She closed her eyes and said nothing for a heartbeat. Then another. Then a shitload more.
The concern in her eyes was obvious when they finally reopened.
“Get you’re worried. Why I wanted you to move out to the farm. Them snaggin’ you from your driveway made it fuckin’ clear that move can’t come soon enough. But there’s gonna be one change. Movin’ out there with you.”
The worry was instantly replaced with resistance. “I never agreed to that.”
“Ain’t a negotiation, woman. My job is to protect you and Ledger and that’s what I’m gonna fuckin’ do.”
“But it’s because of you and your club that we needed protection in the firstplace!”
“Like I fuckin’ said, me bein’ his father ain’t gonna change. Me bein’ president of this club ain’t gonna change. Him bein’ the next generation of DAMC ain’t gonna change. So, we gotta do what we gotta do. This weekend gonna grab a bunch of my brothers and get you moved in. Now…you with me?” Keeping his arm down by his side but shifting it a little closer to her, he opened his hand.
He waited to see if she would take it.
He pulled in a breath to beat back his worry that she would continue to fight him. When her eyes closed again, he figured she was gearing up for another argument.
He braced when they reopened, prepared to continue to battle.
Unexpectedly, her hand clasped his. Hard.
With a nod, she said, “Yes, I’m with you.”
Holy shit.There was no fucking way she was giving up so easily. Was this a trap?
He guessed the only way to find out was to test to see if what she said was true. He gave their tightly clasped hands a squeeze. “Thank fuck. Now let’s take our boy home.”
But before he could head back to his father, she tugged him to a stop. “Don’t make me regret this, Zeke.Please.”
“Nobody wants to keep you and Ledger safer than me.”
“I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Expect you to. If I fail, expect you to gimme all the shit I deserve.”
When they crossed the common area hand-in-hand, it made a strong statement. One that didn’t need to be explained to any of his brothers.
While he hadn’t officially claimed her again, he would.
When they returned to Zak, Ledger’s grandfather brushed the kid’s hair back, planted a kiss on his forehead,and handed him off to Kyra before murmuring, “Give us a minute.”
With a nod, she took Ledger over to where Vi and Diesel still stood.
“Wanna give me an update?”
Zeke turned his attention to Zak. “Nope. Gonna get one at the same time the other members do.”
“Zeke…”
“You wanted to pass the fuckin’ gavel to me like it was some fuckin’ righta passage. And you know what? I fuckin’ took it. Now let me handle this shit. You had your time. Let me have mine.”
Zak’s jaw shifted, but after a few seconds, he nodded. “Respect that.”
Thank fuck.
The fuck if he was in the mood to go head to head with his father in front of the rest of their brothers.
“Want you to know, been payin’ attention. Proud to see you tryin’ to do a fuckuva lot better. Kyra’s a good woman to have at your side. She’s also a good mom. Can’t go wrong with her. Don’t fuck it up.”
