Page 77 of The Bloke

It was an oversight, and I should have grilled him for more information while I had all the chips in my hand.

“When a compromise was made, we signed a contract that promised for the LVSF, him, and Travis to leave me alone—for good and to never come near me again.”

I looked over to my gym bag, tucked in the far corner of the room, where I knew the contract was signed and waiting to be placed somewhere safe.

“I had no other choice. It was either be shot and have a chance at surviving from their plan or be shot and nothing more than collateral damage to their mission.” I looked up at my husband as the words sank into me like sharp claws.

I had no choice; I’ve never had a fucking choice.

Sadness and pain were being overshadowed by anger and rage. How is it that everyone in my fucking life always seemed to find a way to control me?Fuck!

My breathing turned erratic as my thoughts began spiraling out of control. Memories of my parents and childhood, glimpses of the first few days of our relationship—our marriage, and now this.

My husband squeezed his arms tightly around my body as a means to slow my breathing and ground me with him.

He pressed his lips against my ear and murmured as I shut my eyes.

“Breathe, Sienna… Breathe, love.”

I broke—shattered, my eyes turning red and swollen with tears as they flowed in streams down my cheeks, my sobs hysterical and uncontrollable. I was losing the one thing I fought so hard to finally have—control.

Unable to help myself, I did the one thing I knew would take my mind away from the current situation—the one thing that, as of recently, was all I felt I needed.

With one hand fisting into his white T-shirt, I wrapped my other hand around the back of my husband’s neck before crashing my mouth onto his—my lifeline when cast out to sea by a raging hurricane.

He returned the passionate kiss, his warm hand holding the side of my face while the other remained wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly against his hard body.

I didn’t care that I was crying into his mouth because the more he let me in, the easier I could breathe and the calmer I felt as I slowly melted into him—my person. The man that I once couldn’t stand and wanted to get away from, the man that was now my everything.

“What happens now?” I sniffed, pulling back to stare into his eyes, my voice cracking from the strain my crying had caused.

“What happens now is you will lay with me and sleep until we need to leave for the mansion. You let me worry about handling Dustin.”

“But I—”

“It doesn’t fucking matter what you did. What matters is that you are in my arms and breathing. That’s all that fucking matters to me right now.”

I nodded in response as he pulled me down to the mattress, not letting go as if I would disappear if he released me from his grasp.

His warm body curled around mine, holding me close as my breathing finally returned to normal, and both physical and mental exhaustion pulled me under.

My husband would save me from my colossal mistake…

Chapter 36

Colby

My wife never ceasedto surprise me. I knew she was different and had an attitude to match, but I never considered her someone who would have worked for the LVSF, even as an undercover informant.

I had so many questions about her reasoning for leaving and wanted the name of the officer who dared to make her feel as though she could no longer work for them—to make him regret everything he even remotely considered doing to her.

I wanted that fucker’s head on a stick.

Once Sienna had fallen back asleep, I adjusted myself to sit with my back against the headboard and her head in my lap, with my fingers subconsciously dragging themselves through her long, dark hair.

I was too on edge to sleep, anxiety gripping me like a vice as I considered what I would say to convince Dustin to give her a second chance.What in the ever-loving fuck was I going to do?

Nick texted me throughout the afternoon. He planned on being at the mansion with us to support Sienna and testify about what had happened at the casino, knowing how everything played out firsthand.

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