Total pages in book: 45
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 42332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 212(@200wpm)___ 169(@250wpm)___ 141(@300wpm)
Then I gave her the truth.
Not every gritty detail, but enough. About the man who chatted her up and the meeting she’d noticed her first night. How her reaction—small, instinctive, but sharp as hell—put her on the radar of men who made their money in the shadows. I told her who Dunbar was. What he’d done. Why it was dangerous. How he’d slipped past military scrutiny years ago and vanished…until her.
I didn’t gloss over the part where she became a loose end. But I did leave out just how close I’d come to killing those men last night.
She just looked up at me with those steady blue eyes, full of trust so complete it damn near shattered me, and asked softly, “What happens now?”
I crossed the space between us, cupped her face in my hands, and answered her with steel in my voice. “Now you never leave my fucking side.”
12
MAREN
Iwoke slowly, sinking deeper into the soft sheets before my eyes opened. For a moment, I forgot the danger Lucas was protecting me from and the fact that someone had tried to shove me into a van a few days ago.
Even without him in bed with me, I still felt like he surrounded me. He’d created a safe bubble where I could work through what had happened. I had no doubt he wouldn’t let anyone hurt me.
The adrenaline from the kidnapping attempt had long since faded. It had been replaced by a deep sense of security I’d found inside the Hounds of Hellfire compound. With Lucas.
I pushed the blanket back and sat up, stretching slowly. My body felt more rested than ever. Any lingering tension unwound every night I slept in his arms. And with my parents still vacationing in Florida, I didn’t have to worry about them stumbling into any of this. They were far away, blissfully unaware, and safe.
With them not around, I didn’t need to explain to anyone where I was spending my time. Except for Susan, who had lots of questions after the kidnapping attempt. And even more when she noticed Lucas was my ride to and from work each shift. Not to mention, he sat in that same booth the entire time, except for the rare few occasions when he had another Hound take his place.
The room was quiet when I finally stood and wandered toward the small window, brushing my fingers along the windowsill. Only a few days ago, I would’ve felt like an intruder. Now it felt like this place had become the safest corner of my world.
The door opened behind me, and I turned just as Lucas stepped inside the room. His gaze swept over me, and he crossed the distance between us and lowered his head without a word.
The kiss he pressed to my forehead wasn’t overtly sexual, but it still sent a shiver of awareness up my spine.
“Sorry, baby. Thought I’d be back before you woke up.”
I smiled up at him. “I’m good.”
“Some of the old ladies are hanging out downstairs. Want to join them?”
My grin widened as I nodded. “Yeah, I’d really like that.”
I stayed in his room the first day, spending most of it tangled up in bed with Lucas while I recovered from my scare. But the past couple of days, I’d had the chance to meet most of his club brothers, along with their wives and a couple of the babies. I’d spent the most time with Stella and Cadell since King and his family lived in a private addition off the back of the clubhouse.
“Cut stays on,” he reminded me.
I couldn't explain the warm flutter in my stomach. It felt so natural to listen to Lucas and do what he asked. And this was one of my favorite requests. I’d gotten comfortable wearing his extra vest around the clubhouse. When the leather settled on my shoulders, I felt safer.
“Okay,” I whispered.
Something in his eyes softened before he brushed his knuckles down my cheek and stepped past me to grab a pair of jeans and a top. I’d borrowed clothes from Stella at first, but when I’d insisted on going back to work for my next shift, Lucas had taken me home to pack a bag so I’d have my spare uniform.
I got ready in the bathroom, and when I stepped out, he was waiting. Lucas lifted the vest and settled it over my shoulders himself before we walked out of his room together.
He kept his hand at the small of my back as we walked downstairs toward the kitchen. Every club brother we passed gave a subtle chin lift. I got respectful looks with a strange kind of deference and assumed it was because of the leather vest I was wearing. Although a tiny part of me wondered if it was more than me being under his protection.