Total pages in book: 46
Estimated words: 43402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43402 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 217(@200wpm)___ 174(@250wpm)___ 145(@300wpm)
“You’re wrong. She may have some nightmares over the way they beat her because of you, but she won’t turn her back on me.” My voice comes out sharp. “She likes you. She likes Ayita. Livy does that knowing you’re both part of the club. What about her says that she can’t handle it? Livy will accept it,” I insist. “She’ll accept me.”
Bear exhales, long and heavy. “You’re dreaming, Blade.”
“I’m not.”
“You’d think differently if you knew everything the Feral Kings did to her.”
“That’s why I will protect her. Livy is smart. She will know who the real monsters are.” I lean forward. “I am going to claim Livy as my old lady. She will be part of the club, and damn it, she will know that she’s safe with us—with me.”
Bear’s eyes narrow. “Then do it with a wedding ring, Blade. That’s what Livy deserves. She deserves a man who will give up everything for her.”
“I will claim her both ways—the club and the ring. You’re selling her short. Livy’s strong. She’ll love being part of the Saints.”
“Then answer me this,” he hisses, his voice low and rough. “If you’re wrong—if she refuses to associate with the club—to have you if you remain a member—are you willing to give her up for the club? Can you make that choice? Because if you can’t, then she deserves better.”
The question hits like a punch. My stomach knots up as it plays over and over in my head. The idea of losing her destroys me. The thought alone is enough to make breath lodge in my lungs and refuse to come out. Fuck, what am I going to do if Bear is right? If Livy won’t stay by my side, she isn’t the woman I thought she was. I shake my head. It’s just not true. It can’t be.
I meet his gaze. “I don’t believe for a second that she’d turn her back on me.”
“If she does?” he persists.
“If she does, I’ll have to walk away. I can’t be with a woman who won’t accept my club, my brothers, my life. That’s not love.”
Bear leans in, eyes sharp. “So, you expect her to change for you, but you won’t for her? Seems to me, brother, that you’re not the man she truly needs either. It works both ways. If you love her—truly love her—you would offer to walk away from the club to keep her.”
I glare right back. “You’re not changing my mind. So, unless you’re kicking me out, can we eat and talk about the casino groundbreaking?”
Bear studies me, then nods slowly. “Fine. You’ll attend the groundbreaking as the face of the consortium. We’ve already pushed it getting the council to back us with me there. They think you’re small-time—a wet-behind-the-ears attorney wanting to play big man in town. At the moment, the council agreed to everything because they think we’re going to make a glorified bingo parlor. By the time they realize we’re coming in to change the whole damn place and take control back for the people of Cherokee, it will be too late.”
I listen, nodding when I should, but fuck if my mind’s already miles away. Livy’s laugh echoes in my head. Her soft voice, her gentle hands. Bear’s words gnaw at me. Maybe it’s time to stop holding back with her. If I can make her truly fall in love with me, make the connection deep—she won’t be able to walk away from me.
If that’s what it will take, I will do it. I can’t allow her to walk away. Fear isn’t something I know well, but the thought of losing Olivia Davis scares the hell out of me.
That’s why I won’t stop until she is completely in love with me.
Until she marries me and has my babies.
And when I get that from her—I will bust my ass to make sure she never regrets it.
10 BLADE
The drive back from Gatlinburg feels longer than it should. My head’s a damn war zone—Bear’s words keep echoing over and over. Hangman’s smirk is still pissing me off. The mountains blur past, leaves burning red, orange, and gold in the early fall sun. Beautiful as hell, but all I see is Olivia.
My Livy.
By the time I pull into her gravel drive, I’ve already made up my mind. Bear’s wrong. My woman is not made of glass. She’s steel under that soft, tempting skin—even if she doesn’t see it yet. I hate that I need to keep pretending to be something I’m not. I don’t have a choice, though. I have to hold off—at least until the casino is being built and there’s no going back. If the pricks in the local government knew the club was actually going to be the owners—not to mention the fact that we’re going to put the local Native American families in control—they’d shut the project down.