I wasn’t lying when I told Maggie I’ve been thinking about moving for a while. The day I took Mags skydiving, I set up that meeting with Ace, needing to get a feel from him about his interest in buying me out of the club. He mentioned wanting to be partners in the past, but if I left town, I was going to be out completely. There would be no looking back.
“I know you’re awake,” I whisper, running my hand down her back when I hear her breathing change.
“Do we really have to leave?” Her head comes out from under my chin and my eyes dip forward to meet hers. I told her last night about moving to Kai’s place out in the desert. She doesn’t want to go. I know this, but I also know it’s the safest place for her to be while Kai, Kenton, Justin and I take care of what needs to be taken care of.
“It won’t be but a few days, baby, then this shit will be done and we can move on with our lives,” I tell her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips.
“I’ll follow you anywhere,” she whispers after a long moment, and I hear the truth in her tone. I never knew love could be like this, never understood the depth of my dad’s devotion to my mother, but having Maggie, I now understand why he stood by my mother for years, even after she tried to take his life.
*
“Honey, do you really think you should you be doing that?” Maggie asks softly as she steps through the door of the spare bedroom, where I keep my workout equipment, and eyes the dumbbell in my hand as I curl it upward once more.
“You heard my physical therapist, Mags.” I set the weight on the rack with the rest of the weights then go to her, taking her face gently in my hands. “I know you’re worried, but you need to understand I have to get back into the swing of things, and that includes working out,” I tell her softly, and her eyes move to the weights behind me before coming back to meet mine with a look of worry and anxiousness in their golden depths.
“He also said to take it easy,” she whispers, resting her hands against my tee over my wound.
“I’m taking it easy.” I press a kiss to her forehead muttering, “Promise,” there before leaning back to catch her eyes. “How are you feeling?” Her eyes move away from mine. Using my fingers at her jaw, I nudge her cheek gently, gaining eyes once more.
“I’m okay,” she lies. I see it in her gaze, and know she’s trying to be okay, but she’s not. I know that the loss is still hurting her even if she hasn’t brought it up.
“We’ll try again, baby.” I run my thumb over her cheek. “And if it doesn’t happen, we’ll work at it until it does or we’ll adopt.”
“I feel like a piece of me is missing,” she murmurs, closing her eyes. “I had no clue I was pregnant, but still feel like a piece of me is gone.”
“Mags.”
She opens her eyes and my heart stutters when I see the pain she’s been hiding from me there, shining so bright that it takes everything in me not to pull my eyes from hers.
“How do I get it back?” she asks as her hands clutch the fabric of my shirt.
“You find out, you tell me,” I say, dropping my voice, watching her eyes search mine as I dip my face closer to hers. “I don’t know how you feel, but since the moment I found out, I know there’s a hole in my heart from the loss,” I tell her softly, honestly. “I’m not sure that hole will ever be filled, but I know when it does happen for us, Maggie, and it will happen for us; time will go a long way in healing that pain.”
Her eyes fill with tears and she leans in, whispering, “You…you never said anything,” as her bottom lip wobbles.
“I’ve been waiting for you to come to me. I don’t want to push you into talking about it. But I’m here baby—anytime you want to talk about it or cry about it, I’m here.”
Nodding, her forehead drops forward and lands against my chest as her arms wrap around my back, and mine do the same, wrapping around her, holding her close.
“What time are we leaving?” she asks against my shirt after a few minutes.
Looking at the clock over her head, I see it’s already after four. “We’ll leave in three hours. Are Zack and Lane still downstairs?” I ask, and her head moves against my chest before she mutters quietly, “Yeah, and Teo was coming in when I came up to check on you.”
Pulling her away from my chest, I run my eyes over her face. The tears are gone; the sadness is not, but that’s going to take time. “You wanna tell them what time we’re heading out while I finish working out?”
“They’re coming with?” she asks, looking slightly surprised by this news.
“They will help watch over you, Autumn, and Myla while me and the guys get stuff sorted.”
“Then who will be watching over you?” she asks quietly, and I smile.
“Kenton’s man, Justin, will be with us, along with one of Kai’s men.”
“The guy I met, what was his name? Frank?” she asks, looking more concerned at the idea of Frank taking our backs.
“No, Frank will be at the house with you and will probably think he’s got guard duty, but don’t worry. He absolutely does not.”
“Thank God,” she breathes, and I chuckle, running the back of my hand down her jaw.
“This will be over soon.”
“I believe you.”
“Good, now go tell the guys what’s going on then come back up and shower with me,” I tell her, watching her eyes heat before dropping to my side where I was shot.
“I think I’ll make lunch,” she mutters, sounding disappointed.
“Maggie—”
“Do you want me to make you a turkey and Swiss?” she asks, and I fight back the smile I feel, thinking about her wearing her meat-gloves and making me a sandwich.
“I want you sitting on my face. That’s what I want.”
“Sven,” she breathes, swaying toward me.
“Go tell the guys what I said then come back up here.”
“I don’t think—”
Bending my face closer to her, I repeat, “Go tell the guys what I said, and if you don’t come back to me and I have to come hunting for you, I will fuck you wherever I find you. So unless you want to piss me off, come back to me quickly.”
“Sven,” she repeats, breathlessly, leaning up on her toes touching her mouth to mine, then turns and walks out of the room.
I haven’t had her in weeks. I wanted her to heal and knew I needed to do the same, but I got the go-ahead from the doctor a few days ago. She heard him tell me it was all good, and still she was keeping herself from me, but that was going to end. No way did I want to fuck her in Kai’s house with everyone there to hear her moan. Finishing my workout, I head for the bedroom and notice she still hasn’t made her way back upstairs. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, I head for the shower, turn it on, and let the water heat up while I take off my shirt. The scars on my chest are small from the surgery, but the skin is still red around the bullet wound. The doctor’s biggest concern is that since my lung has been collapsed, that could reoccur once more. He has no other worries and wasn’t surprised by how quickly I was healing. Hearing the bathroom door open, I watch Maggie stick her head in with her eyes glued to the shower stall.
“You didn’t miss anything,” I tell her, watching her jump when her eyes swing to me.
“I…I’ve been thinking about this, and I don’t think we should do it,” she mumbles, still standing outside the door with just her head inside.
“We’ve done this more times than I can count, and I know we should do it, because if we don’t, when I take you at Kai’s house, you’re going to wake up everyone in the fucking place. I know you, baby, so I know you’re not going to want to be embarrassed when they hear you coming.”
“I’m not loud,” she hisses, and I move toward her, pull the door from her grasp, take her hand, and pull her inside.
Pushing the door closed, I mutter, “You are,” while covering her mouth with mine and moving with her as she tries to back up, only to hit the door, leaving her with nowhere to go. Her hands move to my chest to push m
e off, but the moment my hand moves up over her breast, her mouth opens for me, my tongue slides in, and she moans.
“Sven,” she breathes as my mouth leaves hers and travels down her neck while my hands skim her shirt up and over her head, noticing she doesn’t have on a bra. Sliding one hand into her shorts, I roll my fingers over her clit and dip my head, pulling her nipple into my mouth and biting down on the tip as my fingers work faster.
I pull back and catch her eyes. “Unless it’s just me and you, you wear a bra when there are men in the house.”
“I—” Her chest heaves and her pussy convulses.
“That wasn’t an intro to a conversation, baby. It’s just me telling you straight-up I will be pissed if you don’t do what I say, now lose the shorts.” Her hands drop from my shoulders and move to her waist. I bite back my smile as she quickly unhooks her button, pushes her shorts to the floor, and kicks them away. I slide my hand deeper between her legs. “Wet,” I groan, slipping one then two fingers inside of her.
Her hips start to move in sync with my fingers and her hands move, one wrapping around my hip, the other moving to hold onto my hair as my mouth covers her breast, and I pull her nipple in, sucking hard. “Counter. Bend over it now,” I order, taking a step back and feeling my chest heave. Her eyes scan my face for only a moment before she moves to the counter and tentatively bends over it. Moving behind her, I catch her eyes in the mirror, lean forward, and kiss her back while my foot kicks her feet farther apart.
“Honey,” she whispers, her back arching and her ass tipping. Moving my hands up the curve of her ass, I hold her open and watch as the tip of my cock pushes inside of her slowly, inch-by-inch. Pulling my eyes from us, I look at her and watch her head fly back, her mass of hair flying through the air, her eyes closing, and her lips parting on a gasp.
“Look at me.” I plant myself inside her, feeling her walls contract. Her head dips forward, and her eyes slowly open and lock on mine. “Never keep yourself from me,” I grunt, pulling out slow, moving back in even slower. “Never, baby.”
“Never,” she whispers, tilting her ass higher and sending me sinking deeper.
Wrapping one hand around her hip, I slide the other forward and roll it over her clit, watching her eyes go half-mast.
“Please, harder,” she whimpers, but I don’t change my pace. I keep at her slowly while my fingers roll. When I feel her walls start to clamp down around me, I skim my hand that was around her hip up under her breast and pull her back.
Her head turns toward me and I cover her mouth with my own as I pinch her clit, sending her over the edge. Her loud moan vibrates down my throat as I shift my hips forward once more, planting myself there as I come hard, groaning down her throat when I do it. Breathing heavily, I pull my mouth from hers and rest my forehead against the crook of her neck, placing a kiss there.
“I missed you,” she whispers, and I lift my head to catch her eyes in the mirror. “I missed this.” Smiling at her, I watch her pull in a breath then let it out slowly. She doesn’t smile; her face goes soft, but her voice drops. “Don’t do anything that will take this away from me.” Tears fill her eyes right before she drops them to the countertop in front of us. “Please don’t do anything to risk this.” Losing our connection, I turn her in my arms, take her face in my hands, swipe the tears from her cheeks, and wait until I have her attention before speaking.
“You don’t have to worry. Promise. Nothing is going to happen.”
“You can’t know that. You were just shot.”
“I know, but I need to know you trust me to get this done so you and I can move on. I want to start our future, and until this is behind me, behind us, our future is at a standstill. Trust me to do right by us.”
“I do, but if something happens to you, I’m going to be so mad at you,” she mutters, and I burst out laughing. As I tug her into me, she glares. “That’s not funny.”
“It’s a little funny.” I chuckle, kissing her forehead.
“You’re so strange,” she murmurs, wrapping her arms around my back, resting her cheek against my chest.
“I love you, Maggie,” I whisper, kissing the top of her head and feeling her arms convulse. “So fucking much.”
“I love you, too,” she whispers back.
We stand holding each other for a long time, long enough for Lane to come up and pound on the door, making sure we’re good and causing Maggie to turn a shade of red that I’ve never seen her turn before—worse than when her mom asked if she could teach us the Karma Sutra.
After that, we showered and dressed, and then got us and our shit in the car and headed out, with Zack, Lane, and Teo following behind us.
When we arrive at Kai’s, I know bringing Maggie here was the right decision. The house, surrounded by a seven-foot fence, lit up like Christmas, would be a deterrent for most. But if someone was stupid enough to fuck with us here, there was no fucking way they would be able to sneak up on the house without someone seeing them coming. Kai put in the best security money could buy, and I have no doubt that even if someone was walking through the desert, we would know they were out there before they even got close.
As the gate for the driveway opens, I look over at Maggie and see she’s still asleep. She passed out not long after we hit the road and would probably sleep the rest of the night if I didn’t wake her. I don’t want to wake her; she needs rest, and even if she was upset about leaving the house we made our home, I know she was on edge there.
Getting out from behind the wheel, I quietly shut the door and walk around to meet Pika and Aye, Kai’s two bodyguards standing at the end of the sidewalk, then wait for my men to join me.
“Good to see you, man,” Pika greets, and Aye lifts his chin.
I lift mine back then mutter, “Not sure you know Zack, Lane, or Teo, but they’ll be with Maggie when I’m not.”
“What’s up? I’m Aye, and he’s Pika,” Aye returns, dipping his head toward the other bodyguard.
“Zack?” Pika’s eyes squint, looking at Zack, then he smiles. “Shit, man, how the fuck are you?”
“Didn’t think you recognized me.” Zack smiles, putting out his fist toward Pika who bumps his against it.
“You’re uglier now, so it took me a minute,” Pika replies, and Zack chuckles then looks at me and mutters, “Pika used to take over the VIP in Bistros every time he was in town. He had bitches ten-deep every night, all of them cool with sharing his affections.”
“I miss Vegas.” Pika smiles then looks at Aye. “We get some time before we have to head back to the island, we’re going out.”
“Sounds good to me.” Aye grins, and I look between him and Pika, knowing that at one time, I would have been right there with them, but not anymore. Now the idea of random women isn’t even a little bit appealing.
“You wanna show me where we’re staying? Maggie’s asleep. I want to get her settled then we’ll talk,” I say, and Aye looks at the car behind me.
“Heard about her. Uncle Frank wouldn’t shut up about her,” Aye mumbles, bringing his eyes to me. “Sorry about what happened. It’s fucked up, but in the end, you’ll get yours,” he assures, and I know he means that in more than one way.
“Yeah.”
“I can take Maggie in while you guys get shit sorted,” Lane puts in, and I look at him, but his eyes are on the Suburban where Maggie’s sleeping.
“I got her,” I tell him, and as his gaze comes to me, I see something there that sets my teeth on edge when he nods. Looking from him to Zack, I see his eyes on Lane, watching him in a way that has me wondering what the fuck I’m missing. I know Maggie and the guys are cool; they’ve been cool since the first night she showed at the club, but now I’m wondering if I missed something in all the shit that’s gone down.
“I’ll show you.”
Pika claps my shoulder, and I pull my eyes from Zack to look at him and mutter, “Thanks.”
Once I get Maggie settled in bed, I find the guys sitting in the dinning
room at the table talking. Pika and Aye are filling Zack, Lane, and Teo in on the house and the parameter, including the sensors in the desert.
“Zack,” I call, and his eyes move from Pika at the head of the table to me, and I nod toward the front door.
Mumbling, “Be back,” he scoots away from the table and follows me out of the house.
“What the fuck was that?” I question, and he doesn’t even hesitate before he speaks.
“Not sure, yet.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I run a hand through my hair. “If he—” I pause, clipping, “Fuck,” and dragging my hand through my hair again. “This shit is not okay, not with all the other shit going down.”
“I’ve got nothing to go on but my gut right now,” he rumbles, looking toward the house. “Teo sees it. He knows something’s off too.”
“Why the fuck didn’t you bring this to my attention before I had him in our house?”
“How could I watch him if he wasn’t with me?” he asks back, and—fuck—I know he’s right, but this shit isn’t sitting well with me right now.
“Flipped, man,” he whispers, looking back at the house.
“What?”
“When he knew Maggie was with you upstairs today, he flipped.”
“Jesus,” I whisper, wondering how fucking blind I’ve been. “He is not to be alone with her under any circumstances.”
“You don’t even have to tell me that shit. He hasn’t been alone with her, and won’t be. Teo and I are watching, waiting for his move.”