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I grin, turning onto my side to face her. “Should it?”
Her mind goes somewhere else and the smile fades. “The last man who hurt me ended up dead.”
“Eagle?” I guess, and she nods. “It was a different kind of hurt, Red. He deserved to die.”
“I don’t think we should tell anyone just yet,” she mutters. “About this.”
I laugh. There’s no way I’m keeping us quiet. “You’re gonna tell Ollie, and then we’re official. I’ll tell the whole damn world.”
“I mean it,” she says more seriously now. “Ollie’s going through some stuff and I—”
“Need help?” I finish for her, and she scowls. “It’s okay to admit it, Red. I wanna be part of your life and with that comes Ollie. I get that.”
She pushes to sit up. “I don’t need help,” she snaps. “I’m doing just fine.”
“I know you are. But won’t it be easier to have someone to lean on?”
She rubs the back of her neck. “Jesus,” she mutters, “suddenly you want to play dad?”
“That’s not what I meant, Rosey. I’ll have as little or as much input as you want me to have. You’re doing great with Ollie. I just meant I’ll be there for you.” I pull her to lay back down, and she allows me to. I throw my leg over her and tuck her against me. “Stop looking for reasons to fight so you can get out of here. Pushing me away isn’t an option anymore because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Until one day you do,” she mutters, her eyes briefly flicking to mine.
I wrap my arms around her tighter and kiss her shoulder. “Not happening.”
“I don’t want Ollie to know just yet. Not until I’m certain.”
I roll my eyes, even though she can’t see me. She’s convinced I’m not sticking around, and it doesn’t matter how many times I say it, she’ll always be waiting for me to leave. “Fine. If you want to go slow, I get it. We’ll tell him when you’re ready.”
Arthur grins the second I step into my office the next day. “You’re a crazy bastard,” he tells me, laughing.
“I assume you mean because I like Rosey?”
“I suspected you were fucking, Bert, but you’re actually seeing her? Jesus, don’t you like your balls attached?”
“Just keep it to yourself for now. She doesn’t want to tell Ollie.”
“Speaking of Ollie,” he says carefully, “he’s involved with a few names on our books.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“Dave Blain?” I nod, recognising the name as one of our top earners. “Ollie hangs out with his younger brother, Steven.”
I shrug. “So?”
“Come on, Bert, don’t act dumb. You were right. How many of our guys have their brothers running too?”
“Doesn’t mean Ollie is. But I’ll speak with Dave. How did you find out?”
“I saw him on the Abbey Road estate. He was with a big crowd. Should I speak to Rosey about it?”
I shake my head. This is my chance to show her I’m serious. “I’ll keep an eye on it and instruct Dave on the situation.”
Arthur smirks. “You’re gonna try and sort this behind her back?”
“She’s got a lot on. She doesn’t need the worry.”
He holds his hands up in surrender. “You know what you’re doing. I just think giving her the heads up might go better than you keeping it from her.”
