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“Doesn’t matter,” she denied. “I just want this over with.”
“You’ll meet with Senior first. Your father won’t be there. He’s at the compound,” I assured her, watching her shoulders slump with relief.
“R-Really?”
“I told you earlier, baby.” I turned in my seat and cupped her chin. “Weren’t you listening?”
She swallowed. “I-I must have misheard you.”
My brain caught on fast. “You thought hewouldbe here?”
MC nodded. “Sorry.”
“You don’t have to say sorry,” I chided, gently squeezing the soft pad of her chin. “Everything’s going to be okay. He’ll never hurt you again, MC. I swear to you.”
Shooting me a brave smile, she nodded—but it was clear that she didn’t believe me.
It made me say something I shouldn’t say, encouraged me to utter words that’d get me into shit later.
“No matter what, MaryCat, he’ll never lay a hand on you again. I’ll see to that.”
Her eyes caught onto mine, then they rounded. “Y-You—” Then she whipped her head to the side. “No! You can’t do that. If you do that, then you might go to prison. Second offense,” she rasped, more to herself than to me. “I’m not going to let you—”
“Ain’t no letting me do nothing. He hurts so much as a strand of your hair and he’ll pay.”
She swallowed. “But I don’t want you to fight him. I don’t want to see him—ever again.”
“You don’t have to. We can move you out. Today, if you want. I can help set you up at Sin’s place until you find your feet. I know your life’s in Manhattan, but West Orange is nearby—”
“Can’t I move in with you?” she whispered, her fingers clamping down on mine.
“I live in the clubhouse.”
“We could move into Sin’s together? I-I like you, Digger.”
“I like you, MC,” I informed her calmly, pushing my forehead against hers. “But until you stop thinking like a rabbit who’s running away from a fox, I’m not going to pressure you—”
Her already-rounded eyes widened even more. Then, she let loose a shriek and shoved me away. “A rabbit running away from a fox? You jackass.” Her hand slapped my shoulder. “This situation has nothing to do with how I feel for you. I already know what I want. I’ve wanted you since I was sixteen! I don’t care if it was a crush or not. I don’t care if it was me trying to rebel.
“You’re a better man than anyone I’ve met in twenty-one godforsaken years, Digger. In less than a week, you’ve shown me whoyouare. Why wouldn’t I want that? If you don’t want me, then stop messing around with my feelings, dammit—”
“Not want you,” I snapped, aware that my cell buzzed but ignoring it to retort, “Of course I want you. You think I’d have jumped into goddamn bed with you if I didn’t? You think I make a habit out of taking something that doesn’t belong to me?
“I’m thinking of you, MC. Above my own wishes, above my own desires. It’s fucking killing me trying to protect you from myself when all I goddamn want is to snatch you away and keep you safe. But I ain’t a Five Pointer—”
“No, you’re not a Pointer,” someone rumbled, making both of us freeze in place. “And I’m not sure I appreciate the implication that a filthy biker thinks he’s better than one of my men.”
Head whipping to the side, my gaze collided with none other than the man himself.
The head of the Irish Mob.
Aidan O’Donnelly Sr.
Even as I was wondering where the hell he’d come from, I tipped my chin forward as I got to my feet, snarling, “Sinners don’t rape their women to tie them into a marriage.”
Senior frowned but flicked a look at Mary Catherine. “It’s good to see you, child. You’ve had us…concernedfor your whereabouts.”
“Don’t fucking talk to her. You’re the head of the Irish Mob but you don’t know what your lower ranks are doing,” I spat, uncaring that I’d fought down Rex’s logic and defended him to my Prez earlier. “You’re the damn reason she had to run away to the Sinners for help—because her brother was there and she knew he’d save her from what her father had planned.”
