Page 70 of Undone

“No. I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me. Rog is a tank, but so is Smith.”

“It would be a good fight,” Dev agreed. Her fists clenched as I undressed and rinsed under the hot spray. “Holy shit, Luce. He bit you everywhere.”

“Did he? I was too caught up in biting him back to notice.”

She rolled her eyes, “Please tell me he used protection?”

My face turned red. “We never did—I trusted him.”

“I’m taking you to the clinic tomorrow. You can’t have his baby—not like this.”

The sting of fresh tears threatened.

Images of dark-haired babies playing by a creek filled my head. A little girl with his eyes, made a crown of flowers and placed it on her dainty head.

I stayed in the shower until the last of my hot tears ran down my face. They washed down the drain as I swore to myself not to let him in ever again. This time I’d heal myself, pick-up the broken shards of my heart and piece them back stronger than before.

I sat at Rog and Dev’s table wishing I could taste the food. I knew it was incredible, but I was still numb, despite emptying all the hot water in Rog’s tank. He prowled like an angry bear, paced across his plank floors all fired-up by how Smith treated me.

“I can’t stay here. Give me my keys woman, so I can start packing up Luce’s place.”

“No. You’ll head straight to Sassy’s and punch-out Smith. The men will take sides and Creed will have another civil war.”

“Dammit, I just wanna land one good punch.”

Dev rolled her eyes.

“Why? Why would you fight your own man for me?”

“Because, he should know better. I’m traditional as hell when it comes to how a man should treat a woman. That’s why I fought my attraction to Dev for so long. I’m decades older than the two of you. I was raised in different times. I’m sorry, Luce. Not every man can handle the pressure of wearing the Prez patch. We buried one of our own this morning… Smith took it hard.”

“I know. He told me. I-I love him, despite everything. But I can’t be his fallback every time he needs a pick up.”

“I have the perfect place. No one else knows about it. If shit ever got really bad… it was to be my local safe house. I’ll move you in tomorrow. Creed is riding north to Canada. Every man is going, except a few to protect us here. I’ll send them on some bullshit errand and tell Smith I’ll takeover watching you—when instead I’ll be stealing you from right under his nose.”

“He’s had a man watching me? This whole time?”

“Sometimes two.”

“Son-of-a-bitch!” I muttered.

“I’ll even dismantle the woodstove and move your studio from the barn.”

“Thank you. You’ve been too kind to me.”

“Nonsense. You’re my woman’s family… which makes you mine too.”

I got up from the table and wrapped Rog in a huge hug. “There, there…,” he murmured, stroking my hair while holding me tight. I cried against his chest until I hiccupped. Dev watched the two of us without jealousy. Rog felt brotherly toward me and I needed the warm comfort of a huge man making me feel safe.

“It’s time I taught you both, some things.”

“Oh?” Dev arched an eyebrow. I let Rog go and sat back down.

“The both of ya’ are gonna learn how to handle a weapon. Load it, unload, aim, and fire. And Luce—I’m gonna teach you how to lose a tail. He’s gonna be pissed to hell that he won’t know where you’ve gone. He might show up at the school. Either way, if he does send a man to tail you home after work there are plenty of roads to lose them on. The neighborhoods work the best… all those damn streets intersect.”

I couldn’t wait.

Knowing these things, would help me get some power back over my life. And feeling strong was something I sorely missed.

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