Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“Butch,” Cain snapped. “Fuckin’ scum. That bunch needs to get a fuckin’ clue and leave before we have to help the last of ’em have a fuckin’ accident.”
“Cain,” Angel chided softly. “She came to you with this like you told her to.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry, Cotton. One would have thought I’d’ve learned my lesson.”
Angel snorted. “You’re a guy. Men never learn without reminders.”
“I’ll spank your ass for that later,” Cain chuckled before leaning in to kiss Angel softly on the lips. I had no idea if the byplay was intentional or not, but the easy show of affection, along with the fact that Angel was the one to calm Cain when he was the president of Bones and Cotton probably expected him to defer to no one, seemed to ease the tension in Cotton’s shoulders.
“Tell me what happened.” Cain brought his full attention back to Cotton.
She relayed her version of events. The longer she talked the more tense she became until it was easy to tell she was near tears. “Am I going to have to leave now?” Her voice was tremulous when I knew she tried hard not to show any emotion.
“No,” Cain and Angel answered at the same time. Cain leaned in and kissed Angel’s temple before continuing. “No, Cotton. You ain’t leavin’. None of that was your fault, and even if it was, we wouldn’t just toss you out on your ear. We’ll take care of Butch and the rest of those leftovers from Scars and Bars. That’s on me for not puttin’ a stop to those bastards comin’ in the bar a long time ago. Now. Chase says you need a place to crash.”
“No. I’ve got a place.”
“You ain’t stayin’ in that motel another fuckin’ night, Cotton.” I dropped my arm from the back of the couch to drape over her shoulders. She stiffened but allowed the contact. Cain chuckled.
“She know you’re claimin’ her, Chase? Because I kinda don’t think she does.”
Cotton gasped, looking up at me. “What does that mean? I told you I wasn’t gonna be nobody’s whore!”
“Relax, honey.” Angel slid from Cain’s lap and went to Cotton, kneeling in front of her like she might while soothing a child. “That’s not what he means.”
“Then what does he mean?” Cotton gave me a fierce look, trying to scoot away from me, but I just pulled her back.
“It means he’s going to take care of you. Make sure you have everything you need and are protected. He won’t let any of the brothers hit on you and it will make the riffraff at the bar think twice about harassing you. That’s all.”
“For now,” I muttered. Angel shot me an exasperated look.
“No one at the club bothers me except Butch and his bunch.”
“They’ve done this before? Why didn’t you say anything?” I wasn’t sure what made me angrier. The fact that I hadn’t noticed she was in trouble or that she’d kept it from me and Pops.
“Every night since I got there.” She sounded small. Afraid. Miserable. “This isn’t going to work out, is it?”
“Why would you say that?” I glanced sharply at Cain. “I want to know what’s going on. Since I’m manager of the Boneyard, I think I need to know.”
Cain just sat back, crossing one leg over his knee. He grinned as he spoke. “You need to know what I tell you you need to know. I made a promise to Cotton and I’m not breaking it. You want to know more? I suggest you convince Cotton to trust you with her secrets.”
Cotton gasped, sitting up straighter. “You mean, you’re not going to tell him?”
“We don’t break promises, Cotton,” Angel assured her. “Not unless it’s absolutely necessary and we’d tell you we were going to do it.”
“I suppose it’s not unreasonable for him to want to know.” Cotton looked even more miserable, but also resigned. “But I don’t want…”
“No one’s going to think less of you, honey,” Angel soothed. “It’s your past. No one else’s. If you don’t want to tell him, don’t. Just know that if you couldn’t trust Chase, he wouldn’t be part of Bones. It’s part of their code.”
“Maybe…” she swallowed. “Maybe I’ll wait a little bit.”
“You’ll tell me when you’re ready.” I tightened my arm around her and leaned in to kiss her temple. She looked up at me, confusion warring with a yearning so intense it nearly broke me. My chest ached for this woman, even without knowing her story. It was obvious she wanted social interaction but was afraid to put herself out there for whatever reason. I also thought she wanted me as much as I wanted her.
“Maybe.” Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she looked away from me.
“In the meantime, we’ll set you up with a room in the clubhouse. As is usual with us whenever one of our members needs to coax his woman into trusting him with her heart, we just happen to have a room available next to Chase’s,” Cain assured her.