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I got a nod from them, then dragged Luis out of the apartment.
It was one of the bikers, some fuck by the name of Pagan, who kicked out a leg when Luis was stumbling down the stairs, making the guy fall, head over feet over and over.
When my gaze went to Pagan, he shrugged.
“Heard he hurt our girl,” he said, then turned to go into the apartment.
I caught up with Luis before he could get back to his feet, half-dragging him with me into the safe room on the next floor.
I locked us in there.
Then, well, then I had some fucking fun.
Until the walls, floor, door, ceiling, and my entire body were painted a fresh coat of bright red blood.
I wanted to make it last hours.
Days.
Weeks.
But, more than that, I wanted to get back to Hope.
The woman I loved.
The one who’d told me she loved me too.
It was time for us to give it a real shot.
Back in our old lives.
With our people in on it now.
Though I was pretty sure her daddy was going to want to kick my ass for letting her get hurt.
It was fine.
I had it coming.
I could take it.
Then I would promise him that it would never happen again.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Hope
“Hey, wildcat,” my dad said, trying to give me a smile even as his gaze moved over me, taking in the bruises to my face, the bands around my neck. “Nice dogs,” he said, moving inside, and reaching out toward me.
Making Val snarl.
“It’s okay, buddy,” I told him, patting his big head, which seemed to appease him as my dad reached for me, and pulled me into a bear hug. “Easy, Dad,” I hissed. “My ribs hurt.”
“Shit, sorry,” he said, pulling away. “A called. And I haven’t been able to think straight since.”
“The whole club is here, isn’t it?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Pretty much,” he agreed. “No one fucks with our girls,” he added, bumping my chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Hope, what the fuck?” he asked, shaking his head.
To that, a snort escaped me.
That was a long story.
“Where’s A?” I asked. “Is he alright?”
I watched as my father’s eyes started working. That was the thing with my dad. He could read you and a situation in a blink.
He’d been raised by two shrinks who’d, essentially, experimented on him his entire life. Then wrote books about it.
To say he was a little… damaged from that is an understatement. He’d gotten a reputation in the club for fucking with people’s emotions. But, mostly, he was used as their profiler to decide if guys who wanted in the club should be allowed in or not.
My mom also worked as a profiler, and had her own sort of parental damage.
So, yeah, growing up had been interesting.
You couldn’t get away with shit.
And you pretty much didn’t get to have any secrets.
“That’s the way of it, huh?” he asked, head tipping to the side a bit.
Everything about him was relaxed, though, so I was reasonably sure he wasn’t going to tell me that the man I loved was bleeding to death in the other room.
“Believe me, no one is more surprised than I am.”
“Surprised? No. Not really,” he said, shaking his head.
“What? Why not? You just assumed your daughter was going to end up with a drug kingpin?”
“I always assumed that my daughter was a stubborn-ass who would need a man—or woman—,” he clarified, always the open-minded dad.
“As much as I have wished to be into women… I unfortunately like men,” I said, getting a smirk out of him.
“I think the only man who would get your attention was someone as layered as Andres. And the only one who could deal with your ass would be someone as laid-back, but powerful as him.”
“Gee, thanks, Dad,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“You know you’re difficult. Sometimes on purpose. Sometimes because some part of you is terrified to feel anything big. And, love, baby, love is big.”
“I love people!” I insisted, hurt that he thought I didn’t love my family and friends. Albeit in a less sappy or vocally as some of my other cousins.
“I’m not questioning that,” he said. “But we both know that this kind of love is something different completely. It requires different things from you. And you have avoided giving those parts of yourself away to anyone not worthy.”
“You think A is worthy?” I asked, feeling hope bloom in my chest.
“Baby, that’s not my place to decide. That’s on you. But for the record, I’ve always liked the guy.”
“The guys are never going to let me live this down, though, are they?” I asked, hearing them talking in the other room.
“Think the fact that he had you in a heavily-guarded safe house with a dozen attack dogs and weapons, as well as calling us for help when he was worried about you says a lot. But I gotta know how you ended up here.”
