Page 124 of Monster

She didn’t say anything for a moment, and I could hear the cogs turning in her mind. I squeezed her to me. “Ask.”

“What happened between you and your sister?”

“Long story,” I said.

“I have time. Since my captivity, I have nothing but time.”

I squeezed her for that comment. She scowled at me.

I leaned back against the sofa and took her with me.

Reaching up, I grabbed one tit in my hand and played with her. She squirmed. “Dominic. We’re talking. You can’t really be thinking about sex right now.”

I laughed. “With you, I’m always thinking about sex.”

I rolled her nipple between my fingers, and she ground her pussy down against my thigh, brushing against my hard-on.

“Dominic,” she protested.

I let out another sigh. “Fine.”

I regrettably let go of her, and judging by the look on her face, she wanted my touch back, too.

“Jenny and I grew up with pieces of shit for parents.”

She stiffened in my arms. I squeezed her to get her to relax and continued when she did.

“It has always been my job to look after her. Before Kai and before Braxton, she had been my entire world. Because of that, we grew up close. She’s two years younger than me, so you can probably see how protective I was of her. She didn’t grow up with the best things in life, and after taking the reins in the club, I thought maybe I could finally give her everything she wanted. But Jenny didn’t want me in the club to begin with. She didn’t approve of the lifestyle but accepted it because I was her big brother. Jenny met and fell in love with a good man in college. I was fucking happy, and I liked Noah for her. I liked that he was everything I wasn’t, and that he could provide a stable home for her.

“For years, we were happy. Jenny was a middle school math teacher, and Noah was the principal. In her second year of teaching, there was this kid in the school. Just one look at him and you know that shit wasn’t going well for him at home.

“You know, the kids who come to school every morning with a new bruise and an excuse no one believes. Jenny was the only one who didn’t accept his excuses, and by the end of the year, she and Noah were granted guardianship of the boy. Jude and Kai are close in age, and they were friends at school. They were fucking smart, too. Much smarter than me, with the way they went on and on about technology and shit. Those two got into all sorts of trouble, but I wasn’t concerned at the time because it was just good, harmless fun. Until they were gunned down in a fucking alleyway.”

Emmy gasped, tears forming in her eyes.

I looked away from her and back out the window.

“Kai lost a lot of blood. I almost lost my boy. I have never felt as helpless as I did then.”

That part of my life wasn’t something I liked to return to. The image of Kai in that hospital bed, trying to fight for his life, would haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Jude didn’t make it,” I said.

“And Jenny blames you?” Emmy asked softly.

I nodded. “I don’t know who gunned them down. But I’m sure it was club-related.”

“What happened to Noah?”

“He died in a car accident earlier that year. So in one year, my baby sister lost both her husband and her kid. Is it really a wonder that she hates me?”

She said nothing for a moment.

I moved my hands to her waist. “Being in this life is dangerous. As you’ve already experienced. But I’m not the man I once was. I’m not fucking helpless. I protect what’s mine. That includes my sons.” I looked into her hazel eyes. “That includes you.”

She swallowed, then, after a small moment, nodded.

She cupped my cheek, and I held still. She rarely ever initiated anything with me, and any little touches she gave me made me feel like the king of the fucking world.

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