Page 15 of Xavier

I couldn’t help but laugh. These women were outrageous, and I could tell I was going to love them.

“Tillie!” Xavier’s voice had me turning to find him several feet away, pushing through his brothers with warm smiles and claps on the back as he did. When he got to me, he held out his hand. “Let’s go get you settled.”

“I’ve got a couple choices for you.” Hannah held up two sets of keys. “This one,” she shook one set, “is a single bedroom across the hall from Xavier’s room. You can be near him without him being underfoot. You’ll have your own space, but privacy too.”

“What’s the other one?” Xavier snagged my hand in his warm hand, and I laced my fingers with his before I realized I had.

“The other set is to a two-bedroom apartment in the same building with the rest of us. It’s not one of the top-floor apartments, but if you decide you want to take one of those let me know. We’re still finishing up those rooms. No one wanted them so they weren’t a priority.”

“Why would I need a two-bedroom?” I looked from Hannah to Xavier and back.

Hannah shrugged. “In case you wanted Xavier to stay with you, you’ve still got your own bedroom.”

I sucked in a breath, because that sounded fucking perfect. But Xavier had his own room, and I was sure he wanted to get back to what he probably considered his home. He wouldn’t have any desire to sleep anywhere other than his own bed, and I wouldn’t blame him.

“We’ll take the two-bedroom,” Xavier said, reaching out to take the keys from Hannah.

“What?” My gaze shot to his, but he merely smiled down at me.

“I saw your reaction, pretty girl. You like the idea of us being close.”

“I can’t lie worth a damn, Xave, so I’m not going to try and pretend you’re wrong. But I’ll be fine on my own. You don’t have to sacrifice staying in your own place after being away so long. I’m sure you --”

Xavier rolled his eyes as he placed his fingers over my lips. “Woman. Staying with you is no fuckin’ sacrifice. I don’t want you across the hall. Separate bedrooms is far enough away from you.”

And just like that, I lost the last piece of my heart. I sobbed out a small laugh. “OK. I’m not going to try to talk you out of staying with me when you’re right. I want you close too.”

“Awesome!” Hannah clapped her hands as she smiled. “Come on. I’ll take you to your apartment. Then you guys can get some rest. I’ve got everything all set up for you.” She talked as she led us outside to a side-by-side ATV. We waved to the other women.

Knuckles followed us outside and dropped a kiss on his wife’s cheek. “I take it I owe you that ten bucks, baby?”

“I’ll be taking Xavier and Tillie to the apartment next to Hawk and Carrie. And to answer your question, you do owe me ten bucks. I knew when I first saw them together Tillie would want Xavier to have her back until she got acquainted with her new surroundings.”

“Good.” Knuckles glanced from me to Xavier before sticking his hand out to Xavier who took it in a firm grip. “Let me or Gunnar know when she’s ready to wear your property cut. We’ll have the girls arrange everything.”

I couldn’t help myself. I turned into Xavier’s embrace and buried my face in his chest, my emotions getting the better of me. As I knew he would, Xavier wrapped his arms around me without hesitation. He and Knuckles spoke for a couple minutes. I soaked up Xavier’s support while he let me compose myself and I loved him all the more for it.

“You ready to go see your new home, Tillie Girl?”

I looked up at Xavier, the man who had gone to prison for killing my abusive husband, the man who had come to my rescue when I’d been threatened and was terrified out of my mind, the man who brought me to the place he knew would be safest and circled the wagons with his brothers to protect me. “I think I’ve been ready my entire life.”

Xavier smiled down at me. “Ditto, baby. Ditto.”

Chapter Seven

Xavier

Much as I wanted to hunt down the Goddamned sons of bitches who’d attacked us, I couldn’t bring myself to leave the apartment I now shared with Tillie. She had lain down on her bed without undressing and covered herself with the soft blanket and curled up into a ball.

“You OK, Miss Piggy?” The corner of her lip rose slightly but she didn’t move or speak. “Overload?” She nodded. “Do you want me to leave you alone?” She shook her head and slid one hand out from under the blanket, reaching for me.

I sat on the edge of her bed and took her hand in mine. Tears slid from her eyes as she tightened her fingers around my hand. Fuck. She was breaking my fucking heart.

“Tell me what you need, Tillie. Tell me and it’s yours.”

That seemed to startle her. She blinked several times looking up at me. “You can’t promise that. What If I wanted a million dollars?”

“Then I’ll get you a million dollars.”

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