Page 20

Brittany

I t’s been a long day, so I don’t even complain when Tusk asks me to come back to his place. I’m exhausted, and he has a big king-size bed with a perfect medium-soft mattress. When we picked out the bedding together back in the day, I bought the softest and coziest bedding I could find. Nothing feels more relaxing than curling up in Tusk’s bed. I’m also looking forward to doing more than just getting comfortable and having a good night’s sleep. After we slept together the other day, I find that I’m craving his touch. In the long months without him I’d almost forgotten how good he was in bed, the way our bodies fit together, it’s like we were made for one another.

I must be quiet on the way to his place because his hand lands on my knee. When I look up at him, he asks, “You sure you want to come to my place?”

I nod. “Of course I do. Why do you ask?”

Jack speaks up from the back seat. “Cos we’re there, and everybody says we’re a handful.”

Tusk shoots him a stern glance over his shoulder. “It’s not that. You look tired and a bit overwhelmed. The last time that happened, you wanted to be alone.”

“I just need a nap, and I’ll be right as rain,” I promise him.

Robbin says, “Only babies take naps.” He gives the youngest of the clan the side eye when he says it. His four-year-old brother, Charlie, is too busy looking out the window to care. But Tusk’s voice takes on a stern edge. “Sleepy people take naps, not just babies.”

“Yes, sir.” His son’s voice is respectful. He looks down, twisting his fingers in his lap.

I feel like Tusk is good at walking the line between being an appropriate authority figure without being too stern. It’s tough being a parent. It’s something he has a lot of experience with, while I have none. I’m paying attention and taking mental notes, though.

Wondering if he feels some kind of way about rebuking his young son, I reach over and run my fingers over the shell of his ear, the same way he does for our baby when he wants her to smile. He glances over at me with a warm, loving expression. This man of mine loves tender touches from me. He brings my hand to his lips and gives me a kiss.

“You’re one of a kind, Britt. I knew it the first time I set eyes on you. All I ever wanted from that moment on was to make you mine.”

I laugh with pure happiness. “You didn’t have to work too hard to make me yours. I fell for you that first night. After finding out how nice you were, all I wanted was to get closer to you.”

Unable to resist, I lean over and give him a chaste kiss on his cheek.

The boys in the back all start whispering. Tusk’s SUV has third-row seating, so the three older ones are sat all the way in the back. It reminds me that we should dial down the romance, at least until they adjust. I pull back, and we continue chatting, mostly about the diner and how good the burgers were.

When we get back to Tusk’s apartment, I’m surprised that all my stuff has been transferred into the foyer. When I shoot Tusk a questioning look, he replies, “The prospects brought it over. If and when you want to go back to stay with Clara, they’ll take it all back, but I just wanted to make sure you had everything you need.” He picks up an armload and begins carrying it back to the master bedroom, along with that shirt box he brought from the SUV when we came in. Of course, all the other bedrooms have kids in them, so Victoria and I will naturally be sharing Tusk’s room.

The boys all go running off to their rooms, where I remember their gaming gear and toys are kept. They all seem happy and content with their lot in life. I follow Tusk with our crying daughter. She cries mostly when her belly is empty, when her diaper is dirty, when she has gas, or when she wants to be picked up.

I spread out a changing pad on the bed and, sure enough, she has a full diaper. I clean her up, and just as I am putting a new diaper on her, Tusk drops a small trash can beside the bed. “This will have to do for now. I’ll empty it a couple of times a day. I can also clear out my office and turn it into a nursery for Victoria. You and I are gonna have to shop for our child soon. This hodgepodge of equipment you brought with you from Alaska ain’t gonna cut it.”

Throwing the diaper away, I tell him, “I have a few traveler’s checks I didn’t cash when I tore outta here. I didn’t use them in Alaska because I didn’t want them to be tracked back to me and the baby. But now, I’m not sure it matters.”

“Darlin’, they found you already. Even a halfway decent PI will easily track our time at the hotel and eventually pick up the trail on the private plane Clara hired. Those two young brown-nosers from your church saw our cuts. By now, they probably know you’re sheltering with us. So, no, you don’t need to worry about cashing your checks.”

Stopping to take a breath, a possessive expression jumps onto his face. “The fact is, you don’t need to buy stuff for our child. She has a father, one who happens to be a very good provider. I always made pretty good money working at the plant, but now I’m a shift manager. It would be an honor to buy the things you need for our family.”

“I’d be happy to let you, but I want to make one thing clear. I’m not one of those women who like to spend a lot of money. I’ve lived pretty modestly for most of my life and don’t expect that to change anytime soon,” I say. It’s true, when I was a club girl, because I wasn’t pulling a wage and was allowed to stay for free at first, I never liked taking advantage of the situation.

“I don’t plan to be stingy, but I appreciate you respecting the money I work hard to earn,” Tusk says. He reaches over to grab the box he got from his club brother and hands it to me.

“What’s this?” I ask curiously.

“It’s one of several surprises I have planned for you over the next week.” I smother a smile because I know at least one of his surprises is more hot sex.

His voice turns serious. “This is something I should have given you a long time ago. I had it in mind to make a special event of it on our one-year anniversary, but you ran right before it came around.”

My eyes tear up, and I open my mouth to apologize. He waves off my apology. “Don’t say it, Britt. Just open the damn box before I tear up too.”

I fight back my emotions and pull the lid off the cardboard box. Before I can see it, I smell it—the sharp, rich scent of new leather. That scent fills me with nostalgia and longing. My heart clenches in my chest, and my mouth goes dry. As I stare down at the open box, my heart begins beating faster.

He’s giving me his property cut and all that comes with it. It represents his love, care, and the protection of him and his club brothers. I’m truly an insider now. There is no more being on the outside looking in, hoping to be chosen.

“You’re my old lady, darlin’. You always were, I just should have told you,” he says, his voice thick with emotion.

This is all I ever wanted as a club girl. A property cut represented the kind of care and protection I so desperately needed at the time. I tricked myself into thinking I loved club brothers and then was furious when they didn’t love me back. Now I realize what I didn’t realize back then—real love can’t be bought, bargained for, or stolen.

But falling in love was the one thing I never dreamed was possible for a woman like me. I was emotionally traumatized by my family and hell-bent on walking on the wild side of life. Most importantly of all, I was guarding my heart, right up until a prospect named Wade made me believe in love. I fell hard for him. He was down to earth, and we just clicked. I never cared about him not being able to put me in a property cut because he was a prospect. That was the furthest thing from my mind. And now that he’s giving me his property cut, it’s bittersweet.

Tusk is watching my reaction closely. His expression is unreadable, but his eyes are both wary and hopeful. Maybe he’s nervous about offering me his property cut because he thinks I might reject it and, in doing so, reject him.

I would never do that. I don’t have it in me to hurt him that way. Especially when he’s asking me to be his old lady.

I guess I’m quiet for too long because he reaches over and pulls the leather cut out of the box and holds it up so I can read the words stitched boldly across the back, ‘Property of Tusk’. I smile in spite of myself.

A small, strangled sound escapes from the back of my throat, a mixture of a sob and laughter. Reaching out one hand, I reverently run my fingers over the buttery-soft leather, touching the words with my fingertips. The coolness sends a shiver down my spine. When I take it from him, it’s the weight that makes it all seem real, so permanent.

Finally, I choke out, “It’s really beautiful, babe.”

“I’m glad. My property cut isn’t just an offer of protection. It’s my promise to always make sure you’re safe and happy at my side. That you always have a place to call home, somewhere to rest your head at night. That as long as I’m walkin’ and talkin’, I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

This is the moment I’m truly sure he sees me for the woman I am, rather than the one I used to be when I first came to the Savage Legion clubhouse, tired, hungry, and scared. He knows everything there is to know about me and still wants me.

I slide the cut on to see how it fits. It fits like it was custom-made for my curves. The chest is a little tight, but that’s because my breasts are engorged with milk.

“How do I look?” I ask Tusk.

Without missing a beat, he responds, “Like a beautiful woman who might need her pussy licked later.”

I press my lips together to keep from laughing because I know he’s just trying to be outlandish for a laugh. We can’t do that kind of thing in the middle of the day with a houseful of active kids and a baby between us.

“Babe, I’m afraid we’re going to have to work on our timing.”

My devilishly handsome old man just grins as he stretches out on his side with one arm folded under his head and the other resting on our baby. I follow his good example. We gaze down at the miracle we created together, all curled up warm and sleeping between us. I watch how Tusk gazes down at her small form. His expression is almost adoring.

“I never get tired of looking at her tiny face.”

“My son was right. Victoria is tiny, soft, and pretty like her mother. She’s got your pretty blonde hair, and she definitely has your eyes.”

“She has your nose, strong and straight,” I reassure him.

“I hope she gets your kindness and understanding, ‘cause she’s gonna need it with four older brothers and an overprotective dad like me.”

“If she’s as smart as I think she’s going to be, she’ll love you and your boys with her whole heart. I mean, what’s not to love?”

A smile ghosts over his face as he reaches up to graze the back of two fingers across Victoria’s cheek. She shifts in her sleep, nuzzling closer to his touch. “It feels a bit surreal. All those months we were apart, you having my baby was the last thing I expected.”

“But you’re happy about it, right?” I shouldn’t need to ask that question. It’s my self-doubt. I just need to hear him say the words.

“I’m fuckin’ ecstatic.” After a heartbeat, he adds, “I’m also ecstatic about you giving me another chance. I promise that I won’t mess it up this time. That ex of mine is staying in the rearview where she belongs. I’m warning you right now that she’s gonna pop up occasionally and say anything she thinks will get her what she wants. Don’t believe a fuckin’ word she has to say. You call me straight away, and I’ll deal with her. After being married to her and having four kids with her, I know exactly how to handle her kind of crazy.”

“What about my kind of crazy?” I ask.

He grins because he knows I’m teasing him. “I fuckin’ love your kind of crazy because it’s not all that crazy and comes with a supersized side of love. I’m not stupid. I see you doing everything in your power to take care of our daughter and make sure she’s fed, clothed, and comfortable around the clock. I also see how sweet you are to my boys. And you don’t treat their dad half bad either. You’re the one for me, Britt, the only woman I’ll ever want.”

“Aw, you say the sweetest things, babe. It’s easy to love you and your boys, and despite all the round-the-clock feeding and diaper changes, I am somehow still crazy about our daughter.”

“Do you ever think about the future, Britt, or are you happy to just live in the now?”

“You mean what our life is going to look like moving forward?” When he nods, I think it over for a second. “I guess I always assumed it would look like what we’re doing now. Living in your apartment, taking care of your boys when they come over, you working, me working when the baby is a little older, and us just making out like crazy every night.”

He chuckles under his breath. “If you think we’re gonna have the time and energy to make out every night, you clearly have not lived through the toddler and preschool years when they are into everything that’s not nailed shut.”

“It’s fine. Once I fully recover from giving birth, I’ll get my energy back. I plan to spend it all chasing our kids.”

“Alright, but I gotta point out that trying to stay in our apartment is probably not a good idea. We’re cramped as it is.”

“I don’t mind where we live as long as it’s together, and I don’t see that we have a choice. We’re not millionaires, you know?”

“Yeah, but I’m currently half a millionaire.”

I laugh so hard that I almost wake the baby up. “What’s half a millionaire?”

“A guy who has five hundred grand, or close to it. When I joined the club, I kind of threw myself into work. And sometimes I do dangerous jobs for the club, and payouts either seem to be nothing or several times they were five figures.”

“That’s great,” I tell him. “I’ve got ten grand to add to the pile, if that helps.”

“It might. What I’m suggesting is that we start looking for a house together at some point in the not-too-distant future.”

I swallow thickly. “So that we can have the stability of a real family?”

He nods, gazing at me like he doesn’t know if I understand the significance of what he’s saying. I do understand, but I’m still worried about my past catching up with me. “We can get a good security system installed, right?”

“Of course. Zen and Tex team up to make sure every brother’s house has a security system. As you probably noticed, I have a Ring camera on the door and double deadbolts. We don’t need anything other than that because visitors have to get buzzed in through the front desk if they don’t have a keycard at this apartment complex.”

“It’s one of the things I liked about being here,” I confide.

“So,” he says, “We’re on the same page about you being my old lady and us finding a bigger place, somewhere with a backyard so the kids can burn off their endless energy.”

“Yeah, the kids all need their own rooms, and I want them to be in a nice, safe neighborhood.”

“Look at us, acting like real grown-ups instead of teenagers who can’t stop groping each other long enough to sort out a life plan.”

I cover my mouth to keep from waking the baby when I laugh. “I absolutely love your sense of humor, babe.”

Before he can answer, his phone buzzes, and he reluctantly pulls it out of his pocket and reads a text message. When he looks up, I see excitement shining in his eyes. “Got a message from Zen. He’s got an address on Silas Harper. Your dad too.”

“Are you going to pay him a visit? If so, I can go with you. Maybe he’ll listen if I tell him I’m never coming back.”

Tusk reaches out to cup the side of my face and says, “Absolutely fucking not. You’re exhausted. I want you to put the baby down in her crib and get some shut-eye.”

I begin to panic, “What about your boys? It’s your weekend. I can’t just go to sleep and leave them to fend for themselves while you head to Utah. Plus, if Gina finds out you left them with me, she’s going to get mad.”

He caresses my cheek. “You need your rest. I’m gonna drop them off at their grandparents’ house. They always keep them overnight when something comes up in my life.”

“But…”

“But nothing,” he tells me. “Rest, and I’ll be back as soon as I can. There is food in the fridge, and under no circumstances are you to open the door while I’m gone. I’ll send a couple of prospects to cover the outside of the building. They’ll text you when they’re in place. If you need anything at all, trust only the prospects. Got it?”

“Yeah, I just don’t want the boys to think I don’t want them.”

He snorts a laugh. “I’ll explain that it’s my decision, not yours. They’ll understand.”

He leans over and kisses me before rolling off the bed and leaving the room.

I smile down at Victoria, who wakes up when he moves the bed. She gurgles, blowing a little bubble. It’s adorable, and Tusk is going to regret not seeing it. “Well, sweetness. It looks like it’s just you and me.”