“Tomorrow evening, I have club business. Several of us will be gone. I need you to stay at the compound. If I’m not back in time to drive you to school, Lynx and Copper will take you and Madeline.”
My stomach flip-flopped.
“Storm is going with you?”Holy crap, this must be something huge.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I’ll stay at the clubhouse.”
“Thank you,mi vida.”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Now tell me about my dad.”
He white knuckled the steering wheel. “Roja, I admire the hell out of you for not backing down. But baby, this isn’t a conversation we should have while I’m driving.”
And he thought I was relentless. We both were.
“Just tell me. I promise I’ll be okay.”
“Fuck.” He pulled onto the side of the road in a huff, rocking us both as he stopped hard.
“Wow,” I gasped.
Hero turned in his seat, took my face in his hands and kissed me. “Stubborn ass woman,” he muttered against my lips.
“Yes, yes I am.”
He better not forget it.
Pressing his forehead to mine, his breathing deepened. “Baby, he was in jail. Got out in July.”
I felt nothing, years of numbing myself against the past coming in handy.
“What was he in for?” Did I really need to ask? I’d always suspected foul play in Momma’s death.Guess they locked him up after all.
“Second-degree manslaughter.” Hero wrapped me in his arms like he thought I might cry, break down, or lose my shit.
I felt nothing.
“Thank you, big guy. Let’s go home.”
Hero reared back, a stunned expression. “Roja?”
I exhaled a deep breath. “I’m okay. Really.”
“Yeah, I don’t believe you. When we get home, I’ll take care of you.” He waited a while, as if watching for a waterfall of tears to come out of my eyes. When I stayed the same as I had been, he put the truck in drive.
“He’s not a good man. It’s like I always knew, y’know?”
Hero took my hand, careful to not touch my new tattoo. “I know, baby. Prepare for some major loving when we get to your place.”
This made me tear up. Not because I was upset about my dad, far from it. It was because I couldn’t believe my good fortune. This beautiful man was mine. All mine. He knew exactly what I needed before I knew. What were the chances of two scarred people like us finding each other in this vast world?
I didn’t really care. I was just damn grateful to God, fate, the powers that be or whatever force brought us together.
Hero Fuentes was mine and I was never giving him up.
“Sounds perfect, big guy.”