Page 26 of Outlaw

She’s sitting on the couch when I step inside. I’m relieved. I guess part of me still thought she might have left. She looks up and I can see that she’s still upset.

Damn it.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her, the bouquet held behind my back. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just – there’s a lot of history with my mom and me.”

“It’s okay,” she lies.

“It’s not,” I reply. I walk right over to her, and like a knight or a prince out of some fantasy romance novel, I get down on one knee. She gives me an odd look and then smiles. “Please accept these as a token of me saying that I was an ass.”

With a goofy flourish, I whip the bouquet out from behind my back and present it to her. Thankfully, her face lights up. She takes it from me, and I lean in and kiss her, taking a deep breath of her smell as I do. I haven’t been gone from her long, but it feels like forever. Our kiss feels like our first kiss all over again, and I start getting excited.

“What a romantic,” she whispers.

“Only for you,” I tell her.

Her eyes are brilliant. Her gaze is where I want to stay – where I want to live. I want to wake up beside her every day and go to sleep with her every night. I never thought I’d be able to feel this way about anyone.

I want to take her into my arms, throw her down on the bed, and make love to her. I want to feel her body shudder and shake as her pussy wraps around my cock and she climaxes, my arms wrapped around her to let her know that I’ll always be there to protect her.

“Fuck me, Christian,” she whispers, catching me off guard. She must see the surprise in my eyes, because her lips curl into a smile. “I – I want it.”

“So do I,” I tell her. “So do I…”

But I can’t. Not now. Not yet.

I have to prepare for tonight. There’s a chance things will go sideways, and I might not make it back. If that happens, she’ll need to move on, do her best to forget about me. I can’t take her innocence and then never come back to her, no matter how much I want to take her right now.

But I can’t tell her any of that. It will only scare her.

“Tonight.” I smile.

“Not now?” she asks, whiney slightly as she pouts her pretty lips. “Don’t you want me, Christian?”

“More than anything,” I tell her, meaning every word. “But…I have to do something now and I won’t be back until late tonight.”

“Should I be worried?” she asks. She’s perceptive. She knows something’s off. But I just smile, kiss her lips, and shake my head.

“You never have to worry about me,” I tell her. “I’ll be back tonight, and then I’m going to make you mine.”

“Promise?” she smiles.

I nod and tell her the only lie I ever will. “Promise.”

I hope…

17

Christian

I glance at my watch: almost nine. I’ve been parked across the street from the Red Lions’ clubhouse for forty-five minutes now, under the shadows of the loading dock of the old auto parts factory. One by one, I watched as Bryant and his team arrived and set up their perimeter. Thankfully Bryant isn’t a dumbass and

has his men in used cars that fit in and not in all-black sedans that would give them away.

My heartbeat’s steady, but beating hard like a drum. My adrenaline has me right on the edge as I think about all the things that could go wrong with this plan. It’s not me I’m worried about though; it’s Claire. This has to go right for her. I’m throwing the ball, but if Bryant and his boys fumble the pass, she’ll never be safe. But I don’t see any other option. Taking a deep breath, I crack my knuckles and step out of the truck.

Skinny Ray is manning the door, all three hundred pounds of him. That’s bad. Skinny Ray is a bit of a loose cannon. There’s a decent chance he shoots me right on the spot. The Feds would get him, but only him, and that won’t work. I need to take down the whole fucking gang.

He sees me as soon as I start to cross the street, bangs on the door, and whispers something to someone inside. I raise my hands peacefully as I approach.

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