Page 36 of War

“You made me your VP because you trust me. Why should that change now? I wasn’t with Ora when I did all that, and I’d just done five fucking years with no pussy for this club!” I bark, lowering my arms and clenching my fists. “You trust me with your life and the lives of the men in this club but not with your daughter? Who I metfirst, claimedfirst!”

He turns and punches the brick wall, which I know had to hurt like hell. “Her mother took her away from me, and I’m not losing her toyounow.”

“Her being with me ensures she stays right here, where she belongs,” I reply, taking a deep breath to try and calm myself down. “She’s safer with me. I would do anything to protect her.”

“You haven’t put a patch on her,” the bastard points out. “You’re not ready to commit to her.”

“Don’t tell me what I’m ready for. I was taking it slow. I didn’t fucking know there was a time limit on it, or I fucking would have,” I growl out.

“You tell her about Sarah?” he asks, smirking when I grit my teeth and stay silent. “Seems to me like you’re keeping a lot of secrets, War.”

“I don’t want to scare her off,” I admit, rubbing the back of my neck. “She’s it for me, Prez. I’m not going to cheat on her, and I’m not going to fuck this up.”

“You say that now,” he murmurs, narrowing his eyes. “But if you hurt her, then what? She won’t want to be here. It wouldn’t be just you who lost her. You will do this run, and that’s an order from your president. We both need to clear our heads. The club comes first, War. Please tell me, how are you going to put both the club and my daughter first?”

Motherfucker.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

He curses under his breath.

“Fine,” I snap. “I’ll go.”

“And I’ll watch over Ora.”

“I’m loyal to the Serpents, and you know that. Why can’t you believe I’d not offer that same loyalty to the woman I love,” I ask, lowering my voice. “And I can do both, serve the club and look after my woman.”

He laughs without humor. “Like you did with Sarah?”

Okay, low blow.Prez is fighting dirty, and he’s treating me like the enemy instead of his patched-in brother, his VP.

And that’s not fair.

Sarah was different. I didn’t feel for her what I do for Ora, and I know that Ora won’t betray me in the way Sarah did. We were toxic. And yeah, in the end, I did some things I regret. She left me with trust issues and a cynical outlook on love.

Ora doesn’t even know it, but she’s healing a heart she didn’t break.

“You can’t compare the two,” I admit, which is shitty but the damn truth. I thought I loved Sarah, but when she left, I felt nothing but relief. Still, her betrayal cut deep, and there’s no pretending it didn’t. “I’ll go on this run and take care of business. But we need to be on the same page right now. We’re about to go up against the Insanity MC and don’t need to be fucking fighting. We’re brothers, Rome. For good or bad. And I’m not walking away from Ora.”

“Who’s to say you’ll be the one walking away?” He smirks, leaving the room.

Fuck.

Lifting my head to the ceiling, my hands gripping the back of my neck, I start to pace, trying to force down my emotions.

I need to come clean with Ora about a few things because that’s the only thing that might pull her away from me. We’ve only been seeing each other for a short time. I just need to hope that what we have is enough to get us through this.

I’m almost completely covered in ink, six foot four, and full of muscle. I’ve been to fucking prison, and I’ve had more pussy than should be legal. I’ve killed. And there isn’t much of anything I haven’t tried.

So I’m sure you can see why parents have never liked me.

I just never thought one of those ‘parents’ would end up being my president.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

ORA

War called and told me he had to go on a run, which sucks. He was so fucking sweet last night. After we made love twice, he cooked me dinner. He said I do enough cooking, and he wanted to make something for me, so he went to the store and purchased the ingredients, then proceeded to grill some steaks, served with homemade fries, salad, and pepper gravy sauce.

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