Total pages in book: 174
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 172061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 860(@200wpm)___ 688(@250wpm)___ 574(@300wpm)
Theo kept right behind me. “Don’t give me that shit. I’ve known you for a long fuckin’ time, and something is up.”
Fuck.
I fumbled to a standstill. A riot of emotions toiled through me. My worry over that little family, the fact that I would do anything for Daisy, but the truth that she was asking the wrong person.
I couldn’t be a…father.
Isn’t that what she was asking?
Anxiety and grief wound through my being as I stared over at Theo who waited for me to come clean.
“Found a trespasser on my property.” It was all I could force from my mouth.
Theo frowned, knowing it wasn’t all that uncommon with where I lived.
I covered my face with both hands like it could shield me from this reality. Then I dropped them and wheezed, “It’s Daisy.”
Theo reeled back, struck by the name.
It wasn’t like I was a guy who spilled his guts, but one night back when we rode with the Iron Owls MC, Theo and I had been on a run. We’d gotten shit-faced after, passing a bottle of whiskey back and forth, and I’d found myself confessing everything.
I should have kept my fuckin’ mouth shut, but I found I couldn’t do it then, either. “She’s in trouble, and she needs me to marry her to keep her kids safe. What the fuck am I going to do?”
Theo inclined his head closer, his voice dropping to a barb, “The fuck, man?”
My nod was vicious. “Turns out, her ex is a monster. Into some super shady shit that she uncovered. She turned him in, and the fucker got out on a technicality. She’s sure he’s been after her ever since. She took off and ended up here because I’m the only person she’s got.”
The only person she’s got.
It speared through the middle of me the second I said it.
“I should have fucking known.” I gasped around it.
I should have dug.
Should have watched from afar.
Should have known she needed me.
Still, I continued to purge the tension that boiled like a beast. “She wants to know her kids have someone to take care of them if something happens to her, so she’s begging me to do this thing for her. It’s so fucked, man, I can’t think straight.”
Didn’t know how it was possible, but the confession poured out like a sieve.
I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
Disbelief puffed from between Theo’s lips, and he raked a hand through his jet-black hair. “Can think of better ways to handle the situation.”
Violence dripped from his words.
He and I were on the exact same fucking page.
“Already working on it. The bastard vanished the second he walked out of his cell. But I’ll find him.” Hatred wheezed through my gritted teeth.
“We need to bring this to Sovereign tomorrow night,” Theo urged. “The rest of our crew needs to be apprised. You don’t need to be going this alone.”
Refusal puffed from between my lips. “I always go it alone.”
“Not anymore. It’s fuckin’ time you stepped out from behind the place where you keep yourself sequestered. No matter what you think of yourself, you’re a part of this family. And if she’s important to you, then that means she’s important to the rest of us.”
My chest tightened, my throat growing thick.
“Is she important to you?” he pressed.
Fuck.
I ducked away, roughing an agitated hand down my face, before the word ripped out of me like spite. “Yes.”
“Good, then we figure this shit out tomorrow. And in the meantime?”
I turned back around, hostility scalding my marrow. “In the meantime, they’re under my protection.”
“How many?”
My heart racing erratic as their faces flashed through my mind. “She has three kids. Three, five, and seven.”
Amusement flitted through Theo’s expression. “Holy shit, dude. You have three kids and the woman who haunts your dreams living under your roof?”
I grunted at him.
A clear warning.
With a laugh, he held out his hands, his dark eyes gleaming like the schemer he was. “Seems like a good opportunity to me. Maybe there’s another reason she showed up at your door.”
My jaw clenched. “You know that’s not going to happen, so don’t even start.”
“If anyone needs to get inside a warm, sweet body, it’s you. How long has it been? It’s no wonder you’re grumpy as hell. We’re lucky you haven’t gone on a rampage with all the tension you have pent up.”
Irritation flashed, and a hot puff of air escaped my nose.
Dude knew I’d gone on plenty of rampages.
And I didn’t even want to think about getting my dick wet.
I’d done plenty of fucking back in my days in the MC, but with every body I blew through, the hollowness grew. That cavern whittled deeper and deeper because I didn’t deserve to be touched or pleasured.
When I came to Moonlit Ridge, I fully gave myself over to isolation.
Theo reached out and gripped me by the shoulder. “Just giving you shit, man.”