AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If it had been anyone else, I would have told them to fuck off because I had no interest in rehashing old history. But it wasn’t. He was Stella’s old man, a senior club member, and a man I’d respected since the day I learned what in the hell that word meant.
He wanted to sort our shit out now, so be it. I’d give him his due, but it would have to be quick. We only had four hours before we rode out, and I desperately needed a cigarette, Tylenol, and a bed. In that order.
“We’re short on time, so say what you gotta say.”
“Fine. You not only let Stella fuck with your head, but then you went and let your feelings cloud your judgment.” Shit, I was already regretting my decision, and he was just getting started. “That fuckup almost got everyone here killed, Stella included.”
“Bullshit.”
The old man was stretching things a bit. My abandoning the club when they needed me wasn’t in question, nor were the consequences of those actions for the men I had called brothers. They had a right to hate me, not that I could orwould take back what I had done. What I failed to see was how the violence would have spilled over onto Stella.
“I can’t decide if you’ve been lying to yourself all this time or you’re really that stupid. Did Miguel strike you as the type of man who had an aversion to killing women or a history of leaving survivors? What did you think, he’d slaughter the club and then let Stella work in the shop? A shop that, I might add, he had no use for. Boy, use your damn head.”
Damn. He was right, and I’d been too busy licking my wounds to see it. Miguel was a nasty piece of work. If he’d risk killing his own daughter just for a shot at controlling the drug trade in the US, why in the hell would he let Stel live.
I’d put her in danger twice by leaving. The first time I’d been lucky Hunter was there to clean up my mess. This time, I was going to have to face the consequences of my actions.
“I see from the look on your face that you’ve finally gotten your head out of your ass. For Stella’s sake, I intend to make sure it stays that way.”
“Don’t get in my way, old man,” I snarled, pointing a finger at his chest.
He was right, damn him, but that didn’t mean I was going to let him come between me and Stel. Not anymore. She was mine, and I was staying no matter what he or anybody else had to say about it.
“I have more love for you than I ever did for my old man, but I’m done pussyfooting around my feelings for Stel out of respect for you. When we get her back, and we will or I’ll die trying, I’m never leaving her again. No matter what she says.”
“Is that what all this back-and-forth bullshit has been about? Stella’s been running her own love life since she was sixteen because lord knows I don’t need her in mine.” He shivered. “The first time she tried to tell me who I could fuck we’d be coming to blows.”
“Are you fucking shitting me right now?”
All this time I could have been balls deep in Stel! He wasn’t serious. He couldn’t be serious. It was too cruel. Any second someone was going to pop out and say gotcha. Either that or he was going to clock me for wanting to fuck Stel. Not that I blamed him.
He grinned. “Lucky for you, she got her momma’s shitty taste in men. Once she decides on you, there’s no changing her mind, no matter how bad you fuck up.”
His smile fell as his hands settled on his hips. “But she’s also proud, stubborn, strongwilled, and fiery. Stella is going to try your patience and be hell to live with, just like her old man.”
I’d been obsessively studying Stel since the sixth grade. He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t already know. Fuck. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to punch something, hug him, or both.
“Now, go get some sleep, and for fuck’s sake, clean yourself up.”
He didn’t need to tell me twice. The second he moved to the side enough for me to squeeze past him, I headed for the door.
“And Switch?”
“Yeah,” I said, looking over my shoulder to meet an intense pair of light blue eyes.
“If you ever leave her again, or break her heart, I’ll shoot you in the nuts. Understood?”
For the first time since Stel told me to fuck off all those months ago, the tightness in my chest eased a fraction. We weren’t out of the woods yet, and a million and one things could still go wrong, but at least I had one less obstacle to face when I got my girl back. And I would.
Somehow, someway, she’d find her way back to me. Then I’d make her mine in every sense of the word.
“I’ll save you the trouble and let Stel do it.”
His laughter followed me all the way out the door.
A brush of cool air made the shower curtain flutter, and I stilled. The sound of water splashing against the tiles masked my step back. My gun was on the back of the toilet, only an arm’s length away. It would have to be enough. Using the gap between the curtain and the tile, I looked into the mirror, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was trying to get the drop on me.
The breath I’d been holding left my chest in a whoosh when I caught sight of her standing in the doorway. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she bit the corner of her nail.
