AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You did what you had to do to save my life,” he said.
Anna peeked up at him from under tear-drenched lashes, “How can you say that? I ruined our life together.”
“Do I wish you’d come to me with what your father said? Of course, I do. But I was so deep in the middle of it at the time that I’m not sure how much help I would have been. The only way to look at it is that you saved my life. What you did gave us now, so there’s nothing to forgive.”
“I hated him,” Anna whispered.
“I know you did,” Gate agreed. “But why didn’t you come to me after he died?”
“I thought I was stuck. I’d dug myself into such a hole with you and I didn’t know how to get out.”
“You could have told the truth,” Gate pointed out.
“I thought you were happy,” Anna said.
“I fucking hated my life,” Gate admitted.
“That makes me feel worse,” Anna mumbled.
“You watched me do some nefarious shit back then. Much as I don’t like it, I get why you thought you couldn’t come back.”
“I can’t think about the other women, Gate, because if I think about them, I won’t be able to do this. It’s not flattering, but it’s honest.”
“You’re a fucking knockout. I’d be stupid to think there was never anyone else. But I don’t want to know about them.” Gate wound his fingers into her hair, “That’s your past. I want your future.”
Anna smiled up at him, “I like that.” Then her smile faded, “But I’m the one who’s going to be face to face with it.”
“You’re the queen,” Gate said, stroking a calloused finger across the skin of her cheek.
“Maybe yours, Gate, but not theirs,” Anna pointed out.
“Do you want to be?” he asked, studying her face like he wanted to memorize every line of it.
“I want my life back,” Anna said.
Gate lips brushed hers, “Then take it.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Welcome to the Posse
Gate
The rides in the lot told Gate that a crowd had gathered while he and Anna had been gone.
He tightened his arm around her shoulders, “You ready?”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder without slowing down, “Probably not.”
Gate’s boots clunked up the entrance steps with all his usual swagger, but his thoughts chased each other around his head.
On one hand, he realized that he was living his greatest fantasy, walking back into the common room with his woman on his arm, and the warmth of that slid deep.
On the other hand, Anna’s words still echoed. Gate never expected to be caught in a situation where anyone from Anna’s past was front and center. Anna, however, would be in that very situation every single time she set foot on the compound lot.
And that shit burned.
As he pulled the metal doors ushered Anna into the common area, Gate scanned the room full of bikers, their women, their women’s girlfriends, and visiting MC brass.
