Page 33 of Savage Outlaw

It was the one thing that kept her sane, stopped her from following him like a puppy and begging for attention.

He didn’t fight to keep her.

He let her go without a backwards glance.

But then, she recalled with vivid, stomach grabbing clarity how he looked on the floor as Axel dragged her away kicking and screaming Tad’s name. He’d been broken and bloody, and so still she thought he was dead. Who would want her after that?

She’d cried for hours. No one would tell her if Tad was dead. She called theSoulsclubhouse so many times that in the end an old man told her Tad was fine and to stop calling. It was hours later she sneaked out of a window and found which hospital he was in.

He was healed and healthy now but it didn’t stop her nightmares sometimes.

“Tad, you can’t be here. Dad is pissed; you must have a death wish.”

“You wanna tell your daddy to let me in?” Her heart pinched so, so tightly.

“I can’t do that.”

He wasn’t dissuaded. “Fine, you come out to me.”

She blinked. It was ridiculous how those words stirred emotions in her.

“Are you nuts? I can’t do that either.”

“You can’t break into my house, fuck my brains out and then creep out, but you did.”

Her heart stopped.

Not only did she have a pissed off man at her back, there was a second one looking into her eyes.

She fought the urge to bite nervously on her thumb nail. She hadn’t done that since she was fourteen and wasn’t wasting a new manicure on a man with gorgeous facial hair. She recalled with clarity how it felt rubbing on her inner thigh last night and had to shake the memory away.

“Why are you here?”

“Why did you break into my house?” He leaned both arms on the handlebars, his feet braced to the floor. God, he looked incredible as always.

The illicit emerald gaze narrowed, waiting.

“You can’t be here, Tad,” she tried again. “I don’t want them to hurt you.”

“They can try.”

God, why was her calling to be surrounded by pig-headed men? She was a semi decent person; she didn’t deserve this.

Silence dug into her psyche, unable to tear her eyes away from his face as she weighed her limited options. Glancing behind her, Axel looked ready to charge forward with his guns in both hands.

“Which one is it?” The hot low rumble from his throat could be mistaken for affection but his stare said something else. It was a demand, a dark one.

“What?”

“The one you’re engaged to. I’m assuming it’s daddy approved.”

Pure venom and the sound of his darkness put cement into her belly. She raised her chin, stubborn as ever. Feelings were for the weak, not for a Tucker.

“You need to go.”

“Tell me, Cookie.”

“Don’t call me that.”Please, it hurts too much.

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