He moved to my side of the counter, his large hand cupping my jaw and tipping my head up. “My advice? Don’t let him have another ounce of your life. He doesn’t deserve it. Hell, neither do I, but I’ll take what I can get.” His eyes were bright with passion as he continued. “You want to see me? You’ll see me. We can be cautious—I’d never put you at risk. But this isn’t the end of you and me. This is only the beginning. And that hate you have for him? Baby, I can sure as hell work with that.”
Chapter 3
MADDOX
Every part of me protested as I pulled away from the curb of the bakery and pointed my bike for home.
It felt wrong to leave her. I’d just met her but she was fucking mine, every part of me knew it. Down to my bones.
Her gorgeous brown eyes, made impossibly bigger by those cute as hell glasses of hers, had looked at me with a mixture of wariness and awe. She was guarded. And who wouldn’t be with a family like the Rossis? I didn’t know her story, not yet, but with an uncle like hers she had to have been through some form of hell. Behind that guarded, fragile-seeming demeanor was a warrior. She was like a gorgeous package of contradiction and I wanted to unlock every piece.
The Rossi family was notorious. Our club had been fighting to keep them out of our territory for the past several years. The good news was that their numbers had dwindled, their power diminishing. Didn’t mean they weren’t still dangerous as hell.
And the woman I already thought of as mine was fucking related to the bastard at the helm of it all.
I hit the Hawthorne town limits late evening. I’d made good time. I’d been raised in the small town, a town my club claimed with pride. When I pulled up to Mad’s, my pop’s bar that he’d named after me, I swung off the bike, limbs stiff from the long ride. Mad’s was a biker bar through and through, frequented mainly by club members and friends of the club.
A cold beer and some loud music were just what I needed. If some asshole was spoiling for a fight, even better. I needed a way to release all the pent-up energy I had humming through my veins.
Energy I wanted to release on Francesca as soon as fucking possible. I’d never been more attracted to a woman in my life. With her luscious mouth, doe eyes, and curves in all the right places, it was as though she was built for me. Built to take me.
Loud music blared as I walked through the door, offering a chin lift to a few club members and to Gunner working the bar. My pop’s generation of Knights were tight, but Gunner, Max, Tatum, and I had grown up together. We were as close as brothers.
“You good?” Gunner asked, sliding a beer my way as I took a spot at the bar. He knew me well and I wasn’t surprised he’d picked up on my mood.
“I’m good,” I replied gruffly, taking a deep swallow of my beer and slamming the bottle back down harder than I’d intended.
He cocked his head to the side as though deciding whether or not to push me. I shook my head, telling him without words to leave me be.
As close as we were, I didn’t want to tell him about Francesca. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust him, more that she was too fucking precious to share. I wanted to keep her to myself for as long as I could.
“Wasn’t Walker supposed to be on tonight?” I asked, referring to Cash Walker, another member of our club. Though he hadn’t grown up in the club like us, Cash had easily proven himself to be one of us.
Gunner grinned. “Nah. Probably off chasing tail.”
Despite my mood I chuckled. We all gave Cash shit for his good looks and the amount of female attention he received, whether he wanted it or not. He didn’t chase pussy, not as much as he could anyway, but we gave him shit nonetheless.
“He’s probably working out,” I amended. Asshole spent more time at the gym than anyone I knew.
I pulled out my phone as Gun served some customers, already itching to reach out to Francesca.
Just got back to town. You good?
I didn’t think I’d stop worrying about her until I figured out a way to have her closer to me and to keep her there. Plus, I just wanted to be connected to her.
She didn’t respond and I forced myself not to stare at my phone like a pussy whipped teenager. Instead, I finished my beer and with a chin lift to Gun, left the bar, headed for home.
It was only when I was in bed, hours later, and she still hadn’t responded that I pressed my phone to my ear. I knew she had to be up early, that she was probably sleeping. But I didn’t fucking care. I needed to know she was okay.
“’Ello?” Her soft, sleepy voice had lust roaring through my veins.
“You didn’t respond to me.” I forced myself to keep my tone calm.
“Maddox?” she sounded confused, half asleep.
“Yeah, baby. It’s me,” I confirmed through clenched teeth. Her raspy voice through the phone was driving me fucking insane.
“Oh.” She sounded unsure what to say.
