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Scorpion sighed. “Tango, don’t be a pain in my ass today,” he pleaded. “I’m trying to help you protect him.”
I hummed, arching a brow at him. “And you think the first place they won’t look is a safe house in Johnston’s name? On top of that, Gabriel doesn’t fuckin’ do good with change, Prez. His mental health is already fragile right now with the stress of the past few days.”
Scorpion gritted his teeth, growing annoyed with me. He hated it when we fought against him, but Gabriel was one thing I would not budge on. “Tango?—”
“Don’t,” I warned him, narrowing my eyes in his direction. “My boy. My decision.” I jabbed my finger into the table. “That’s fuckin’ final, Prez.”
He blew out a harsh breath and shook his head, but he dropped the subject. “The Texas Charter of the Savage Crows will be riding into town in a few days,” he announced. I settled back in my chair. “They’re gonna help us in case shit hits the fan.”
“Grim’s a fucking ass,” Mark muttered, talking about the president of the Savage Crows MC Texas Charter. “We really got to deal with him?”
“Yes because Alex can’t come,” Scorpion said, referring to Grim’s vice president. Alex was a lot easier to deal with. He was more even-tempered. Quiet but always in charge. Steady and sure. He wasn’t one to grow angry quickly. But Grim? He was exactly what his name suggested—deadly. A weapon made of human flesh.
“Lovely,” Gidget grunted. I chuckled into my mug. Gidget never said much, not since Scorpion forced him to get his shit together and find ways to cool his temper. Gidget used to be so fucking explosive that when Scorpion first became president and he was gone to get Jessica from the Savage Crows to bring her home, Gidget hospitalized Halo in a drunken fight.
Halo still had the scars from surgery to prove it. Gidget put him in a small two-week coma and also caused internal bleeding—Halo’s spleen ruptured.
“Anything anyone need to bring to the table?” Scorpion asked, looking around at us. When no one said anything, he pushed his chair back and stood, looking at me. “Offer continues to stand, brother.”
I nodded once at him. He and I both knew only drastic circumstances would make me take him up on the offer. I wouldn’t uproot Gabriel again. He’d been uprooted from his home, locked in a cellar for hours, led to think he was going to die—which was partially my fault—and then when he began to settle in at my place, he got uprooted again because Scorpion told me to keep him here.
I was done moving my boy around. He needed some fucking stability, and I was going to make sure he got it. Moving him again so soon would only make him spiral.
When I walked out of the chapel, my eyes immediately locked on Gabriel, who was sitting on the couch reading a book.
A book I hadn’t approved of.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I growled as I stormed over, my boots thumping over the hardwood floor. Tension rode my muscles, the urge to rip that book from his hands before it could mentally harm him making my fingers twitch. He knew the rules, and he’d broken them. Why the fuck had my sweet boy broken my rule?
Gabriel jerked in surprise, his eyes widening. His face paled, and his fingers trembled around the book. Fuck. I hadn’t meant to scare him. But I hadn’t vetted that book to make sure it wouldn’t trigger him, and the thought of him suffering another panic attack freaked me the fuck out.
I hated it when he had those damn attacks. It wore him down, and they scared the shit out of me, even if I never let him see it.
“Tango—” he choked out.
Sophia rushed out of the kitchen and stepped between us. I heard Chase snap her name, but she ignored him. I glared down at her, gritting my teeth. “I read the books myself,” she rushed out, her palms up in the air. I sneered at her. “They’re sweet romances set in small towns with loving families. Everything in it is pure feel-good romance. I promise.” She gestured to the bar, and I glanced over, taking note of the pile of books she had sitting there. “I went through my damaged book collection at the store and pulled out everything I thought he might like. I’ve been reading through them over the last few days.”
I nodded once, but I still wasn’t happy. I didn’t trust anyone’s judgment but my own when it came to my boy. “Appreciate it. But he still broke my rule.”
She sighed, opening her mouth to say something, but Chase gripped her arm and said something quietly in her ear before tugging her away. Gabriel’s gray eyes were glimmering with tears, his freckles prominent on his pale face. The look fucking wrecked me inside, dimming some of my anger. But my worry continued to flare.
I took a seat beside him before grabbing the book and placing the bookmark in it. After I set it down, I patted my thigh—a silent instruction for him to come sit on my lap.
Swallowing thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat, he rose onto his knees and shuffled over to me before straddling my thighs, his hands resting on my shoulders. I gripped his hips, arching an eyebrow at him.
“What is the rule, Gabriel?”
“To not read a book until you vet it,” he whispered, hanging his head now and not meeting my gaze. I fucking hated that. I needed those pretty gray eyes on mine—needed to be able to read him. To protect him and take care of him. I couldn’t do that if I couldn’t see what he needed.
I shucked the knuckle of my index finger under his chin. He immediately raised his eyes back to mine without me having to say a word. Good boy. “Why do I have rules in place?”
His chin wobbled, and a tear slid down his cheek. His voice shook as he said, “To keep me safe.”
“Good boy.” He sniffled, his fingers tightening on my shoulders, the leather of my cut creaking under his grip. “That includes your mental health, too, correct?” When he nodded, I brushed a kiss to his cheekbone—right over those freckles I was fucking obsessed with. He trembled, leaning in closer to me. “Do not break my rules again, understand? I appreciate Sophia trying to help, but she doesn’t know all of your triggers, baby boy.”
He circled his arms around my shoulders and tucked his face into the crook of my neck. “I’m sorry,” he apologized, his voice cracking.
I raked my fingers through his dark, wavy hair, my heart splintering in my chest at the raw sadness in his voice. “I know you are, baby. And I don’t need an apology, okay? I just want you to remember I have rules in place for a reason.”
