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“Look at me, Charlie.” her sad eyes turn in my direction. “I would never in a million years do that. I’m not your ex. I don’t get off on hurting women. There is nothing more important to me and this club than protecting the people we care about. If the Irish had a problem with that, you can bet your perfect ass, we would be the ones standing in front of you.” I can’t control the urge to lean in and kiss her enticing pout. When I pull away, I continue. “We aren’t perfect men, and we live by our own laws, but we aren’t scumbags, and we don’t do business with scumbags.”
“You’re the first man I’ve ever felt safe with. I guess I was afraid that feeling was all in my head.”
“The only thing that was all in your head was the idea I would have ever done anything to hurt you or ever let anyone else hurt you. I’m not built that way.” I press my forehead to hers. “But, babe, you have to trust me. If you can’t trust me, then I can’t trust you to be honest with me, even when it scares you. Even if you think I’ll be the only man standing in front of you. I will always put you and your safety first… no matter what.”
“I can do that. With anyone else I don’t think I’d be able to, but with you, I know I can.” Charlie takes my hand and links our fingers.
“Well, good thing you don’t have to worry about anyone else.” I give her a half-smile. “This is it for me, Charlie. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. The only thing I hoped was you were out in the world living a happy life, and that was good enough for me. I was content with my status quo, but now that you’re here with me, in my bed and in my life, there’s no going back to how things were without you. You’ve taken something from me, and I’ll be damned if you ever give it back.” I put her hand over my heart and the sweetest smile I’ve ever seen in my life graces her full lips.
A loud knock bangs on my bedroom door.
“Are you done packing?” Jude asks. “We need to get on the road.”
Leave it to my prick of a best friend to ruin this moment.
“Yeah,” I yell back.
Twisting around to face Charlie again, I give her a quick kiss on the mouth and stand from the bed.
“Ready, Charlie pie?”
She rolls her eyes and lets out a little giggle. “Oh Jesus, here we go. When are you going to give up?”
“Never.”
The ride to Liam’s safehouse is uneventful. The only problem we’ve had so far was before we left the clubhouse. Lucy was the opposite of excited about having to ride on the back of Jude’s bike.
“Seriously. Why can’t we take a car?” she asked the group standing around the bikes, waiting for her to get on.
“Because our bikes are faster. I don’t want to be stuck in traffic.” Jude replied. “Plus, I don’t want to. Get on the bike, Lucifer.”
She squints her eyes and starts counting backward from a hundred.
“Fine,” she concedes when she gets to seventy-three.
“Believe me, this is as much a pain in my ass as it is yours.” Jude handed her a helmet, which she put on with jerky movements.
Charlie laughed quietly behind me, wrapping her arms tightly around my middle. Ozzy came up next to me before I fired up the engine.
“Any sign of trouble, get safe. There’s no reason to play the hero this time. We got it handled on this end, brother.”
Ozzy and I talked about what I’d like to see happen when they finally find that piece of shit. The dumb fuck has no idea what he started when he took shots at us in Texas. He’ll soon realize, though, and I’ll be the one to make sure he never forgets.
When we get to the small cabin, Charlie hops off my bike and does an adorable little spin.
“It’s so pretty here. I almost feel like we’re on vacation or something.”
Walking up behind her, I put my arms around her waist and kiss the crown of her head.
“It is, babe. Just in a super-secret fortified safe house.”
She laughs. “Yeah, totally the same thing.”
“Smartass.” I smack her on her perfectly round ass.
Her giggle loosens the knot in my chest. A few days here and we won’t have to worry about Jace or the Italians again. My brothers are handling it back in Shine, and I get to spend some time with my girl.
Lucy walks over to us and looks at the cabin. “God, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you brought us to a murder cabin in the middle of nowhere.”
