Page 65 of Declan's Dove

He has a point.

“I’ll talk to Kayce. Maybe he can help figure it out,” I offer. He knows what I’m telling him, but Violet seems both concerned and, if I’m not mistaken, afraid. Her hands reach up and grip my hips. Her way of asking a silent question. I shake my head and hold up my finger to my lips to keep her quiet.

“Anyway, Pres wants you and Violet to come back to the clubhouse. He needs you on this. Says Violet and Carter will be fine here. He’ll have around the clock watch for both.” Hawk’s tone tells me I’m not going to be able to argue my way out of this. Pres needs my help and if he believes Kayce may be involved, or Parisi for that matter, shit could go crazy in a heartbeat. “He’s calling everyone in, even the families. Once everyone gets back, we’ll have church and figure this shit out.”

“I’ll talk to Violet, and we’ll get ourselves back into town by tonight.” Her eyes narrow, but she remains silent. “Talk soon.” I hang up and Violet is rapidly firing questions at me.

“Who was that? What’s going on? Why do they think Kayce’s involved? Is Carter okay? Is he safe? Why do we have to leave? Kayce said we had to stay here for a few days. Declan …”

I cut off her tirade with a searing kiss. She responds immediately at first, but quickly pushes against my chest to sever the kiss. “You can’t do that. You can’t kiss me to shut me up.” I smile at her attempt to shove me away with her hands on my chest.

“It’s going to take more than a little shove to get me to let you go, Dove,” I taunt. “And I was kissing you because I wanted to. It just happened to be a great way to silence the bullshit screaming too loudly in your head, too.”

“Talk to me, Declan. What’s going on?” She closes her eyes for a second, takes in a deep breath, then lets it out slowly, as if steadying herself. “If this is going to work, you can’t keep me in the dark. I know the club has issues that are none of my business, but if it pertains to me and Carter—or you—I need to know.”

“I can’t tell you about club business. No matter who it involves. That’s not how it works,” I explain. She turns her head away from me, and I follow the movement. “Carter is fine. Something happened at the clubhouse. A breach in security. I’m one of the club’s enforcers. It’s my duty to see to the club’s safety and that of their families, which now includes you and Carter. So, we need to get packed and head back to town.”

She nods, stepping back from my hold. I let her, as she tries to wrap her head around what I’m saying. Our relationship is new. I haven’t had a chance to discuss the way things work with the club and what her being my ol’ lady will mean. I was hoping to get to that a little later, when I thought we had more time alone.

“Okay.” Violet looks up at me, her arms across her body, pushing her tits up and giving me a better view of her bare skin. I ignore the throb of my cock, pushing my hunger for her to the back of my mind. It’s not easy with the way she looks in my clothes. Why is that such a fucking turn on? I don’t know, but I make a mental note to keep enough of my clothes readily available for her to wear every day.

“I’ll go pack my things, and, uh—” she stutters for a second. I watch as she swallows hard, a sadness in her eyes that wasn’t there before. “When we get back to town, I’ll collect Carter and we’ll be on our way.”

What?

“Whoa. Hold on.” Grabbing her wrist, I unfold her arms and bring her closer to me. She doesn’t fight me, but something is definitely wrong. It’s like a switch has been flipped and she’s retreating into herself. “What just happened? What made you think I want you and Carter to go anywhere except home with me?”

She shrugs. “It’s fine, Declan. Carter and I would be in the way at the clubhouse. We’re not part of the club and if you have something you need to do for Gabe or whatever, we’ll just be in the way. It’s … it’s not our business.”

“Baby, look at me.” She gives me those hazel eyes and my heart clenches. “You and Carter are going to be staying at the clubhouse with me. You’re mine. Which means you are both part of the club now. I thought you understood this.”

“I don’t understand anything when it comes to the club or what you do,” she admits. “I’ve seen things.” Her eyes widen with horror as she backpedals. Pulling her arms from my grasp and waving them in the air. “I don’t mean like things I talk to anyone about. I would never. I mean, I know Skyler’s dad was murdered, and she was kidnapped, and some things she’s told me about Lilah and how they came to adopt her. B-But I would never tell anyone. Skyler’s my friend.”

I don’t say anything, waiting for her to finish rambling her thoughts out loud so I can address everything all at once because the bullshit she’s spewing, and it is bullshit, it’s all excuses. Fears that Violet doesn’t need to have. None of those things will happen to her.

“I mean, even after I was stabbed, I didn’t talk to anyone about it. It was an accident. I think. And Avery getting shot. I don’t know exactly how it happened, or who did it, but I know it was club business, and I’ve kept anything I know to myself. I don’t-I don’t have any other friends besides Skyler and Mili to really talk to anyway. So, see, it’s fine. I don’t know much of anything, and you can take us home, and then I won’t have to know anything and … and … if you want to see someone else, we can just forget any of this happened between us. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

That’s it.

I lunge for Violet, putting my shoulder into her soft belly, tossing her over my shoulder, and head toward the bedroom, taking the stairs two at a time.

“What are you doing? Declan! Put me down! What has gotten into you?” She’s shouting at me to let her go, but the shakiness of her voice and the fear I saw in her eyes seconds ago twists my gut.

When I get to the bed, I toss her down, spinning until I’m above her, caging her in place. Her hands come up, pushing against my chest, but when she looks at my tattoo covered torso, her hands start to explore and caress the lines, like she did last night. Her brow creases and she shakes her head slightly. It pulls a smile from my lips.

Using one of my hands to capture both of hers, I still them just above my beating heart. Her eyes snap to mine. The same vulnerability I saw there before has returned. Like a veil being pulled back. I see her. I see the things she fears the most.

Rejection.

Loss.

Judgment.

Insecurities.

Abandonment.

“Do you feel that?” I ask. She nods ever so slightly. “Do you feel how fast it’s beating? You do that to me. Do you understand?” She doesn’t move or say anything, only stares at me with misty eyes.

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