Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 139(@200wpm)___ 111(@250wpm)___ 93(@300wpm)
“You go anywhere outside this room and you wear this, got it?”
Karina’s eyes had gone from narrowed to wide and round. “Is this…?”
I took her hand and led her into the bathroom, turning her just enough that she could see the back of the vest in the mirror.
“Property of Cash,” she read. Her voice trembled, and I whipped her back around to see what was wrong.
Fuck. It never occurred to me that she wouldn’t want to wear my brand. But instead of finding her upset, she beamed at me and threw herself into my arms.
I took her mouth in a deep, possessive kiss, holding her to me with one hand on her juicy ass and the other splayed over the writing that marked her as mine. When things were about to get out of hand, I forced myself to let her go and kissed her forehead.
“I’ve gotta go, sunshine.”
“You found him, didn’t you?”
I sighed and nodded. “Crashing a meeting and having a word with the motherfucker.”
“I’m going.” She stated, as if she really believed I would ever let that happen.
“Not a fucking chance in hell, Karina,” I growled. “Your ass is staying right here where I know you’ll be safe.”
“I want to face the man who ruined my life,” she growled right back.
“Sunshine, I love that you’re strong, courageous, and independent. But I also know you aren’t stupid, and you need to consider what’s about to happen without emotion fogging your brain. You think I could concentrate on anything except you if I let you come with me? I need to be focused. This man is deadly. I won’t risk losing you or letting you spend your life with some other fucker because I got myself a bullet in the head.”
Karina’s expression filled with fear, and while I hated to scare her, I needed her to understand the reality of the situation.
“Do this for me, sunshine. Stay here and let me protect you. Besides”—I placed my hand gently on her soft stomach—“I know you’d never endanger our baby.”
Karina’s mouth formed a little O, then she shook her head and sputtered, “I’m—I'm not-–I can’t be pregnant!”
I grinned and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “I’ve been fucking you bare every chance I got, sunshine. I’m willing to bet you're knocked up. But if you’re not, I’ll just keep trying until I put a baby in your belly.”
I took advantage of her shock and kissed her again, then guided her over to the couch and handed her a pair of sneakers. “Kiara will be here any minute. You can hang with the other old ladies and get to know your family while I’m gone.”
“Pregnant?”
I laughed at her stunned expression. I wasn’t sure she’d heard anything I said after that part of our conversation.
A knock on the door interrupted us, and I shouted for them to enter.
Kiara popped her head in and grinned. “Ready?” she asked Karina. “We’ve got plans to get into all kinds of trouble and drive our men batshit crazy.”
I rolled my eyes and kissed Karina’s forehead again before I stood. “Be good,” I ordered before walking out the door.
11
Karina
Staying behind while Cash put himself in danger to clean up the mess my dad had made didn’t feel right, but I knew it was what I had to do. I wasn’t equipped to face off against a criminal and would only put him in more danger if I didn’t stay behind. And if I really was pregnant… I shook off that thought, not ready to think about it. I knew that his club brothers would have his back, but it didn’t make the wait any easier.
Luckily, I had my sister and several of the other old ladies to keep me occupied while he was gone. Kiara tugged on my arm and led me over to the bar, nudging me onto a stool before she climbed onto the one to my right. “Have you ever gotten drunk before?”
“No.” I shook my head with a soft laugh. “The closest I’ve ever come was when my mom bought a four-pack of wine coolers for Lorelei and me. As long as we stayed home, she said we could drink them all, so we did. I don’t think she expected them to hit us so hard, but we both got buzzed and had horrible hangovers the next morning.”
“So you’re a lightweight,” Cat teased as she set several glasses on the bar top.
“Definitely,” I confirmed with a nod.
“Then I guess I’ll stick to mimosas for now.” She grabbed a bottle of sparkling Moscato and a jug of orange juice from the small fridge behind the bar and started filling the glasses.
“Just juice for me,” Kiara murmured.
Cat’s head jerked up, and she speared my sister with a knowing look. “You’re pregnant?”
“Yeah, it’s early days yet, but I took a test, and it was positive.” She dropped her hand down to cup her still-flat belly. “I’m kind of surprised Shane has been able to keep the news to himself. He was so excited, but between finding out that I had a sister and all the other drama with my dad, he didn’t want me to get overwhelmed.”