As though sensing my unease, he didn’t press, instead gesturing to the space next to him. “Come on over here, ladybug.” He grinned.
I rolled my eyes at the nickname I secretly loved and perched next to him.
“For the record, this is the closest I’m ever getting to this vehicle,” he noted.
I scoffed. “My car is amazing.”
“Yeah, amazing foryou. I think my dick would fall off if I was caught behind the steering wheel.”
“Are we talking or fighting?” I demanded.
He chuckled. “Just talking, baby. And for the record, it does suit you.”
“Well, you’re right about that,” I admitted reluctantly, earning another chuckle as my heart raced at our proximity. With our thighs pressed together, I struggled for calm.
“So, what’s so important about tonight?” I asked quietly.
And I don’t know how, but I just knew he understood the importance of my question—that I was taking in what he’d said earlier about getting to know each other and making an effort to forge into my own unknown.
“The man that Gunner’s after—Castillo. He hurt my sister.” Ruston’s voice was deep with regret as he continued, “He wanted me to work for him years ago. When I declined—not interested in the path he wanted to take—he took it out on Ava. He will pay in blood.” The ease and openness with which he answered me, when I instinctively knew that wasn’t typical for him, fueled my desire to press on.
“And what path did you want to take?” I wondered, my gaze on my sandaled feet, my thoughts only on him.
“I wanted a future I could control. So, I went into the SEALs. My parents passed away right as I was up for reenlistment. Ava was sixteen at the time. So, I went back east where she and my parents had been living, became her guardian, and moved us up to Bishop. I started the club, my own family. You can control your own fate,” he replied firmly.
I looked over at him then, our eyes meeting—that same fire blistering between us. “Can you though?”
He knew what I meant; I could read it in his eyes—that our meeting hadn’t been something either of us had intended. And yet, here we were grappling with something unexpected and potentially explosive. Something that already felt far outside what I could control.
“With you?” he queried, his green eyes smoldering. “Maybe not. But hell, I don’t think I give a damn.”
I sucked in an audible breath, continually floored by the conviction he seemed to hold when it came to me and wondering if it would truly last. “I’m so sorry about your parents,” I murmured, not able to even consider losing my own.
He nodded. “Was a long time ago.”
“King, a word,” one of the Royal Bloods I’d yet to meet called from the entrance to the club.
“After this is over, I’m gonna take you out,” he decreed, ignoring the man waiting.
“Oh yeah?” I quipped, though the thought sent a thrill down my spine.
“Yeah. Gotta take you on at least one date before we get hitched.” He winked, standing.
I waved him off, blushing.
“Baby, you think I’m kidding.” He shook his head with a grin before striding off to meet his brother.
I watched him go, admiring everything about him. And, as it turned out, on that fateful day maybe I should have asked more questions. Because it was the last I’d see him standing for the foreseeable future.
Chapter 1
GRACE
The all-too familiar beeping of machines chorused around me, incessant and yet oddly melodic as I woke with the usual crick in my neck. The chair I’d found myself sleeping in more often than not over the last week was far from comfortable. I glanced over to the hospital bed, my heart lurching as it always did when I set eyes on him.
The reason why I’d become a frequent guest of Hawthorne General. The man I’d had two conversations with and yet couldn’t pull myself from. The man who’d very likely break my heart.
Ruston King.
