Page 102 of The Bonds We Break

King has the audacity to chuckle. Then full-on belly laugh. “Should have warned you,” he says, looking at Niro. “She’s cleverer than all of us added together.”

“Like, why does it matter that you and I are now ... Well, he seemed to think I’m safe because of what I mean to you.”

“Wait there,” he instructs Niro before tugging me inside, closing the door, and lifting me into his arms. The door is cool to my back. King’s lips are on mine before I have the chance to take a breath.

Or is it his lips on mine that take my breath away?

“King,” I whisper.

He keeps me pinned to the door but leans back a little. “Three questions. Yes or no answers only, duchess. Yeah?”

I nod.

“Did Niro touch you in Ann Arbor?”

“No. He just suggested I could have both him and you.” A muscle twitches in the side of King’s jaw, and I stroke it. “Don’t get mad. You’ve only just put the club back together. And ‘what’s past is prologue.’”

“More Shakespeare. You realize between you and your Shakespeare quotes and Saint with his Bible quotes, you have me surrounded?”

I laugh and put my arms around his neck. “He was always better at remembering them than I was. Was that question two?”

“No.” King kisses the side of my neck, alternately licking and sucking the sensitive skin. “Question two, are you going to be able to handle Niro being here? He’s a talented carpenter as well as a tattoo artist. I wanted something custom for you, but if you don’t want to work with him, I’ll find someone else.”

I think for a moment. “We’ll figure it out.”

King nods, then grins. “Question three. In my world, the women are one hundred percent known by their relationship to a brother. One day, you’ll be my wife by law and my property within the club. Can you accept that?”

I cough and splutter. “Your wife? You took quite a jump there.”

King playfully bites on my lower lip. “Wife. Baby mama. Old lady. You’ll be all of them, yeah?”

“That’s a fourth question.”

King hoists me a little higher. “Meh. It’s a clarifying point to question three.” His eyes grow serious. “Tell me you see the future like I do, duchess. You. Me. All of it.”

I pull him close, wrap my legs around him a little tighter. “I need one promise from you.”

“Anything. You know that.”

I take a breath. “You can’t ever raise a hand to me or our children. First time you ever do, I’d leave.”

King lets me slide down to the floor and winds his hand into my hair. “I’m going to spend my entire life keeping you safe. It’s why Niro is on the other side of the door right now. I don’t want you to ever feel uncomfortable in our home.”

“So you promise?”

“I promise you that you and our children will never experience what you did as a child. And I promise to be the best fucking dad in the history of dads. You’ll all be safe in my hands.”

Words choke in the back of my throat as tears sting my eyes.

“You’re safe now, Rae.”

I sniff and then cough. “So, you’re building me an office?”

He tucks a piece of hair behind my ear, and I melt. “You need one. And I don’t want to give you a reason to leave the house for any reason.”

“Leave the house, or leave you?”

He traces the vee of my T-shirt. “Why do you ask me questions you already know the answers to?”