AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The line went dead, and I tucked my phone back into my pocket. We sat in silence for the next thirty minutes, only talking to the waitress when she came to ask if we needed more coffee.
I did, a lot more.
Hadley managed to finish her food, but she was still strangely quiet.
“You wanna talk about it?” I asked finally.
“He’s going to find us,” she admitted her fears without reservation.
I shook my head. “We’re going to be smart about this. And if he does, wewillfight. I won’t let him hurt you.”
“No,” she snapped, straightening her back. “I won’t let him hurt you! I’ve dragged you into this, and now because of me, you’re risking your life to try and keep me alive. A fight that’s possibly completely pointless because it seems like no matter what we do, he will be there.”
I could hear the emotion in her voice. She was upset, angry. I didn’t blame her.
“Didn’t you hear me all those times that I told you that you’re mine?”
She scoffed. “Hard to miss.”
“Good. So you know that I’ll do whatever it damn well takes to protect you. Because that’s what we fucking do,” I said, lowering my voice as the waitress walked past.
“And who is going to protect you?” she shot back. I was surprised by the sharpness in her tone. “What about Macy? What happens to her if you die trying to protect me.”
I frowned. “We really gonna go through this shit again?” She rolled her eyes, but I reached across and grabbed her chin between my fingers. “When you gonna figure out what’s going on here? You’re part of my life now too. My Old Lady. That means something to me, and to the club. I’m not gonna back out just because it’s risky. I won’t sit around and see you, the woman I might possibly spend the rest of my life with, hurt.”
She pursed her lips, glaring at me across the table with tears gathering in her eyes.
“I love that you want to protect Macy and me, but if we want to possibly keep you in our lives, then I need to fight to keep you safe. Because at this point, I don’t want to let you go. I want to fucking have you… and keep you. And I know that we said there would be time later to figure this shit out, but I couldn’t care less, I know right now what I want, and I know you feel the same.”
She stared at me, keeping her lips tightly pressed together.
“Tell me whatyouwant,” I growled, needing to hear the words come from her mouth.
“I want you,” she whispered. No question about her answer.
I nodded. “Then we go through this shit together. And you stop fighting me on this.”
She nodded, her face still clasped in my fingers.
“I ain’t going nowhere, and neither are you.”
I needed this from her. I knew how she operated. She’d risk everything to protect the ones she cared about, but if she ran, tried to sacrifice herself for me, she wouldn’t survive.
And I wasn’t sure I’d be able to go on if I lost her too. The darkness would consume me again. I could feel it at just the thought of being without her. It would pull me under.
I swallowed back the dark thoughts and pulled her by the chin across the table. She leaned forward, and I met her in the middle, pressing my lips to hers, hoping it would reassure her somewhat.
“I’m really tired,” she whispered when she sat back.
I nodded, whistling to the waitress to bring the check and paying with cash before leading Hadley out to the truck. As we stepped outside, I almost pushed Hadley back through the door when I saw three shadowy figures standing next to the vehicle. I braced myself, ready to fight my way out if necessary.
Hadley gasped, clutching my hand in hers. It wasn’t until they stepped out of the shadows that my body slumped in relief.
“Got a call to say you needed somewhere to stay, and we just happened to be in the area.” The thick Italian accent greeted us as Angelo stepped up to the curb.
“Didn’t know you were doing favors for the Brothers nowadays,” I replied, pulling Hadley into my side and squeezing her shoulders, trying to reassure her that everything was all right.
Angelo chuckled, the sound dark and menacing. But I knew he meant no harm. The guy was just naturally scary.
