Page 110 of Savage Outlaw

She’d never apologized to her friend.

That was the kind ofnormallife Roux lived, so it hadn’t occurred to her to ever offer a word of regret that something bad had happened to Penelope.

Now she felt the pinch of guilt as she turned her body to her friend who was thankfully unscarred by the whole situation. She even got a gorgeous husband and two pets out of it, but still.

“Hey, what happened at my dad’s club, what he did by holding you. I’m sorry. That was a shitty thing to do. I should have spoken up. Being silent makes me just as guilty. I should have said sorry before now.”

Poppy blinked with surprise coloring her cheeks before she smiled. “Apology accepted, even if it wasn’t your fault. You made sure I was okay and unmolested by Chains or Ruin; you gave me kickass clothes too.”

“I still say your ass looked bomb in my skinny jeans.”

“Tait thought so too,” blushed Poppy. “Even if they cut off my circulation.”

The pair were hanging out now that Roux was deemed worthy of freedom. Though she had to text Tad when she wanted to go home, he was gonna swing by Poppy’s house to pick her up.

Only Roux knew how incredibly sweet she thought he was being. Unnecessarily protective, but somewhere deep inside she got a kick out of it.

It had been strangely eye opening to say the least for the last three days of isolation. She’d seen how he interacted with his boys. It wasn’t far different from theDiablos. TheSoulswere a close-knit brotherhood. She’d seen Tad in action patching up a prospect when he’d torn the skin from his elbow playing hoops. Tad turned into something of a father figure lecturing the younger man. It was so cute.

He’d also been attentive to her, seeing as how Roux was moody as hell being locked up in a club that wasn’t hers. He sweet talked her, brought her favorite food from her favorite restaurants. They went for long walks holding hands around the compound at the base of the mountains. He’d taken her out over theSoulsgrounds on a quad bike for a picnic. She’d never had a picnic date before. Tad cut through her angry attitude with one romantic gesture after another. Roux didn’t hate it.

“I’m surprised you let Butcher live.”

Roux smiled and cast her eyes to Poppy. She was filterless, she didn’t know how else to be, when she shared. “Every time I threatened to kill him he used sex against me. I got my brains banged out so much I forgot I was angry.”

It was something else she didn’t hate.

Every little thing Tad did for her made her heart splutter like an old engine.

Now they were on the same page, their relationship became intense and tangible so fast. Roux was stuck on a man who couldn’t do enough for her. A man who put her first and cared about her safety. He’d slept in the twin bed, obviously too small for them both and he hadn’t complained once when she elbowed him in the ribs or caught an accidental arm in the face. He just pulled her over him or curled around her back and that’s how they slept.

Even when he dropped her off, he took a long ten minutes kissing her.

Poppy’s cat chose that moment to leap from the coffee table onto Roux’s lap. A quick ear stroke and the kitten was a purring machine.

“Is Axel okay?”

“Yeah, nothing much fazes him.”

“Did he get who set the house on fire?”

“He said he’s working on it. That’s Axel’s way of telling me to mind my own fucking business.” It didn’t mean she didn’t know stuff. She’d called Reno who said they were on it and nothing to worry about. Chains said much the same, but he also let slip that Ruin had gone to Vegas. If they dispatched Ruin, it usually meant he was on the scent of a kill.

She didn’t think the shit with Ruiz was going to go away so easily and Roux was not the type to hide away even if she had a boyfriend who wanted to keep her under lock and key.

Neither was she stupid and she wasn’t going to run into the forest to get slaughtered by a serial killer. The ditzy chicks always got it in horror movies. She was many things, but ditzy wasn’t one of them. But she refused to let a threat hanging over them ruin her life.

Minutes before Tad was due to collect her, she stood outside of Poppy’s building and put a video call through to Ruiz who greeted her with a smile. “Niña, I wondered how long it would be.”

“What do you want?”

“Straight to the point. I like it.”

Less than two minutes later she had her answer.

The woman was predictable, and it was as Roux had accused her of, she hated to lose. If she thought for a second Roux would become one of her puppets she was in for a rude awakening.

Tucker’s didn’t roll over for anyone.

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