Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 37734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“I’m too nervous.” She tried to flash a grin, but there were tears in her eyes. “I can’t believe I sat there and let him do this. I’m so sorry, Doc. I’ve managed to get you caught up in my mess without even trying.”
“Honey, you didn’t do this. I did. Me and your father.”
“What?” She looked adorably confused. God, I wanted to kiss that look right off her face.
“You don’t honestly think your dad was really gonna kick you out of the compound so abruptly. Or at all, really.”
“But he said --”
“That was for show. Your dad and I sized each other up the second we met. I guarantee you he’s looked at me as thoroughly as Ripper’s looked into him for me. He knew what he was doing and challenged me to tell him no.”
“I hate games,” she muttered, looking down at her plate. She put down the fry she’d been toying with and reached for her water again, taking a healthy pull. “I was never any good at them.” When she set her glass down, her fingers drummed on the table absently. That was when I realized she was playing a keyboard in her head. It was likely how she soothed herself when she was stressed. Made sense.
“No one said you had to be. He made up that shit to shock you, so you wouldn’t protest. Probably figured that if you really couldn’t accept it, you’d put up more of a fight. You leave the games to me. I swear I won’t steer you wrong.”
“If we both know this is all bullshit, why continue?”
“Because he wasn’t lying when he said he wanted an alliance with Bane. Which is why I have to bring this to Thorn, and he’ll take it to the rest of the club. If I keep you, Rocket will expect certain things. By doing this the way he did, he’s guaranteeing you’ll have the club’s protection, and he can have access to you in case you need him.”
“Would your club hold me responsible if my dad did something against Bane?”
“No, honey. Not unless there was irrefutable proof you knowingly helped him. Even then, it would have to be something extraordinary for them to do anything to you. We’re not monsters.”
“What would I be expected to do as your ol’ lady? How long do you think we’ll have to pretend?”
“That’s the thing. We ain’t pretendin’. Your dad specifically mentioned you being my ol’ lady, so you’ll be appropriately patched with a cut of your own.”
“What? But isn’t that a bit extreme? I mean, it can be a front or something. Right?”
I frowned. “You have an aversion to being my woman?” If I sounded a touch defiant, the idea of her not wanting to be with me hadn’t really been a consideration. Was it my age? Or the fact that my daughter was her friend? Oh, that brought on all kinds of naughty fantasies. Probably the fact that she’d just been sold for services. Yeah. I was a bastard.
“No! It’s not that.” She blushed, glancing up at me before lowering her gaze once more. “I mean, it would be an honor, especially since my dad hand-chose you with my happiness in mind, but, Doc, I can’t…” She swallowed. “That is, will we be monogamous?” I glanced down at her hands which were tapping out a rhythm on the table. She noticed me watching and put her hands in her lap, not looking at me.
I grinned at her. “What are you worried about, Lia? That I’ll share you with my brothers? Or that you think I’ll want to be with other women?”
She winced before taking in another deep breath. Then again. When she turned back to me, she had her chin up and, even though her face was as red as a beet, she met my gaze with a defiant one of her own.
“I won’t be passed around. I’m not built that way, Doc.”
“Did I say that would happen?”
“No, but for such a big concession, having another club with ready access to someone on the inside of yours, you can’t expect me to believe my life will be all sunshine and rainbows. But I’m not going to be a club whore.”
“Again. Did I say that would happen?”
“Fine. Spell it out for me, Doc.” She turned, so she sat sideways in the bench seat so she could face me.
“You’ve been in a club long enough to know what having an ol’ lady means. We might as well be married. Like Grim Road, Salvation’s Bane takes their rules seriously. We don’t take an ol’ lady unless we mean it to be permanent. And I don’t share.”
“I can’t have a husband who cheats on me. It would hurt too much, even if we didn’t love each other.” Again, her face flushed. She was obviously embarrassed but doing her best to learn the answers to her most pressing questions.