“Absolutely not,” I growled as I stalked over and practically ripped the shirt off her.
“Hey! I like that shirt.”
“Get over it,” I stated as I rooted around in her bag. I came up with a long-sleeved, sweater type thing that looked as though it would come to mid-thigh and threw it at her. She sighed and pulled it over her head, then stood. I was right about the length and while her legs were sexy as fuck, there was far too much of them showing. She picked up her jeans and folded them, confusing me. “Put on your pants, baby. The guys will be here any minute.”
She frowned and threw me a disgruntled glare. “If you don’t like the dress, why did you pick it out?”
My eyes were probably bugging out of my head, and my jaw went slack. “Dress? Are you fucking kidding me?” Paisley faced me with her mouth pursed and her eyes narrowed, while planting her hands on her hips. Which drew her hemline up even farther. I started shaking my head and walking toward her. “No way, baby. We talked about this. You’re mine, and I don’t fucking share. So either put on the jeans with this sorry excuse for a dress or find a different shirt that won’t have me breaking the nose of every man who looks at you.”
She glared at me for a minute, then huffed and went through her clothes again. When she was dressed in jeans and a purple T-shirt, she twirled around with her arms out. “Satisfied?”
I grinned and ate up the distance between us in two strides. “For now. But I’m gonna need to feed my craving for you again very soon.” She blushed, but her smile was genuine, and her eyes had gone back to sparkling with happiness when she looked at me.
My brothers arrived a couple of minutes later. Paisley gasped when she saw the purple bruise forming on Dom’s jaw. When she asked about it, he grinned. “I had it coming,” he said with a laugh.
“Sure as fuck did,” I muttered. My phone buzzed, and I glanced down to see a text from Benji. “Tip called in. Benji estimates they’ll be at his location in an hour. Plenty of time for us to get there first.”
“Get where?” Paisley asked.
“Time to know you’re safe once and for all.”
* * *
I parked my bike in the woods far enough away not to be noticed but close enough to see the action. Then I pulled Paisley into my lap and curled my arms around her. Not more than a minute later, a squad of police cruisers showed up. At first, John refused to come out. He was yelling out of a second-floor window and I was seconds away from putting a bullet in his head when they finally broke down the door and went in after him.
It wouldn’t have broken my heart to see them bring him out in a body bag, but it wasn’t as satisfying as the plan I had for him. So I was happy to see them hauling him out in handcuffs and shoving him into the back of a car.
I felt Paisley’s sigh of relief as the cars flew past us. “I’d never let anything happen to you. You know that, right?” I whispered.
She snuggled into my embrace and answered me softly. “Yes. But I’m glad to see that monster getting what he deserves.”
Oh, he’d be getting what he deserved all right. She didn’t need to know all those details, though. I didn’t want any more darkness touching her. Watching a man be executed right in front of you was enough shit to deal with.
I kissed her long and deep, reminding myself that she was safe and that she was mine. Then I helped her onto the back of my bike and wrapped her arms around me. Next to being inside her, there was nothing better than this.
“Let’s go home.”
9
Paisley
I was so lost in the exhilaration of being wrapped around Hack’s strong body with the vibration of his bike beneath me—and the relief of seeing John Clark being hauled away in cuffs—that I didn’t stop to think about what going back home might mean for us. Not until we pulled into my neighborhood and I was struck by the fact that I had no idea where he was from. It had to be far enough of a drive that all the guys had stayed at a hotel, though. My high spirits were quickly dulled by worry. I wasn’t sure how a long-distance relationship would work between us, or if Hack would even want to try after he’d already gotten me in bed.
My thoughts quickly spiraled out of control. In the short time we’d spent together, Hack had been amazing. He hadn’t done a single thing to make me feel as though this was just a fling, but I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if this was the end of us. With John Clark in jail, the threat to me was gone, and it was what had brought us together in the first place. By the time he parked in front of my townhouse, I was second-guessing everything and blurted, “How long are you planning to be in town? Do you have to get back home soon? Or can you stay for a while?”