Page 34 of Silver Fox Daddies

She doesn’t accept the offer.

“It’s true,” I say. “You’re the only girl on my radar.”

Melissa still looks unconvinced. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“Because you can trust us,” Cash says.

I know Diesel, over in the corner looming like a dark shadow, is laughing to himself thinking what a load of bullshit this is. Maybe she can trust Cash, but he knows that I’m not to be trusted.

And he’s right.

I murdered countless Reaper Sons’ club members on account of my rage.

I can’t even trust myself.

Of course, Diesel doesn’t know that part. All he sees is me entertaining women every night, making promises I can’t keep, jumping from one fling to the next.

I don’t trust myself much, but Idotrust my judgment here. I can’t put my finger on it yet, but there’s something about Melissa that makes me feel a way I have never before. I’ve never been this erect for a woman before, and my stomach has never sunk at the thought of a woman leaving the next day.

“Do you promise?” she says, her voice small.

“Promise,” Cash and I say in unison.

Melissa turns to Diesel, hoping he’ll say the same, but he continues standing, watching over us like he’s not part of the conversation.

He opens his mouth, but not to respond to Melissa’s question. “You need to rest, and we need to go.” Opening the door, he gestures Cash and me out.

Begrudgingly, we follow, and he locks the door behind him.

“What was that all about?” I ask him as we walk through the corridor back to the main room. “You could have reassured her.”

“You two are raising this girl up just to make the inevitable fall more hurtful.”

8

CASH

Ibreak off a bit of biscuit and throw it into my mouth, washing it down with coffee.

It feels like the middle of the night—the sun hasn’t even risen yet.

This morning, I have no appetite. Sending Melissa back home feels like a loss, like I’m losing something valuable from my life, which is ridiculous—I’ve only known the girl a day.

Everybody else is asleep, so we spread out in the main room, each keeping to ourselves. Yesterday was exhausting, but when it came to hitting the pillow last night, I couldn’t catch a wink, my mind reeling with thoughts of Melissa—her masturbating in the tattoo parlor, her worried and thinking she was one of many women.

From what I understand, she’s an only child. She’s used to being first place and not having to share. Has she seen herself in the mirror recently? I can’t believe she thought she wasn’t special to us.

Now, sitting over in the corner spooning Greek yogurt into her mouth, I wager she still thinks the same. If shewasspecial, maybe she thinks we would invite her to stay longer.

But she should know that’s not how this all works.

“If you could stay here for a week, I’d be all over that,” I say, sitting down next to her.

Melissa abandons her yogurt and turns to me. “It’s fine. I understand you all have roles here to be getting on with. I don’t want to get in the way. Besides, I have college and work to focus on.”

“You’re not getting in the way,” I assure her. “You just have to understand that I don’t have much say here. Grizzly, our Prez, holds all the power, and he doesn’t want us veering from the main task at hand.”

“Which is…?”

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