Page 16 of Keeping What He Wants

Chapter Four

“You get to spend your day off with me,” Ryker commented as they walked through the grocery store together. “Why is that a bad thing?”

Ella rolled her eyes and he grinned. She was still pissed at him, but he didn’t feel so bad about it anymore. After spending the entire night trying to track down a rival club member that supposedly knew about the guns, he wasn’t about to risk Ella going out and about with her friends. Ella had a heart of gold, and she couldn’t see the bad in people quite like he could.

“Are you still not talking to me?” He looped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “With the cold shoulder you’re giving me, I can get sour cream and potato chips, or maybe some bacon. I don’t have to hear you nag about how awful it is for my health.”

“I’m not saving you if you have a heart attack.”

“But you’d miss me too much if I died.”

“That’s debatable.”

“No.” He dropped a package of bacon in the cart and moved in behind her, wrapping his arms around her body. “You love me. You don’t want me dead.”

He slipped his hands beneath her shirt.

“Stop it.” She smacked at them. “We’re in public.”

“So?” He kissed the back of her neck. “I’m debating on fucking you in the potato chip aisle. Damn, I really want some chips.”

“Would you stop?”

“No.” He grabbed the front of the cart and led her around the corner to the chips. He got what he wanted and turned to see Ella was not amused. “I know how to put a smile on your face, and if you think I won’t do it right here, you’re wrong.”

He went to her and pulled her into his arms. Kissing her made the world feel right again. He brushed his lips against hers and closed his eyes. She could be mad at him, but it didn’t faze him. He loved her. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for her either.

“I’ll make a compromise with you.” He brushed her hair from her face. “I’ll tag along with you and your friends. That way I know you’re safe and you can still have fun.”

“Chaperoning me like you’re my parent? No thanks.”

“Then let me teach you how to use a gun.”

“No thanks.”

“Then you’re stuck spending your day off with me.”

“We already established that.” She pushed the cart down the aisle, and Ryker watched her.

He didn’t know how to get her to realize she needed protection. It was a constant battle between them. While he tried to move the club to more legitimate business dealings, his world was still dark and gritty. To an extent, she knew how bad the criminals he dealt with could get, yet she still pretended to live in her own little world as if nothing could happen to her. Maybe it was because he did protect her. Being president required it. But people still knew her; they knew her association with him. Until he felt comfortable with the threat not being club related, then he would continue to be excessive and watch her back without apology.

They bought their groceries and took them out to her car. Ella didn’t talk to him the entire way home. He helped her carry the groceries in and put them away. She still didn’t speak.

“Okay.” Ryker leaned against the counter. “Tell me where you were going and what you were going to do.”

She frowned at him. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“Yes, it does.” He walked around the kitchen bar. “If you don’t want me there and you don’t want a weapon, then I can at least protect you from afar.”

“Protect me from what?”

“Ella, there are people murdering women in the city. Brutally murdering them and setting the scene up like it’s a suicide.”

“I’m sure there are many people being murdered in the city with all the gunshot wounds I see in a week.”

He huffed. “This guy is bad news.”

“Some say you’re bad news. So?”

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