Page 82 of Savage Hearts

I shot him a disgusted look and climbed off his lap. His hands steadied me when it felt like my legs were about to give out, and I let him hold on to me for a beat before stepping back.

“Your good little lapdog, right?” I asked bitterly. Those words shouldn’t sting. I knew the kind of man Maverick was, what a fucking monster he was, and I shouldn’t expect any different. I shouldn’t have painted this monster with something more human, but I did, and fuck me if I felt stupid about it now.

His eyes roamed my face. “Are you really angry about that?”

He seemed surprised.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Well, aren’t you a genius?”

His thumb pressed across his bottom lip as he took me in with contemplation. “Hmm,” was all I got in response.

I rolled my eyes at him and pivoted toward the door.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

I turned around and looked at him. “Bathroom. Or would you like me to just pee in the corner?”

His lips twitched, but thankfully, he didn’t smile. “That’s not necessary.”

“How generous of you,” I replied drily.

“Last door to your left,” he instructed. “And you will come back to me after.”

There was no missing the command in his voice.

I didn’t bother with a response.

I moved out the office door and into an empty hallway.

I didn’t know where the guards or the men went, and I didn’t care. I found the bathroom easily enough and quickly took care of business.

Afterward, I took in my reflection as I washed my hands, wondering how long it would be before I no longer recognized myself in a mirror.

It seemed the Tiernan brothers were too good at consuming—destroying—every part of the girl I had once been before them.

And I didn’t know if this was a good thing or not, considering how much I’d disliked that girl before.

Life was hard, and I had been the girl her parents never wanted.

It seemed like my entire life’s purpose was to survive, and I was already doing such a poor job of it.

I turned off the water before quickly drying my hands and walking out the door.

Everything was quiet as I walked toward the office. I was still reeling over everything that had happened to me so far, so I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings.

That was my mistake.

Something gray flashed at the corner of my eye. By the time I looked up to see what it was, I was smashed up against the door, and a strange, large male body was pressed against me.

I turned away from the man when he leaned down and sniffed my hair.

“I was wondering where he kept his whore. Did you know there is a price on your head?”

His question surprised me out of my stupor.

Did he say there was a price on my head? That couldn’t be right. I was a nobody. Who would want to put a hit on me?

The remaining members of the MC? I suspected as much when I ran into Lenny in New Orleans, but after a while, when I didn’t see anyone else from the club, I began to think I was safe. Or perhaps I was safe from those men because I had been in the Tiernan brothers’ grasp. But for there to be a price on my head? The statement was ridiculous.

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