’m sorry I did that to you. If I’d been in the right headspace, I wouldn’t have. And don’t take this the wrong way, but I wouldn’t have let you walk me home. You were seventeen . . .” He pauses and looks at me. “What were you doing at that party anyway?”
“I’d gone with a friend, she wanted to go.” She shrugs and keeps going, “I was spending the night at her place. It’s really not my thing to go to a party, but that had been my first time to one.”
I want to ask him why he’s bringing this up now, but I keep my mouth shut.
Shadow nods and reaches out to curl his fingers around my neck lightly. “With us starting something here today, I’m going to give you some truths you’ll need to know.”
“Um, okay.”
“First things first, to get it over with, the reason I ask is cause Marcy threw that shit in my face after accusing me of getting her pregnant.”
My eyes bug out, and I open my mouth to say anything, only no words form on the tip of my tongue.
“We had a DNA test done to confirm what I already knew, but to confirm, I didn’t, nor did any of my brothers get that bitch pregnant.”
“Well, that’s good. Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I’m not a man to keep secrets from the woman he’s making his,” he answers, squeezing my neck slightly. “The second thing I’ll tell you, and this goes without saying, I won’t keep secrets from you, but there will be times I can’t tell you things. If I say it’s club business, then that’s exactly what it is, and I won’t be sharing.”
“Club business?” Now, I’m confused.
“Yeah, club business, unless it’s something I can share, I won’t tell you any of the dealings with the club. That being said, I won’t keep you separate from that part of my life. You’ll be around my brothers, get to know everyone. You might see things when at the clubhouse for parties that might make you uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t have you around it if it wasn’t something I didn’t think you could handle.”
“I don’t do parties,” I tell him, repeating my earlier statement.
“I know, and I get why you don’t. When you’re around the clubhouse with me, you can trust me. Not one damn thing will happen to you. I won’t let it, little mouse. No one would dare touch you.”
With his hand still holding me, Shadow leans in and places a tender kiss against my lips. It’s brief, yet the best kiss I’ve never had. When he pulls away, he gets to his feet, eyes on me. “I’m gonna head back to the clubhouse, show this to Lucifer. Be back in a few hours to pick you up.”
“Where are we going?”
