Aaliyah looked up at me, a frown pulling at her lips. “I’ll be in debt the rest of my life,” she finally huffed, turning her head to stare at the ceiling, taking those pretty blue eyes away from me. And I didn’t like that. Not having her eyes on me left me feeling cold and empty, and it wasn’t a feeling I was acquainted with. In fact, Ineverwanted to be familiar with it.
“Red, I’m footing your medical expenses,” I told her so she’d stop damn worrying. And selfishly hoping it would make her focus those pretty eyes back on me.
She swung her head back around to face me, and I relaxed when I had those blue eyes on me again. “That’s expensive, Johnston. Have you even discussed this with the club? What if they’re not—”
I snorted. Fuck the club. This didn’t involve them.
“The fuck does the club have to do with this?” I demanded, narrowing my eyes at her. Confusion crossed her features. “I saidI’mfooting the bill, Aaliyah—not the fucking club.”
She shook her head. “No. Johnston, I can’t—”
I wasn’t listening to her arguments. She didn’t have a say in this. And she could be angry or upset with me about it all she wanted, but I was the reason she was in this predicament. And even if I wasn’t, I’dstillfoot the bill because she wasmine.
Mine to take care of. Andno onewould take that right away from me.
“You can,” I interrupted her for the second time. She scowled at me, and a smirk twitched at my lips. I loved it when she got all fired up. She was probably the only person in this world I’d ever let talk to me with some kind of attitude and sass. She wasdefinitelythe only person I’d ever let get away with it. “You’re mine now, Aaliyah. I take care of what’s mine.”
She scoffed and turned her head away from me again. Ihatedit when she took those eyes of hers away from me. It made me feel volatile, especially when I knew she was upset with me.
Narrowing my eyes, I gripped her chin and yanked her head back around. She clenched her jaw, glaring at me. “Got something you want to say, Red?” I taunted her. I was daring her to say she wasn’t mine because I’dquicklyprove her wrong. I’d pin her to this bed and rub her clit until she squirted all over these sheets.
Her face was turning red with rage, and fuck, if I didn’t just get harder. I hated that she was laid up in this hospital bed because if she wasn’t, I’d already be buried inside of her, fucking the argument and attitude right out of her system.
“You take care of me until when, Johnston? Until you get bored of me like you did your wife?”
A growl sounded from my chest, and my fingers momentarily tightened on her chin, making her wince. Forcing myself to loosen my grip so I wouldn’t hurt her, I quietly snarled, “You’re mine for eternity, Aaliyah. We don’t end when one of us breathes our last breath because I will find you in every life after this one and claim you all over again.”
Tears welled in her eyes at my words, and it was such a polar-opposite response from what I’d been getting that I blinked, sort of feeling like I’d just gotten whiplash. “You mean that?” she whispered, her words trembling.
I brushed my thumb over her bottom lip, my grip softening on her chin even more, my heart clenching in my chest. “I don’t say shit I don’t mean, Aaliyah.” She should know that by now. She was mine. And anyone who ever tried to take her from me would suffer and pay dearly for it.
A small smile tilted her lips. “I’m not an obedient kind of woman, Johnston.”
I grinned and chuckled, my muscles relaxing. “If I wanted one of those, Red, I’d have never given you the time of day.”
She giggled. And fuck—that giggle? It was music to my damn ears.
Leaning down, I softly kissed her.
Blayke
Get to the clubhouse. Cops are crawling the lot, and they’ve got a warrant.
“Fuck,” I snarled, standing from my chair. I’d been watching some dumbass cartoon with Aaliyah, just enjoying the peace and quiet. Fuck knew I needed some. Things were always happening, always needing my attention. At least in here with her, even if we were here under shit circumstances, I could take a damn minute to breathe.
And now, everything was falling apart. And I had no doubt Sheriff Rhodes’s hands were tied. Someone was pressuring him after the shooting that happened.
“Club?” Aaliyah asked.
I nodded and leaned over her to press our lips together. I didn’t deepen it—didn’t have time to get lost inside of her like that. I quickly pulled back, already heading to the door. “Fucking cops.”
“Shit,” Aaliyah whispered as I opened the door. She’d been around long enough to know cops were bad fucking news. “Johnston?” I stopped, looking at her over my shoulder. “Be careful.”
My lips tilted up at one corner. “Always, Red.”
Sheriff Rhodes strode up to me as I slid off my bike, yanking my helmet off my head. I narrowed my eyes at him as I set my helmet on the seat. I wasn’t in the mood for his shit. We might have had a working relationship, but that didn’t mean I wanted his fucking cops crawling my goddamn lot.
“You better have a good goddamn reason for this, Sheriff,” I snapped at him as soon as he was close enough to hear me without me having to raise my voice.