Page 5 of Perdition (Unchained Hearts #4)

He wanted to tell the fuckface that he’d been too busy to spend much time with Sarah at all, but that would mean nothing…

because he had taken hours of his day just yesterday to take her to the red maple.

And because, if it really mattered to him, he would have spent any free time he had with the woman who’d earned that time from him; his wife. His Em.

But he hadn’t.

Still…he hadn’t done anything truly wrong; he hadn’t touched Sarah with anything but comfort in mind.

Sure, she was a fucking bombshell—tits, ass, plump lips, big eyes, a sensual innocence, and a sharp mind that was so refreshing he often found himself searching for her when he needed a break from club business.

But that was just talking, sharing about their days, sitting together, being comfortable, eating together—not once had he wanted to do anything but… be with Sarah.

Not Emily .

Sarah.

Nausea flooded him, even as guilt slithered up his spine to puncture his heart with venomous teeth.

“You said that being with Sarah is like how you and Em used to be, like back when you first got together, but, brother…how is that not you wanting to replace your woman with a younger model, one without all the mileage and responsibilities?” Patriot inquired, placing a hand on Frost’s shoulder.

Frost stiffened; the once familiar action, for the first time, was unwelcomed.

“It isn’t like that,” Frost snarled, pulling away from his friend, and turning to glare at the men he considered closer than brothers. “You don’t get it—I love Em, I married her, we have a great life together, but?—”

“There shouldn’t be a but there, man,” Locust interjected.

“You love Em, you married Em, end of. Sarah is not your wife, she is not your sister ; she is a fucking club slut who only deserves club protection, a clean bed, and a full belly. I don’t know when it happened, but you’ve got your mind and intentions twisted, ‘cause if you haven’t set eyes on your wife in two weeks, but Sarah is blowing up your phone and leaving ass prints in your office couch, then you have got the roles reversed, brother. ”

Suddenly, the ability to breathe eluded him. Planting his hands on the conference room table, he braced himself, letting his head hang.

What the fuck was going on? Everything they were saying…it didn’t seem right. They didn’t get it—he didn’t have romantic intentions with Sarah, he just liked spending time with her.

Time you should be spending with your wife, asshole!

“Fuck!” he spat, thrusting his fingers through his hair, hair he should have gotten trimmed weeks ago, because Em was usually on his case about keeping it “just long enough to grip while you eat me.” Any longer than that and she ambushed him while he was in the shower, not letting him leave the bathroom until he let her go at him with the clippers.

But…he hadn’t even been home in over a week, hadn’t seen her in two weeks….

Yeah, fucker, a haircut is the least of your problems right now!

“I never meant for it to get like that—Sarah is not a replacement for Em; there’s no replacing Em.” God, how did he explain it without sounding like a total skeezeball? “With Sarah…I can just be me…not the MC prez, not a husband, not a father?—”

“So, basically, with Sarah, you can rewrite your life, and become a totally different person; not Madsen Flowers, respectable, loyal, dedicated, devoted husband and father, but rather simply a carefree, childless, bachelor who’s free to be ‘friendly’ with any woman he wants?”

“You’d rather go back and not become those things? Like never meet Em, never marry Em, never build your life and this MC with Em? Is that what you mean?” Patriot asked, his tone so dangerous it vibrated the air with potential violence.

A roar built in Frost’s throat, threatening to explode.

“That is not what I meant—fuck! You’re complicating every fucking thing!”

Red surged to his feet and planted a finger in the dead center of Frost’s chest.

“So let me make it simple for you,” Red drawled, his voice a rumble that sounded too much like disgust. “You walk into Em’s office, and she’s sitting on her office couch, thighs and shoulders touching, face inches apart, words hushed and gentle, with a man who isn’t you…

you wouldn’t want to rip that asshole from his seat and beat the shit out of him? ”

Picturing that, Frost’s chest tightening, his hands curling into white-knuckled fists.

“I’d tear off his fucking arms and beat him to death with his own hands,” Frost growled.

Red’s chuckle held no humor, but rather oozed darkness.

“That’s what I thought….” He tipped his chin, his gaze sharpening. “You know, I looked into that cop you said was hanging out around Em’s shop, you know, that one who looked to be more interested in Mrs. Flowers than buying flowers?”

Nostrils, flaring, Frost barked, “What about him?”

He’d better not still be sniffing around my woman ? —

“He has a type,” Red offered, a smirk curling his lips.

Confused, Frost furrowed his brow. “What?”

Red chucked again. “Yeah, Prez, I checked his social media…seems like his last two serious relationships…well…his favorite flavor is older women. Officer Copper is twenty-six, only ten years younger than Em, but that wouldn’t be a problem for him; his last girlfriend was fifteen years older, and they were together for two years. ”

Before Frost could unclench his jaw enough to speak, Locust drawled, “What would it feel like, you think, to share your wife with a younger man?”

Jaw unclenched, mind unhinged, he snarled, “I don’t fucking share!”

From beside him, Patriot tsked. “Neither does Em, Prez.”

The unspoken question there was, “So why does she have to when you don’t?”

Something like rusty barbs sunk deeper into his guts, and he wondered, not for the first time, where it had all gone to hell.

But hell had nothing on the question Red uttered into the heavy silence.

“You ever been tempted to fuck her?”

They waited.

He hesitated.

Fuck!