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“You okay, sugar?” LJ asked after she shifted one too many times.
“Right as rain.”
He grunted. “How does a long soak in the tub followed by pizza and wine sound for later?” he whispered.
“Oh man, heavenly.”
“All right gorgeous. It’s a date.” He winked down at her.
Despite the horrors of the day, knowing she’d be ending it with the man she loved helped soothe her. After days of no contact, she wanted to lock herself away with him for just as long to make up for the lost time. They whispered back and forth while the officer’s attention was diverted and after a few moments, Holly caught onto the fact he was trying to distract her from the discomfort and help pass the time.
The wonderful man.
One by one, uniformed officers filtered back downstairs, unsuccessful in their search. When there were around ten to fifteen gathered in the bar area, Holly lost sight of her father. He seemed to be at the center of the group. But then he cursed, loud. And something crashed across the room.
Her breath caught in her lungs. Were things about to escalate? Her father set this whole charade up. What was to keep him from attacking one of the Handlers in anger? Where was the line?
With her nerves at about a nine out of ten, Holly’s gaze darted between the group of men and Copper. The president still seemed completely unaffected by the events of the day. Had he even moved once since being cuffed? His knees had to be screaming by now, but once she thought about it, she hadn’t noticed the man so much as blink.
A red-faced and sweaty Schwartz began uncuffing the men, one by one. Each had some sort of snarky comment for the deputy that had him bordering on purple, and seconds from detonation.
When he freed Maverick, the man hopped to his feet. “Well, this has been fun, boys, but I’m feeling a little unsatisfied. When my woman cuffs me, she usually goes to town on my dick.” He patted his crotch. “Any takers?”
Holly gasped and LJ shook his head with a laugh.
“No?” Mav shrugged. “All right. This mean I’m free to go find my woman?”
Schwartz ignored him and moved on. As he released LJ, LJ whispered something to him that sounded scarily like, “I’m coming for you.”
The moment everyone was free, the officers started filing back outside. Each resembled a man whose puppy had been kicked. Holly almost felt bad for the innocent ones dragged along in her father’s fool’s errand.
“Guess I won after all, huh?” Copper said, rubbing his hands together.
“Everyone get the fuck out,” her dad yelled. “I want to talk to Copper alone.”
When no one made a move to leave, Copper laughed. “You’ve concluded your business here, Sheriff. My men don’t answer to you.”
“We have shit to discuss.” Her father couldn’t stand still. He shifted and squirmed like a junkie coming down from a high.
Copper nodded as he folded his thick arms across his chest. “That we do.”
What did the president have planned for her father now? Copper had promised he wouldn’t physically go after him, but that was before everything they discovered today. Though she didn’t want her father harmed, she couldn’t honestly say she’d blame Copper if he decided to take aggressive action. Had Holly not happened to walk into the sheriff’s station this afternoon, things would have turned out very differently for the club.
And that fell one hundred percent onto her father’s dirty shoulders.
“Head on out, men,” Copper said. “Holly, you and LJ okay to stay?”
“Uh, yes.” She sounded like a squeaky mouse.
“Wouldn’t miss this for the world, prez,” LJ said.
“I want everyone back here tonight with their ol’ ladies. We got some celebrating to do. Sheriff Lane is stepping down.”
Holly sucked in a breath. While she stared on, stunned, the rest of the men cheered, then headed on out.
In just a few moments, only the four of them remained in the clubhouse. Though Copper hadn’t informed her of what he planned to say, she just knew he was going to tell her dad what she’d overheard. Her heart pounded so hard, she felt it in her head as well as her chest.
Then the warm slide of LJ’s palm against hers had her staring down as he interlaced their fingers. “It’s going to be okay,” he said, voice full of conviction. “You’re going to be okay.”
She nodded. “How did it come to this?” God, could she sound weaker and more pathetic? But she couldn’t stop it. “My family is destroyed.”
He cupped her chin, tilting her face up. “Then it’s a damn good thing my family fucking loves you and is ready and willing to adopt you,” he said right before placing a soft kiss on her lips.
God, she loved this man.
“Sit,” Copper said, his voice like steel. The tables had turned, and the outlaw now held all the cards in this little power play. With his confident stance and commanding voice, the man was clearly in his comfort zone issuing the orders.
