“So when I got told I would be married to one of his enforcers, I knew I had to do it. My brotherKeefe…he lost it. He begged my father not to do it, and he got beaten. He was in the hospital for three weeks. He almost died.”
“Who was the biker?”
“He’s his current Sergeant at Arms, Blunt.”
I knew the man only by reputation. “Go on. How did you get free?”
“When Keefe was out of the hospital, he introduced me to a friend of his. He was a prospect, a new one, and he was sweet. Keefe told him to take me away and never come back. It took me some time before I admitted it was what I wanted. Actually, after catching Blunt basically rape one of the club girls while he was high, that’s what made me take the leap and that prospect was Zach…or as you knew him…Dog.”
“You fell in love with him?”
She looked away from me, and bit her lower lip. I knew she did that when she was trying not to say something. I sat up and pulled her lower lip from her teeth with my thumb.
“You never loved him, did you?”
She shook her head, and I saw the guilt behind her eyes. “I loved him as a friend, and as my saviour, but I could never fall in love with him. I just didn’t feel it with him.”
“It’s not your fault,” I said, smoothing her hair behind her ear. “You know what happened, that’s not on you. Dog made his choices, and you had to live with them.”
She smiled, but it didn’t meet her eyes. “I should have done more. He was so angry that I didn’t love him back. Maybe if I tried more, he wouldn’t have turned to the drugs.”
“Baby, that man was always going to get hooked. It was just his personality. He hung out with the wrong types of people in the club, and he did what he wanted. I saw the way he treated you. I fucking hated it. I knocked him out once for it, and I could have easily done it again and again. It’s not your fucking fault, and you need to stop living with the guilt of it.”
I wiped at the tears falling down her cheeks, hating that she felt like this because of that fucking asshole.
“I feel guilty because I could never…you know like I do with you.”
I felt a swell of pride at that. “Good. I don’t want to hear about you and him like that, actually none of your others. I wouldn’t handle it well.”
She entwined her fingers with mine and kissed them. It did things to me that it probably shouldn’t have. A tender moment had me harder than fucking stone.
What the hell was happening to me?
“Why did you go back?”
“My sister.”
“Tell me about her.”
“Darby, she’s my half sister. When I left, she was only a few years old. I always thought she would be safe because her mum was still around, but I found out a few weeks ago that her mum left. Just up and left her in a den of men who rape and destroy women. She reached out to me, and I knew from some of the stuff she said that my father was going to use her too, just like he had done with me.”
“Why not just come to me and explain?”
“I was ashamed of who I was,” she said and I wanted to hurt every man who had ever made her feel so insecure. “The only person here, besides you now that knows about who I am, was Ace. He never made a big deal about it, and I knew my secret was safe. ThatIwas safe here.”
“Yet, you went back to the enemy without telling anyone,” I said. “Why didn’t Ace stop you?”
“I didn’t exactly tell him what I was doing. I needed to get my sister, and I knew the club had a million things going on.”
“But you knew I would have helped you,” I replied. “I would have gone and gotten her out. For you. I would have done it because you needed me to, and I want to be needed by you. Fuck, I want to be wanted by you.”
She closed the distance between us and kissed me hard, her hand moving to the back of my neck and holding me there. I kissed her back just as hard.
“I do want you,” she said in a whisper against my lips. “I want you more than I can say, and it scares the ever loving fuck out of me.”
I kissed her again, pulling her on top of me as I laid down onto my back. She straddled my waist and leaned down, kissing me, my hands running up and down her back. I knew exactly what she meant. I would fucking die for this woman…right fucking now. I’d never been able to say that about anyone before.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered against my lips, pressing her forehead to mine. “I didn’t want you to get hurt, or even be around him if I’m being honest.”
