Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36052 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 180(@200wpm)___ 144(@250wpm)___ 120(@300wpm)
“No,” Dom snarled, poking a finger against my chest. “You’re not. You’re gonna go home and let Venus and Piston deal with her until morning. After that, once Crush has had a chance to look into her and the whole situation, I’ll reevaluate.”
“You don’t have a say in who I claim, Dom. My woman. My choice.”
“I do when the safety of the club is involved. See this?” He pointed to the patch on his chest with his club designation. “Sergeant at arms means the safety of the club is my responsibility. That makes this every bit as much my choice as it is yours.”
I took a step forward, but Lemon got between us. “Dump some testosterone, you guys. Bear.” She gave me a hard stare. “If you take her as your woman, you’ve got to accept the consequences if she’s not on the up and up. You willin’ to do that?” It was times like this I seriously questioned whether Lemon was really a teenager. Sure, she’d adopted some of Rocket’s mannerisms when dealing with tough business in and out of the club, but she was her own person with her own sense of moral toughness. The look on her face said she’d cut me herself if this went to shit, and not regret a Goddamned thing.
“I will.”
“No!” Olivia gasped. “No. I, uh, I can’t be your woman. I’ve… uh… I’ve already got a, uh, boyfriend.”
“If he’s the one who made you walk home on your own, he’s useless.” Besides, I knew she was lying. Again. This pattern was going to make it harder and harder to trust her when we got to that point.
“I wasn’t walking home,” she said, looking anywhere but at me or any of us. “I was walking to my car.”
“Right. Baby, the employee parking lots in that area are on the back side of the building. Where do you live? And, before you try to lie, keep in mind that Crush is looking into everything. Not only that, but you can’t lie for shit.”
She winced but shook her head. “I was walking back to my car.” Her voice was quiet. Hell, I don’t think even she expected us to believe her, but she was sticking to her story.
“All right, then,” Lemon said. “I’ll have the boys bring some food by. We’ve kept the place aired out and clean in case anyone needs a place to crash in the city, so you should be good here. Rocket will make sure Piston and Venus are on the way, so you’ll have backup, Bear. Also, Ringo, put a couple more guys farther out to keep an eye on the place from a distance.”
Rocket chuckled despite the situation. “It’s almost like she thinks she’s president, huh?”
Ringo snorted. “Don’t give her ideas, prez. She’ll have you retired and be runnin’ the whole operation if you do.”
“I already run the operation. I just let Rocket think he’s in charge.”
“As much as I’d love to deny it, she’s probably right. She definitely knows how to manage me.”
Lemon grinned up at our president. “Just one of the many reasons you love me.”
“Absolutely,” he said before pulling her to him and kissing her soundly. Which wiped the smirk off Lemon’s face and put a dreamy smile there. Which she didn’t even try to hide.
“Good luck.” Ringo clapped my shoulder as he headed out the door. “Got a feelin’ you’re gonna need it.”
Didn’t I just know it.
Olivia wandered around the living/kitchen/dining area of the house. It wasn’t a large place, but there was plenty of room for the two of us. Tomorrow, if things proved difficult and Venus and Piston needed to stay here with me, there would still be plenty of room. But I wasn’t ready to give up yet. While I knew she was lying and that there was very likely some shit headed our way, I thought I could get through to her.
There was definitely an attraction between the two of us. I could tell she felt that pull. I also thought it went against her nature to lie. Not only was she shit at it, I didn’t believe she wanted to. There was just something in her expression, like she felt guilty. It was all part of being a shit liar. So the question became, what or who was she protecting? The boyfriend she said she had? If so, it just proved she didn’t need him. A woman should never have to protect her man. He should protect her, even at the expense of his own life. If it wasn’t the boyfriend, then who? And why?
“You gonna talk?” Even though I’d spoken softly, she started, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.
Olivia shook her head, her gaze squarely in the middle of my chest. “I already told --”
“Yeah, you already told me a bullshit story.” I took a quick step toward her. Of course, she retreated a couple more steps. What surprised me was she only took a couple of steps back. I knew how intimidating I was. I’d perfected the look in the most dangerous of situations. I backed her up to the wall and caged her in. “Now, you’re gonna tell me the fuckin’ truth.”