Series: Silver Spoon MC Series by Nichole Rose
Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 37450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 187(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 187(@200wpm)___ 150(@250wpm)___ 125(@300wpm)
"Your dad loves you, Mischief." I know that much for a fact. I talked to the man. He's beside himself with worry, terrified out of his mind that he's going to lose his daughter. He sent her here because he needs her safe.
"I know that." She lifts her head, breathtaking in her sorrow. "But two things can be true at the same time, Cormac." She gives me a sad smile. "To him, I'll always be the headstrong little girl who goes looking for trouble. That's what he expected me to do this time…go looking for trouble. He sent me here to make sure I couldn't do that. I didn't even get a chance to prove I wouldn't."
Shit. No wonder she feels like this is a prison.
And I told her she needs fucking permission to take the dog outside.
I am an asshole. But this asshole can be taught.
"I'm not your dad, Bella," I murmur, gently wiping her face.
"You thought I ran off."
"I wasn't worried about you looking for trouble." I exhale a breath. Maybe I should have been, but shit, I'm the last motherfucker to judge someone for looking for trouble when that's all I do. I suppose the fact that she's the same way is divine providence. God is probably yukking it up right now, just waiting to see how karma bites me in the ass with this girl for the thirty-five years of hell I've raised.
I can tell by her expression that she doesn't believe me.
"You matter to me," I say, laying my cards on the table. "I've been waiting for you my entire life. I'm trying to give you time to get on the same page, but I'm an impatient bastard. Going slow with you is hard as hell when I want everything, and I want it right now. I was worried I pushed too far, too soon, and you bolted on me."
"Oh," she whispers, her red-rimmed eyes searching across my face.
"And then I was worried as hell that something might have happened to you. There's a ravine about a mile behind the house. It's half a mile deep. If you were to fall into that…."
Her face pales, understanding dawning.
"And then I thought about someone grabbing you off the road and stuffing you into the trunk." I tip my head back, expelling a slow breath as my blood pressure rises again at the mere thought. "I went through about fifteen different ways I could have lost you, Mischief. It fucked me up a little bit."
"I'm sorry," she whispers.
I tilt my head forward again. "You have nothing to be sorry about. You aren't a prisoner here. You're allowed to go outside without permission. Of course you are."
"I tried to kick you."
"I already told you, baby," I growl, tucking ringlets behind her ears. "Defy me. Fight me. All you do is make my goddamn cock hard when you do."
The color in her cheeks deepens to a dusty rose.
"I wasn't made for a soft woman, Mischief." I shoot her a grin. "And you damn sure weren't made for a weak-ass man."
She rolls her eyes, making me smile. That right there is exactly what I mean, though. This girl is full of fire, full of sass. It spills out of her, barely contained. A soft man couldn't handle her. She needs someone who understands her and what she needs, someone who won't clip her wings or make her less to make himself feel like more. She doesn't fit neatly into a box. Any man who doesn't understand that isn't worthy of her time.
"I'm the one who owes you an apology, Mischief. Worrying about you doesn't excuse the fact that I yelled at you," I murmur regretfully. "I'm so damn sorry for that. Can we please start over?"
"No."
My heart twists in my chest, and my stomach knots up.
"I don't want to start over," she whispers. "I…like the way things are now." Worry casts a shadow in her expression, darkening her eyes. "But I'm not here forever, Tiny. As soon as they catch the men who killed Bellamy, I'm going back to Tennessee."
I'm not sure if she's trying to convince herself or if she's trying to convince me, but I'm not buying what she's selling, and I don't think she is either. I think she knows her home is here now, but she isn't entirely done fighting that fact yet. That's all right, though.
We've got time, and I was built for war.
This little goddess isn't going anywhere.
Chapter Six
Bella
"How did you end up here?" I ask, rubbing Crash's ear between my fingers while Cormac works on lighting the grill. Callum, Andreas, and Catriona are coming for dinner. I think Cormac invited them to give me company.
He still feels guilty for yelling at me yesterday. It's not really his fault that I cried, though. I've been trying to hold off the storm for far too long already. It was bound to happen sooner or later.