Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 157(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
I hung up and sat back, staring at the monitor but not seeing a damn thing. The door creaked open behind me, but I didn’t need to look to know who it was.
Fox slid onto the chair opposite me with a look that said he’d heard more than I’d wanted him to. Maverick followed, closing the door behind him before leaning against the hard surface with his arms crossed.
“Mav filled me in.” Fox’s voice was calm but low, his version of warning bells. “Said you had that look. The one you get when you’re itching to make someone bleed and burn shit down.”
“Sounds about right.”
He watched me for a beat, his expression unreadable.
Fox had cause to be concerned. Few people knew what lived beneath the businessman they saw when they looked at me. I rarely lost control. But when I fought, I did it like I was out for blood. No finesse. No rules. Just raw, unhinged violence that left a message. They didn’t send me to talk. They sent me when they wanted someone to bleed.
He leaned forward and cocked a brow. “She yours?”
There was no hesitation. “Yeah.”
Fox’s eyes narrowed just slightly, his mouth twitching with the edge of a grin. “Thought so.”
“Figured Mav would’ve already run his mouth to you,” I muttered, my voice bone-dry and laced with sarcasm. “Thought you two shared everything over pillow talk these days.”
Maverick rolled his eyes and shot me the bird.
“He did,” Fox replied, ignoring my jab. “Wanted to hear it for myself.” His lips curled up a little more, and he shook his head. “Warned you. One look, and you’re all in. Already picturing baby booties and car seats.”
I gave him a flat stare. “You done?”
Mav snorted. “He’s just surprised it hit you that fast. Thought you were immune, but it turns out you just hadn’t met yours yet.”
“Figured I’d need to chip the ice off your soul before you’d ever fall,” Fox added. “The kind to go down swinging.”
I leaned back in my chair and smirked, slow and dark. “Still got teeth, boys. And plenty of swing in me. Just might be aimed at any motherfucker who is stupid enough to come near her. And if you two don’t stop runnin’ your mouths, I’ll bury both of you under the new concrete slab behind the garage.”
That got a chuckle from both of them. Fox stood and clapped his palm on my desk. “We’ll let you keep your pride for now. You decide how to handle shit with the bar, but you’re off club business until this shit with Tamara is sorted. That’s not a request.”
I didn’t argue. I couldn’t when it was the right call.
“She’s your priority now,” Fox added as he stepped back toward the door. “Get some damn sleep. She’ll need you on your game.”
When they left, the silence returned, but I couldn’t bring myself to leave the office just yet. The thought of lying in my bed while she was down the hall in a room too damn far from reach made my skin crawl. So I didn’t. I crashed in the empty room next to hers, not bothering to change my clothes. I just yanked off my shirt, kept my jeans on, and lay down on the mattress, staring at the ceiling.
I didn’t sleep. Couldn’t. Not when I didn’t have eyes on Tamara.
The second I heard her and Lainie leave their room in the morning, I was up and in the shower, scrubbing away the restless night. Fifteen minutes later, I was in the kitchen.
Tamara sat at one of the long tables, fresh-faced but tired. Her hair was up in a messy bun that made me want to fist it. She didn’t see me at first. I took up position against the wall behind her like a shadow that wouldn’t leave.
Her T-shirt and jeans clung to her toned body and slender curves. It wasn’t meant to be alluring, but she’d make a potato sack look sexy as fuck. A few of the guys looked too long, but I didn’t need to say anything. One low growl, and they suddenly remembered how to find the far side of the room. One prospect walked too close, his eyes lingering, but when I grunted and he looked at my face, clocking my thunderous expression, he turned around so fast he damn near tripped over his own boots.
I didn’t touch the food. The only thing I wanted to taste was her.
I didn’t sit either. Just watched over her.
Eventually, Wrecker called from across the room. “I’ll be at the bar to help open tonight.”
Wrecker was filling in because Riot, my assistant manager, was off for the night. Which meant I had to be there.
Tamara laughed at something Lainie said, the sound low and sweet. She leaned forward to take another bite of her breakfast, and my hands curled into fists.