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)
Talia looked up at me, her expression hardening as if preparing for a fight. “I want to be inked.” Unexpectedly, tears formed in those clear, bluish silver eyes. “With your property mark.” She shook her head sharply. “I don’t want to be passed off again, Doc.”
“Fuck.” Thorn swore and scrubbed a hand over his face. I wrapped my arms around Talia and kissed her temple again.
Havoc entered the room then. Rocket and another man followed him. Beast, our enforcer, entered last and shut the door. Rocket parted his lips as if to speak, then glanced at me and Talia. His mouth snapped shut when he saw Talia’s face. No doubt he saw her tears.
“Who the fuck made her cry?” Rocket bit out. It was more than I could take.
“You did, you son of a bitch,” I snapped, getting to my feet.
“That’s enough, Doc.” Thorn’s rebuke was soft, but there was no doubt he meant business.
“No.” Rocket stalked across the room to stand in front of me. We were close to the same height and both bulked with muscle so neither of us intimidated the other enough to back down. Any menace Rocket threw in my direction was reflected back at him from me. “I want to know what he means by that.”
“You dumped her off, Rocket,” Thorn said nonchalantly, as if he were merely passing along information and not delivering an emotional blow to the president of another club. “Into the hands of men who were strangers to her. Like an unwanted kid headed off to boarding school. You expected her to be happy about that?”
“Thorn, please.” Talia stood, her hand finding mine, lacing our fingers together. I kept my body between her and her father, wanting Rocket to understand he’d given me his daughter and I meant to keep her. Even if it meant keeping him away from her. “I’m sure there was a good reason.”
For his part, Rocket looked like someone had kicked him in the balls. Pain racked his features, and his gaze fell on Talia with a kind of pleading. “Honey, that’s not what I was doing. Surely to God you understand that. I was protecting you.”
“Protecting me from what? From Grim Road? Would the men have done something horrible to me?”
“You know better than that, Talia.” It was the man with Rocket who spoke. “Every man in Grim would defend you to the death. You’re the president’s daughter. We’d never harm you.”
“But I was supposed to be gone when I came of age.” If she scoffed slightly, I couldn’t blame her. She was better at holding in emotions than I was in this circumstance, but anyone could see the pain on her face.
The man shrugged. “What’s ‘of age’? You weren’t ready to move out. Sure, we argued about it in church, but that’s what church is for. We all knew your background and how you lost your mother. We also knew the incident shook Rocket as much as it did you. The two of you needed each other. We weren’t going to kick you out, though I won’t lie and say it wasn’t discussed. You’re still part of Grim Road, Talia. You always will be.”
“I called this meeting to discuss your terms, Rocket.” Thorn tried to divert Rocket’s attention back to him. “Talia has decided to stay with Doc. Once this meeting is concluded, me and Havoc will have a chat, then we’ll hold church. Regardless of what’s discussed here now or decided later, Talia has thrown her lot in with us. I don’t see any member of Bane not agreeing to let her be Doc’s ol’ lady, even under shady circumstances. So know that ship’s sailed. She’s part of us now. Not Grim Road.”
Rocket was silent for a long moment. He and Talia stared at each other. When I looked back at her, Lia’s expression was relaxed, and she held his gaze steadily. If I hadn’t already been proud for her to be my woman, I was in that moment. Her shoulders were back, her chin up, and she faced her father and the other member of Grim Road with pride and strength.
I caught Thorn’s gaze and smirked. “That’s my woman.”
Rocket growled while the other man raised an eyebrow.
Finally, Rocket sighed. “This is my sergeant at arms, Dom. He’s here as a witness to what we discuss.”
“My vice president, Havoc, and our enforcer, Beast. You already know Doc.” Thorn waved a hand to the other couch in the room. The furniture was angled so we could all see each other without having to move. “Have a seat.” When everyone was settled, Thorn began. “Doc tells me you have some requests.”
“I offered my daughter to Doc as a sign of good faith. I’d like us to be allies. We’ll have each other’s backs and aid the other when necessary.” I could tell Rocket wasn’t happy with having to do this now that he’d lost his daughter as a bargaining chip. She was solidly in my corner, where I intended to keep her. “We want Bane to keep an eye on our territory for a few months.”