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“I knew it wouldn’t get that far,” Rose rasped back.
“How’d you know that?”
“Because I knew you were coming,” she said softly, her eyes filling up with tears.
“Jesus Christ, baby,” I said, letting out the breath it felt like I’d been holding since the minute I heard Copper’s voice in the woods. “You scared the shit outta me.”
Rose was in my arms in the next heartbeat. Her legs wrapped around my waist like a vice and she pressed her face into my neck. It was then that I noticed how badly she was shaking.
The other women left the room quietly as I stood there with Rose in my arms.
“I let him talk to me like that for too long,” Rose whispered, her body shaking with a silent sob. “I couldn’t let him do it anymore.”
“Fuck,” I muttered, turning so I could drop my ass to the bed.
“What’s going to happen now?” she asked, burrowing her arms under my cut like she was trying to get as close as she could.
“Gonna sit down with the boys when we get home.”
“What about Copper?”
“He took off before we got back.”
“He’s still here?”
“He won’t be showin’ his fucked up face around here this weekend,” I assured her, rubbing her back. “By now, every man in the club knows to keep an eye out.”
“I braced my legs,” she replied, her fingers tightening in the back of my shirt. “I thought if he punched me, I just had to stay standing.”
I closed my eyes against the picture that painted. Fuck me.
“Next time,” I said, trying to keep the anger from my voice, “you talk him down.”
“I thought you said he’d stay away from me.” Her voice wobbled.
“He will,” I promised. “But if another man, any man, is hasslin’ you, you try to calm him down. You keep your smart mouth shut.”
“I can’t promise that,” she said, pressing her head harder against my shoulder.
“You have to,” I replied, using her hair to tug her head back so I could look her in the eye. “This ain’t about women’s rights, or me thinkin’ that a woman can’t do whatever she wants. This is fuckin’ survival, baby. You gotta promise me that you’ll do what I’m askin’.”
Rose shook her head.
“Listen to me, Rose,” I said, tightening my hand in her hair. “You’re brave as fuck. You don’t back down from a fight and I love that about you. But you’ve got no chance takin’ on a man that’s bigger, stronger, and meaner than you are.”
“So, I’m just supposed to let them do whatever they want?” she asked, looking at me like I was crazy.
“I’m sayin’ let them say whatever the fuck they want,” I replied. “You figure out how to get away, you do that. You can’t, I’ll always come for you. Always.”
“And what if you don’t?”
“Baby,” I said, pressing my forehead against hers. “If there ever comes a day that I’m not comin’ for you, I’m already a dead man, and you don’t have to worry about any promises you made to me.”
The night was over for me and Rose. She was too freaked to camp where we’d been, so me and Will moved our shit over to where he’d set up. It was loud and we’d lost the privacy we’d had before, but Rose felt safe, so the other crap didn’t matter. We laid there in the dark, listening to the party around us long into the night. I wasn’t sure when she fell asleep, but I didn’t crash until the sun started lighting the inside of the tent.
“Mack,” Rose woke me, running her fingers down the side of my jaw. “Have you seen my bag? One of the old ladies said I could use the shower in her man’s room.”
Fuck. I hadn’t told her. She crawled around the tent, lifting up the sleeping bags to look under them.
“Babe,” I said, voice rough. “Copper snagged it.”
“He what?” she asked, turning her head slowly to look at me.
“When we got back to the camp, I checked the tent and it was gone.”
“He stole my backpack?” she said incredulously. “Why?”
“Who the fuck knows? You remember what was in it?”
“Just my clothes and a bag of toiletries,” she said, falling onto her ass. “I left my wallet in your saddlebags.”
“Well, at least that’s somethin’.” I sighed.
“He took my clothes,” she said, shaking her shoulders in a mock shiver. “That’s creepy as hell.”
“He was probably just tryin’ to be a dick,” I replied, sitting up. “I beat his ass, and there was no other way to get even.”
“He’s going to be pissed when he realizes I didn’t bring anything worth stealing.”
“I don’t know, babe,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood a little. “That fancy shampoo you got costs a grip.”
“My mom’s a hair stylist,” she said, rolling her eyes. “She’d kill me if I used something from the drugstore.”
