Page 55 of Property of Stone (Kings of Anarchy MC: Pennsylvania #1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Stone quietly opened the door and stepped into Sunny’s dark room. He was relieved to hear her steady breathing instead of sobbing.

His baby girl was wrapped up in her blanket like a burrito. That was a good sign, too, since that was how she liked to sleep.

He squatted down next to the bottom bunk and stared at his daughter as he lightly stroked her dark brown hair. If Gentry had hurt her, Stone would’ve burned the fucking world to the ground.

He had never wanted a kid, but now that he had one, he would die to protect her.

He closed his eyes and pulled a long breath in through his flared nostrils.

He’d failed her.

He fucking failed.

With Sheena in prison, he was all Sunny had. His girl relied on him to keep her happy, healthy, and safe.

No, he was wrong .

He considered the woman he had ignored downstairs because he only had one thing on his mind when he walked through the back door.

Sunny.

She had been his priority. But now that he saw with his own two fucking eyes his girl was in one piece, he needed to deal with the other female in the house.

He was still pissed at Taryn, but he should really be pissed at himself for letting her influence his decision about sparing Gentry.

That was his mistake. Not hers.

Not once in his adult fucking life had he ever let a woman tell him what to do. Not fucking once.

Why the fuck did he let her get to him?

It wasn’t because he was trying to be a better person. Fuck that. It was because he was trying to make Taryn happy.

Or at least not upset her.

Or make her look at him differently. Prove to her he wasn’t just a bad person, that he had good moments, too.

Though, with what he just did to her ex-husband, he might be past that point.

With one last glance at Sunny out cold—no doubt mentally and emotionally exhausted from that ordeal—he closed the door softly behind him and headed back downstairs.

Taryn sat on the couch with her arm around her son, keeping him pinned to her side. The TV volume was down low and only Baby Bird was concentrating on whatever movie was on the screen.

Taryn’s eyes remained glued on him as he approached. He jerked his chin toward the back door.

She whispered something to Wren, who nodded, then she rose from the couch and followed him outside. He didn’t stop until he was far enough away that the kids wouldn’t overhear the conversation.

“What happened?”

“Ask me no questions, won’t tell you no lies.”

She shook her head. “So basically, if I ask, you’re going to lie about what happened.”

“Just said I ain’t, if you don’t ask.”

“You do know that double negatives makes a positive, right?”

He scowled. “He ain’t gonna be a threat no more.” For fuck’s sake . He just said the opposite of what he meant because of his use of double fucking negatives. “He was eighty-sixed.”

Her eyebrows pinched together. “Eighty-sixed? I have to assume that your version isn’t anything like mine.”

Yeah, the meanings weren’t even close. Once again proving how different the two of them were. “Your version sounds borin’. For us it means taking someone eight miles out and burying them six feet fuckin’ under.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Mine might be boring but yours sounds illegal. ”

Stone cocked an eyebrow. “Ain’t illegal if it never happened.”

Her lips flattened out. “I’m sure the person being eighty-sixed would beg to differ.”

“By that time, the beggin’s over.”

She pulled in an audible breath as she scrubbed her palm across her forehead. Her gaze sliced from him back to the house. To where her son was.

Stone got it. Her son just lost his father and would be upset when he found out. Even though Baby Bird didn’t know all the truth about what a piece of shit his sperm donor had been.

The remains of his anger washed away. Everyone who belonged to him was now back together and safe. He needed to make sure it stayed that way.

“You don’t look upset,” he murmured.

Her blue eyes landed back on him. “Believe it not, I don’t feel anything.

What Vic did to Sunny was unforgivable. I’m sorry I told you to spare him in the first place.

That was my mistake because I was trying to be the better person.

Just like I hoped he would’ve learned his lesson in prison.

Again, my mistake. His downward spiral was never going to reverse direction.

” She sighed. “Now my concern is with Wren and figuring out how to explain why he’ll never see his father again. I’m going to have to lie about it.”

No shit.

“Sure you’ll come up with somethin’. Thinkin’ you didn’t tell him it was his father who took Sunny.”

Taryn shook her head. “No. If possible, I never want him to know that. Maybe you can ask Sunny not to tell him, either.”

“Doubt she put two and two together to figure out who he was. If she did, after she wakes up, gonna ask her to keep his name to herself. Can’t guarantee she won’t slip or he won’t figure it the fuck out.”

Her expression turned grim. “I’ll deal with it if that happens.” She placed her hands on her hips and glanced around. Like she was trying to avoid meeting his eyes. “In the meantime, it looks like my problem has been solved.”

He wasn’t liking how she said that. “This one, yeah.”

“That means Wren and I will no longer need protection.”

He definitely wasn’t liking the direction this conversation was headed. They had already discussed her staying so she could save more money. “From your ex, no.”

“I can go back to living my life as it should be. I can find a new place and a new school for Wren.”

Yeah, fuck that. She might still be bent about him being pissed earlier, but he’d had a damn good reason. “Nothin’ wrong with the school he’s in now.”

“I would have to remain in the district for him to stay in that school.”

“No point in movin’ him, then. He likes it there.” Wren also loved having a “sister.” And Sunny was starting to enjoy having a “brother.” She might try to hide it, but Stone could see right through his girl.

Taryn continued as if he hadn’t said shit. “I’m not sure where I want to settle yet. Now that the cooking channel is going strong and my online classes are bringing in a decent amount of money, I can move my business anywhere.”

For fuck’s sake!

Almost everything he suggested or did for her made it possible for her to leave.

Taking care of her threat. His suggestion about doing the online classes…

He’d cut his own damn throat. A throat that was getting tighter by the second with her talk of leaving. “No.”

She pulled in a breath and set her jaw. “Look—” She raised her palm to stop his next no , then finished with, “I appreciate everything you’ve done, but?—”

“Fuck that shit. No buts.”

Again, she continued like he hadn’t even spoken. “I need to give my son a stable home and living with the VP of an outlaw motorcycle club isn’t it. He’s seen enough violence already and I don’t want him exposed to more.”

“Taryn,” he growled .

“This was supposed to be temporary, remember?”

“Fuckin’ know what we agreed to. You’re supposed to help me with Sunny.”

“Are you saying that you only want me to stay because of Sunny?”

Holy fuck, she just expertly backed him into a corner.

She outsmarted him.

She was trying to get him to admit he wanted her to stay. That their “arrangement” was no longer that. It was a relationship.

Jesus. He could kill a man and not miss a second of sleep, but the idea of being in a committed relationship made him fucking sweat. His heart was racing and his palms were getting clammy.

What the actual fuck?

“You only want me here to help with Sunny?” she asked again.

“Want you here…”

“For Sunny,” she finished.

He squeezed his eyes shut. He should let her leave whenever she was ready. He didn’t need a ball and chain. He didn’t need to be tied down to one woman. A woman who would expect one hundred percent loyalty.

A soft “Got it” had him opening his eyes.

As she turned to head back to the house, he grabbed her arm and swung her back to face him. “No.”

Her eyebrows jumped to her hairline. “No? No what?”

“Don’t want you to go.”

“You’ll be able to find someone for?—”

“For fuck’s sake, Taryn! Don’t want you to go.”

“Because of Sunny.”

He closed his eyes, and when he finally opened them again, he admitted, “‘Cause of me.”

“That had to hurt to admit.”

“A little bit.”

“So, you want to be with me? Or do you only want this to continue like I’m a house mouse with benefits?”

His jaw tightened. “You ain’t a house mouse.”

“When I heard what a house mouse was, it sounded exactly like this situation.”

“Ain’t a house mouse,” he repeated.

“What am I, then?” She waited. One heartbeat. Two.

Ten.

Twenty.

She could see the man struggling. He had never been in any type of real relationship before. The only females in his life long-term had been his mother and his daughter.

He probably didn’t recognize it for what it was despite the fact they’d been living as a family. Two parents. Two children. All they needed yet was a dog.

Taryn mentally rolled her eyes. They were far from a typical family. But so far, what they had created worked. In fact, it was working better than most families. Despite the fact he was an outlaw biker, their home life was less dysfunctional than most.

Less being the key word. But then, what family was completely normal?

Despite that, Taryn didn’t hate it here. She actually liked it and it now felt like home. She had liked their arrangement. She liked both going to bed and waking up next to Stone. The sex was the best.

She loved how good he was with Wren.

She had a soft spot for Sunny, despite her taking so long to come around. They could continue to work on their relationship at the same time working through the trauma of what Vic did to her.

But if she stayed, she would need to do it for the right reasons. Because she and Stone had a deep connection. Not for only the kids or because the sex between them was great.

They would also need to figure out what to do about the bedroom situation. Sunny and Wren really needed their own rooms.

She knew Stone was capable of being loyal if he wanted to be. She saw how loyal he was to his club, to his brothers. But what she would not do was be in a relationship with someone who cheated.

Been there. Done that. Had the divorce to prove it.

She did not want to go through that again. Not ever.

She met his eyes and whispered, “What am I to you, Stone, if not a house mouse?”

She jumped when he suddenly went from frozen in place to jerking her hard against him. He dipped his head and took her mouth, sweeping his tongue through it.

Normally when he kissed her like that, she melted against him. But not today. She pulled free. “Don’t try to avoid the question.”

“Ain’t avoidin’ the question. Answerin’ it.”

“I refuse to make assumptions from a kiss.” She needed to hear how he felt loud and clear. She did not want to make another disastrous decision.

He grabbed her shoulders firmly and kept his head tipped down to hers. “You wanna hear it? Fine, gonna say it. Don’t want you to leave. Not ‘cause of Sunny, ‘cause of me. Want you here. Want you in my bed. Want you in my life. You’re fuckin’ mine, woman. No one else’s. That’s who you are. Mine.”

Her lips parted and a soft puff of air escaped. Holy shit.

As much as she wanted all of that, wanted to throw caution to the wind, she also had to face reality and be completely honest with him about her reservations. “Stone, I’m not sure if this is the best situation for Wren and I.”

“Only problem we had came from your motherfuckin’ ex.”

Maybe. But no relationship or situation was problem-free. Plus, they needed to consider the fact that Sheena wouldn’t be in prison forever.

They might be dealing with this same scenario all over again once she was free. “Are you also going to eighty-six Sheena when she gets out?” She’d never think of that culinary term in the same way again.

“If she’s a threat to me and mine, fuck yeah.”

She blinked. Could she really love someone who had no issue with killing someone?

“She leaves us the fuck alone and realizes Sunny’s better off with us, then no. You acted more like a mother to Sunny in the past few months than that bitch has been for the last ten years.”

If so, that was sad. “Sunny deserves a good start in life.”

“Yeah,” he said softly, his grip on her shoulders loosening a bit. “And you’ll help with that.”

“So does Wren.”

“Will do my best to give him that, too.”

She believed him. It didn’t take long for Wren to love Stone. She could argue it didn’t take long for her, either. “Tell me what this all means.”

“Means I want you to be my ol’ lady.”

Holy shit.

She was aware that being claimed by a King as an ol’ lady was as good as a proposal. They were similar to wives but without the legal paperwork .

Did he really want to spend the rest of his life with her?

Wait. Did she really want to spend the rest of her life with him?

Taryn stared at the man that, with zero guilt, “eighty-sixed” her ex-husband probably not even an hour ago.

The sexy one with long, messy hair.

The one covered in tattoos.

The one wearing a leather cut that told the world he was an outlaw and didn’t give a flying fuck what anyone thought about it. Including law enforcement.

The one who didn’t even flinch when it came to snuffing out someone’s life.

The one who’d never be fake or pretentious. What she saw was what she’d get.

If she accepted him, she’d have to accept the good, the bad, and the ugly.

And be able to live with herself.

Could she do that?

Did she love him enough to accept all facets of his lifestyle?

An invisible two-by-four smacked her across the forehead.

Holy shit , she did.