Page 41 of Darling Psycho

It felt good to be doing what he was skilled at.

Prison had made him sluggish. The only thing he could maintain was his body, and even those workouts became repetitive after a while. So, now he could test the limits of his brain, he relished the challenge.

It hadn’t taken long for people to realize he was back. Old and new club groupies dropped by to welcome him home.

Bad fish thought he’d want to chew on their meat.

His teeth didn’t even itch seeing what was on the menu.

And Lawless was immune to their pounding infatuations.

It didn’t stop Ellie waiting on him like a lorded King while he worked. Poor fish was desperate to belong to someone.

Deep-diving Ruiz’s warehouses, Lawless’ head snapped up when Ellie called out, “Hey, Angie girl. How’s it going?”

Plugged into the electrical current, his skin came alive as he watched Angela’s chocolate-coated eyes narrow as she took him in, sitting casually on the couch with his legs up on the table and Ellie sitting on the floor by his hip.

Because her mind was conjuring up a narrative to what she saw, Lawless stared and said nothing. Waiting.

Without taking her angry gaze from him, she answered. “Fine, thanks.”

She was a few feet away, and he wanted to drag her nearer. He couldn’t even say it was to check for injuries anymore. That convenient lie took a hike long ago.

Then Angela added, “What’s with the influx of women suddenly? Did Thor bring his hammer for stroking?”

Ellie giggled as bad fish did for many reasons that usually irritated Lawless. He liked straight and direct, not hidden words and actions behind stupid nervous twitches. “It’s all for this big guy; they heard he was home and wanted...”

“Yeah, yeah, I can guess.” Snapped Angela, holding up a hand. “Don’t tell me more, I only just ate.”

She was fucking magnificent in her jealousy, and Lawless smirked to make her scowl. When she turned to leave, he was going to let her, but then she paused and canted her head down and looked at him until she started biting her lip. “When you come home, don’t bring any of your fan club with you. I don’t want them scaring Oscar.”

Scaring Oscar. She was a fucking pill. And a little liar.

“Are you gonna fight them if I do?”

“I’ll kickyourass if you try. That’s my cabin, and I don’t want it to become fawning central.”

Good girl, he thought.

“Wait, you guys like... live together?”

“Yes.” Lawless answered, watching Angela’s eyes flare with such raw response before she said, “no, I live there. I’m letting him bunk in the shed until he gets on his feet. He’s broke since he got out of prison; let the biker chasers know before they hitch their wagon to this one.”

And then she left the conversation as quick as she’d reluctantly joined it, heading to the back rooms. His eyes followed, and were rewarded with her sly look back.

“That was weird,” Ellie muttered. “I think she’s still pissed at me about what I said to Erin that time. I tried to apologize, but I guess it didn’t make any difference.” Her one-sided conversation continued. “So, you really live together then, huh?”

“Ellie.” He cut in, and she came to an immediate stop, her eyes wide and pleading like she’d been waiting to be told what to do by a firm hand.

This was not his bad fish, and his collar wouldn’t fit on her slim throat, but he sporadically felt a drift of pity for the underdogs.

He was a fucking bleeding heart.

Or he just had too much time on his hands.

Lawless dropped his feet and wrote a number on a scrap piece of paper. “Do you want a dominant, Ellie?”

Her eyes widened with hope, and without missing a beat, her head bobbed up and down. She looked like she was ready to dive into his lap, and he used his firm voice on her again. “Call this number, and when someone called Sandman answers, you tell him I’m sending you to him, he’ll tell you the rest.” She took the paper, looking at it like it had all her answers. “This... this Sandman wants someone like me?”