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“There’s no shame in this,” I murmur, still listening for footsteps, stunned I can talk with my heart pumping up a storm.
“No,” he says. “Not if it keeps you safe.”
“I’m so glad you didn’t do a deal with them,” I whisper.
“It bothers you, does it, the idea that I make my money immorally?”
I get the sense all over again that he’s a biker, but not quite, he’s not tattooed and he’s well spoken, which a lot of bikers are, to be fair.
But he’s separate. He’s unique.
He’s Kane.
I shrug. “I don’t know. Because I don’t know how you make your money, really.”
He sighs through gritted teeth, something like a smile. “I can’t believe we’re having this conversation now. But I’ll tell you the truth, Kelly. Always.”
I feel my body doing a bunch of crazy stuff, my heart pounding, and not just at the idea that these lunatics will smash down the door.
But at the look in Kane’s eyes, the intensity sparks.
Please don’t tell me you’re a killer.
My mind floods with all the twisted ways The Bloody Chariots could possibly make their money and what this would mean for us, how it would add another helping of agony onto the already complicated situation.
And complicated is an understatement.
“I’ve worked hard my whole life to make my MC something to be proud of,” he mutters. “In the early days, violence was all men respected, and I won’t lie to you. I’ve had to use violence in my time. But as soon as I could, I changed the direction of the club. I made contacts, hackers, protection agencies, anybody I could. And I used them. Well, we worked together. Now, the club makes most of its money through fraud scams that target the worst of humanity. Rapists, pedophiles, the disgusting dregs who don’t deserve to breathe. Or we run protection with our associated agencies. Using that money, I’ve built dozens and dozens of legitimate businesses.
“If a man steps out of line, I put him back into line. I’ve never let myself become soft. But at the same time, I’ve never felt the need to be unnecessarily violent, either. That’s just a power trip. That’s for the uncertain cub, not the lion.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding and walk over to him, looking up into his eyes, biting my bottom lip, feeling my world swirl underneath my feet at about a million miles a second.
“You wouldn’t lie to me, would you, Kane?”
“No,” he says seriously. “Never.”
He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close, kissing the top of my head and stroking his hands through my hair, leaving a trail of tingles in his wake.
“What if they got in here?” I whisper.
“You asked me not to lie to you.”
“Hmm, so?”
“I’m not sure you’ll like the answer to that question, Kelly. Because if those men got in here and tried to lay their hands on my woman, I’d snap their necks. I’d make them beg for your forgiveness. So we better hope they stay the fuck outside.”
His body tenses and I reach up, touching his face, feeling the tightness of his jaws.
“I know you’ll always protect me,” I whisper. “And our children.”
Nerves try to steal my words away.
“And, and …”
“What?” he urges, when I trail off.
“And I want to be ready for you,” I say, heaving a breath like a weight has just been lifted from me. “For that.”
He smirks and leans back, regarding me coolly, not seeming at all flustered about the fact that he has a gun on the desk or that the Cartel is outside.
He looks so in control, always.
“Let me take you to dinner, Kelly,” he says. “Since these bastards ruined today. I’ll take you to dinner and then, after, a hotel. Because now you’ve said you want to be ready, there’s nothing in this goddamn world that would stop me from making you ready. Any way I can.”
I grab his jacket and pull myself toward him, finding his lips in a brief, fire hot brushing.
But then his cell phone buzzes and he steps back with a frown, answering it.
“Yeah?” A pause. “Alright, good.”
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
He nods. “Yeah, the little cowards ran. Three people, two men and one woman, and those motherfuckers ran.”
He makes a tsk noise.
“I guess they knew what’d happen if they tried to storm this room.”
“What happens now?” I ask quietly.
“You get ready for dinner tonight,” he smirks, reaching across and trailing his hand up my thigh, leaving a shivering line. “In the meantime, I’ll go to the clubhouse and deal with this mess. Somebody told them about this business. Somebody close to me. There’s a rat in my club.”
Chapter Nine
Kane
Garrote and I sit in my office, the setting sun drifting through the window, the clubhouse quiet around us as we turn to the monitor and watch the security footage.
