Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 72822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72822 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 364(@200wpm)___ 291(@250wpm)___ 243(@300wpm)
“You look like you’ve lost weight.”
My eyes went back to Griffin’s wife.
I nodded. “I have.”
She didn’t say what she was obviously thinking—‘you look like shit.’
I knew I looked like shit, she didn’t have to tell me.
“He’s getting better,” Cobie interjected. “Do you have a bathroom I could use?”
Griffin’s little girl, happy to no longer be the center of attention, came at me with arms raised.
I handed her the cat, and she took off without another word.
Griffin and Lenore watched her go before they both turned back to Cobie.
“It’s through here. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Lenore gestured to Cobie, and Cobie followed.
We waited until they were both gone before heading in the direction of where all the other men were gathered on the porch.
Griffin and I walked out onto the porch, and all eyes turned to us.
“Who ya got there, Griffin?”
Griffin tickled Mary, who giggled like a sweet, angelic cherub, completely winning over the deck full of men.
Wolf came up and held his hands out.
Mary went willingly.
“Trusting little booger.”
I looked over to find Mig, another member of the Uncertain Saints, looking our way.
“She is. Never meets a stranger, that’s for sure,” I agreed.
Mig grunted and held out his hands, Mary leaned over.
I snorted as the men then passed my girl around.
None of them had anything to say about Mary’s unique qualities.
Which made my heart fucking soar.
I didn’t ever want Mary to feel like those things that made her different and special were oddities or things that she needed to hide or be ashamed of because they weren’t. They were what made Mary, well, Mary, and she was perfect exactly as she was.
She was a blessing, a gift—my gift.
Mary had saved my life.
I’d fight every fucking demon on this planet to make sure she was never hurt by someone’s cruel words.
Even a band full of men who I knew could kick my ass in my weakened state.
“Noticed you have a pregnant fiancée.”
I looked over to Griffin, who’d said those words.
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“How’d you manage to do that while you were locked away?”
I grunted. “It happened before I left. Found out after I got back.”
“I hear you’ve got a few problems.”
I grunted in reply.
“More than a few,” I agreed, my eyes going to Wolf.
“I’ve been lookin’ myself.” Wolf read the look accurately. “If I see him, he’s going down. That’s a promise.”
Wolf was a Texas Ranger with Griffin, and I had no doubt in my mind that he’d take him in if he saw him.
“Thanks,” I muttered. “This feels really fuckin’ weird, still.”
Wolf chuckled darkly. “I keep waiting for you to throw another punch.”
I would have five years ago.
Now? Well, now I wasn’t as angry about it as I once had been. In fact, I wasn’t angry at all anymore.
“The night is still young.”
Wolf burst out laughing. “Sure the fuck is.”
Chapter 25
The only thing I will ever force in my life are my jeans over my ass.
-Cobie to Dante
Cobie
Dante dropped down to one knee, and I immediately started to think the worst.
“Are you okay?” I breathed, rushing forward to drop down to my knees beside him.
He rolled his eyes in exasperation.
“Stand up,” he growled, pushing me to my feet by putting his hands on my hips. “This can’t be done with you down here with me.”
Frowning, I was about to question whether he was experiencing confusion or if he was dizzy, when he pulled out a velvet box.
I froze and stared at that velvet box like it was something akin to an atomic bomb.
“I don’t know if there’s anything I can say to ever take back those horrible words I said to you four months ago,” he whispered, his eyes on mine. “I know you say you’re okay, that you understood, but I’d never been at a lower point in my life than I was when I said those words to you. I didn’t mean them. I was mad at myself and the whole fucking world. I was scared of what you were making me feel, and how I was beginning to need you. I’ve lost my entire world once already… and I just wasn’t sure that I could put myself in a position where it could happen again.”
He swallowed, the thick lump of his Adam’s apple jumping with the movement.
“What I was scared to admit that day was that you had already become my world. You and Mary, you’re right here,” he pressed his fist against his chest. “You’re going to be there forever. You’ll have a place inside my heart until I no longer draw breath into my lungs.”
A tear slipped down my cheek uninhibited.
He watched it fall, then his eyes returned to mine. “Cobie, will you marry me? Will you live at my side and lend me your strength?”
I nodded. “I’d give you anything you asked for, Dante.”
His smile was radiant as he opened the box, pulled out the ring, and held out his other hand for mine. I put my hand in his, and he slipped the ring on my finger.