Page 112 of Mimic

I would have even let him fuck me if he had let her go. I would have done that for her. To make sure she was safe.

Dakota had threatened it every day. George was the only reason he hadn’t followed through on his threat. The day he let me go, George told me what would happen if I didn’t do what he asked. He’d pull the reins back and let Dakota have me.

He’d made it clear that he was the only thing standing in Dakota’s way. That he had protected me. Kept me from being raped like the countless women Dakota raped in front of me.

And I’d believed him. I sent him pictures of Amber every time he asked. He never asked about the club. He didn’t think King was anyone to be worried about. He believed Steele had a tight rein on my president.

The day we heard George Stone was dead, the nightmares came back. It wasn’t until months later that I realized Dakota had no idea where I was. That night was the first time I had slept through the night. The first time I’d been able to breathe deeply.

Now he knew.

And he wouldn’t stop coming after me. I was no longer safe here. Rose, Indie... my mother. They were all in danger. But they weren’t the only ones. If Dakota learned about my relationship with Sam, about Charlie and the twins, none of them would be safe.

“You’re thinking pretty hard over there for this early in the morning.”

I looked at the clock; it was only five. Too fucking early to get up, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep.

“I can’t stay.”

Indie shot up and glared at me. “What do you mean, you can’t stay? Stay where?”

“In Diamond Creek. With the Silver Shadows.”

She sat up on the bed, and my eyes dropped to her chest. My tongue slipped out to wet my lips as I thought about pulling her nipple into my mouth. She smacked me in the gut and grabbed the sheet, covering her naked body from my sight.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“It’s not safe.”

“Mimic, I just let myself love that town. The people there.”

I sat up against the headboard. Not wanting to say the words any more than she would want to hear them.

“You have to stay.”

She tilted her head to the side as she studied me. She closed her eyes, and her head shook as though she didn’t believe what she was hearing. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t want to believe it either, but it was what needed to happen.

As long as I was there with her, with Rose, my mother, Sam and the girls, they were all in danger. I couldn’t let them be hurt. I wasn’t the selfish son of a bitch people believed me to be.

“You’re an asshole,” she said, getting up from the bed.

“Indie.”

“Nope.” She held her hand up and dropped the sheet. I bit my lip as I watched her naked ass sashay across the room to the bathroom. I groaned, knowing we had to have this conversation.

“You’re not safe. None of you are. Not now that he knows where I am. I can’t put you at risk. My sister. My mother. Sam and the girls. He will use anyone close to me to hurt me.”

She ignored me as she slammed the bathroom door closed. I heard the click of the lock a moment before the water turned on. I banged the back of my head against the wall in frustration.

She wouldn’t listen. And she locked her body behind the door where I couldn’t touch her. Where I couldn’t collar her throat and force her to listen. Where I couldn’t make her submit.

My cock hardened just thinking about the way she walked away from me. I threw the blanket off me and stroked him. I could wait. She couldn’t stay in there forever.

The longer I heard the water run, the angrier I got. She was doing this shit on purpose. I’d decided to break the fucking door down just as the water finally shut off. A few minutes later, Indie opened the door and stepped into the room wearing a towel wrapped around her body.

She went to the bag of clothes Johnny had picked up and turned back toward the bathroom. I launched myself from the bed and grabbed her neck, slamming her against the wall.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”