“That’s a lot of maybes. And what is more likely is that it was just a random attack. Unless there’s some reason you think someone would want to get at you.”
“Made a lot of enemies over the years.”
“What sorts of enemies? Who are they?”
He shrugged.
She sighed. “I don’t need a security system.”
“You’re a woman living alone. You should have one anyway.”
“I can’t afford one,” she admitted.
“You’re not paying for it. I am,” he said firmly.
“You are not,” she replied, equally as firm.
“Am.”
“Duke!” she protested.
He slid her a look. “You’re gonna let me do this, Sunny. Need to keep you safe.”
She threw her arms up into the air. “I know you’re a protective guy. You warned me about that. But doesn’t this seem like a wee bit of an overreaction to you? I’m fine.”
There were a few beats of silence. And just when she opened her mouth to ask him why they had to head to the club, he spoke.
“Lost my family when I was eight.”
She closed her mouth.
“Car accident. I was staying at a friend’s house for the night. They’d just dropped me off. I had a little sister. Lost all of them. Gone. Just like that. No chance for a goodbye. No opportunity to tell them I loved them.”
“Oh, Duke.” She reached over to grasp hold of his thigh. It tightened under her hold then relaxed. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but I’m so sorry.”
“My friend’s family took me in. They were good to me. But it wasn’t ever the same. They couldn’t replace what I lost. Think that’s one of the reasons I was drawn to the club. The sense of family and camaraderie. Hasn’t always been a safe place. Not with Smiley, the guy who ran the club before Reyes. But the guys there are my brothers. They were all I had. Until you.”
He’d lost his family. He couldn’t lose her. She closed her eyes. She got it now.
“Let me put in the security system, baby girl. Let me sleep better when you’re not right there beside me.”
“Okay,” she whispered. “I wish I could have known them.”
“I don’t remember too much of them anymore. My dad, he liked to pick my mom up and twirl her around and she’d just laugh. She had the best laugh. They were happy. They loved us.”
Her heart bled for the little boy who’d gone from living a life full of love and laughter to being alone. At least his friend’s parents had taken him in and he hadn’t had to go into foster home.
“I’d take you home but I don’t want you there alone,” he explained. “And I’m needed at the club for a meeting.”
“It’s fine,” she told him, even as she felt a little nervous at the idea of going inside the club’s bar. But Duke would be with her and part of her was slightly curious as well.
They drove in silence but she kept her hand on his thigh. He parked his borrowed truck outside the bar.
Duke took tight hold of her hand as they walked towards the entrance. “You stay next to me at all times and you listen to what I say, understand?”
“Why? Is it dangerous?”
He stopped and turned to look down at her. “Little rebel, do you seriously think I’d take you anywhere that was unsafe?”