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Now it’s his turn.
After I drive aimlessly around for a half hour, giving Gray enough time to track me, I change lanes and go to the last place he’ll want me to be.
Without him knowing, Gray showed me his cards tonight.
Like my dad, he can’t curb that protective streak inside him, and for whatever reason, he feels extremely protective of me. While my sister found Alaric’s need to keep her safe endearing, I think it’s a very convenient quality to exploit. If his overprotectiveness means I get to see him again, then by God, I’m using it.
Maybe that makes me a bad person, but I’ve met plenty of people who did a whole lot worse to get what they wanted, and all I want is to spend time with the one man who intrigues me like no other.
“Stay away from Gray, Zoey. I don’t want him anywhere near you.” I hear my father’s voice in my head as if my conscience decided to make an appearance just as I’m about to put my plan in motion.
My smile drops from my face as I think about how Alaric would react if he knew what I was planning.
Crap.
He would have a coronary if he even so much as found out what I’ve been up to since I left home for college. After he gets out of the hospital, he would lock me up in my room and only let me leave when I turn forty. Maybe not even then.
I sigh audibly.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad. I’d kill and die for him. But sometimes I get the feeling that he doesn’t want me to grow up, and as hard as I have tried to give him the memo that I’m eighteen and a grown-ass woman, it always falls on deaf ears. I even make sure I always drop by the house in my ‘nice girl’ clothes so I don’t give him any more ammo to use against me. I mean, he knows me well enough to recognize that isn’t me, but I know it gives him comfort, and what sacrifices wouldn’t I make to keep my family happy?
I just wish it were that easy for me to find an ounce of happiness for myself.
Who am I kidding?
I’d settle for just being content.
That’s not me either though. Somewhere along the line, my head got so messed up that I only get a rush when I’m doing stupid shit—things that would scare the bejesus out of my family.
Like what I’m about to do right now.
I turn off the ignition to my car and stare at all the Harleys parked in front of the biker bar.
“You better show up, Gray, or otherwise this might be more than I can chew,” I mumble under my breath before smoothing my hair and adjusting the girls so they look like they are seconds away from spilling over my tank top.
Not wanting to lose my nerve, I get out of the car and make a beeline toward the most notorious biker bar in all of Hell’s Kitchen, known for being the Red Devil MC’s preferred hangout spot. Just as I’m a few feet away from the front door, I feel someone grab my arm and pull me back.
My skin breaks out in goosebumps when Gray’s arm snakes around my waist and holds me to his chest.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he growls in my ear, making my heart pitter-patter in glee.
“I was about to grab something to eat. What about you?” I sass.
“You were about to get gang raped every which way; that’s what you were about to do,” he spits.
Fear starts creeping up my throat, but when Gray tightens his hold on me, it disappears into thin air.
“That’s a bit judgmental of you, don’t you think? Where is it written that a woman will automatically get assaulted if she walks into a bar filled with motorcycle enthusiasts?”
“Those” —he points a menacing finger at three scary-ass bikers leaving the bar— “are not bikers. They are criminals. They are evil men who use sweet-looking little things like you in very bad ways.”
I turn around and press my open palms to his chest. “Do I look sweet to you?” I bat my lashes at him.
He grinds his teeth and groans, his grip starting to leave a mark on my hips. “You look like trouble,” he admits through gritted teeth.
I can’t help but preen at his description of me.
“What kind of trouble?” I purr.
