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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

BULLET

Driving toward the gas station, where I know everyone is likely waiting for us, I glance over at Dakota, who is staring out of the passenger window. Pulling over to the side of the highway, I shift the truck into Park but don’t kill the engine.

Slowly, she turns her head, her eyes finding mine, and I watch as her brows knit together in what I assume is confusion.

“Why did you stop?”

“Because you don’t look okay, and I’m not going to meet up with everyone else until I know you’re good.”

I think, but don’t say, And I’m pretty sure that I fucked you to feeling good, so I’m confused as fuck why you’re over there looking so goddamn sad . Her gaze searches mine for a silent moment, and I’m about to ask her just what the fuck she’s got rolling around inside that pretty head of hers because I’m going to run on the assumption that it’s complete bullshit.

“What happens when the dust settles and you realize I’m not that special?”

Her words cause my entire body to jerk. I’ve never had a physical reaction like this before, so my body moving startles me as much as it does her. She leans away from me as if I’m going to hurt her in some way.

“What the fuck?” I hiss. “What the actual fuck?” I say, my voice climbing with each word I say.

“I just—” she begins, but I shake my head once, and she thankfully snaps her lips shut.

“You just nothin’, baby,” I murmur, trying not to scream in her face, but every part of me wants to do just that. “You’re talking complete and total bullshit is what you’re doin’. You’re fucking special. Even if you weren’t Shade’s daughter.”

“But you wouldn’t even know I existed.”

That’s when my lips curve up into a grin. “Dakota,” I say, my tone no doubt sounding much like a warning. Her breath hitches, and I can’t help but let out a slight snort.

“Baby,” I say softer, almost like a purr, because apparently, she needs gentle right now.

Although, I don’t blame her for feeling a million different emotions because she’s been through something seriously fucking traumatic. And I hope to fuck that she never has to go through anything like this again.

“Shade sent you to me, but make no goddamn mistake, I would have found you anyway.”

Her eyes widen at my declaration. It’s true, too. I would have found her. It might have taken me a while, but I would have no doubt had this woman in my bed and by my side before I took my last breath here on Earth.

I watch as her tongue slips out of her mouth and slides across her bottom lip, and I want nothing more than to sink my teeth into that sexy lip. I don’t, though, only because she’s still working through what I just said.

“You would have found me anyway?” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, baby. I would have found you anyway.”

My voice is rough with every word I say, feelings swirling inside of me that I’m not sure I want to consume me, but here they fucking are. I decide that I’m going to allow myself this with her—only her. Because if you can’t feel something for and with your old lady, then what is the goddamn point of it all?

“Then I’ll stay, and I’ll marry you, and I’ll give you those babies. I’m crazy for thinking any of this, let alone saying it. I know I am. But I’ve never felt anything as intensely as I do with you, Bishop. I know we haven’t known one another for long, but I love you.”

My entire body relaxes. I know without a doubt that she’s mine and that I am going to keep her no matter the fuck what, but knowing it’s not going to be a fight fills me with a relief that I didn’t know I needed.

“Let’s go home, baby,” I murmur as I lift my hand to the gearshift, but before I can shift out of Park , her fingers curl around my forearm. Turning my head, I look at her, arching a brow.

“Where is home?” she asks, her voice barely above a whisper, her face etched with concern, and I’m not sure why because there can only be one answer to that question.

My lips twitch into a grin, and then I lean forward, touching my lips to her forehead before I whisper against her soft skin. “Home is wherever we make it, baby. But you got a house, and we can either sell it and I can buy you something else, or we can move into it. That is up to you.”

“Okay,” she exhales. “Wow.”

Leaning back slightly, I look into her eyes, searching her gaze with mine. “Wow?” I ask.

She tilts her head to the side, then she shakes her head once. “Yeah, I wasn’t expecting that. I don’t know what I thought. Maybe that you would stay in your room and I would get an apartment or something.”

This woman has fucking jokes, she’s a goddamn comedic genius. “Baby, I’m not driving you back to Thunder Rock and then setting you up in an apartment alone. Fuck that shit. Also, I’m not sleeping anywhere but with you.”

And that is fucking that. Her hand falls from my arm. I shift the car into Drive and watch as her lips curve up into a grin. Then we head toward the gas station, where I’m going to fuel this pickup and meet everyone else who is no doubt wondering where the fuck we are.

DAKOTA

The clubhouse comes into view, and as much as I don’t want to come here first, I know it’s a necessary evil. This is where the men meet, where they convene. As much as I want to go back to my dad’s place, I don’t want to go there. What I want is to go to that stupid motel and put some clothes on. I’m also hungry.

I’m a mess of different wants, needs, and desires—or maybe I’m just a mess in general.

The pickup truck moves down the driveway behind the bikes. There were more men at the gas station, but after a short chat with one another, while I sat in the truck and watched them, they took off in two separate directions, leaving just the ones I recognized.

Bishop parks the pickup and then lets out a sigh. It’s only been a little over a three-hour drive, but being as I was lost inside of my own head the entire time, it felt like a whole lifetime. Reaching for the door handle, I pop it and then pause when I hear Bishop hiss out the word fuck .

Looking over to him, I see that his focus is straight ahead. I follow his eyes, and my breath hitches at the sight of Briana standing just a few feet away. She’s got her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyes are pinpointed straight ahead on the truck, and she looks pissed.

Though I’m not sure why she would be, I don’t question her being here, at least not to myself. All I know is that Briana is here, and I missed her. I don’t wait even a second, not a moment of hesitation, before I throw the door all the way open, slide out of the seat, and run toward her. I should not be running toward her right now, not in the disheveled state I’m in.

Briana looks at me with horror, even though I don’t realize it immediately. I’m just so damn happy to see her that I ignore the abject expression that crosses her face as I wrap my arms around her. I also ignore the way she hesitantly hugs me back.

After our hug, I take a step backward, my smile consuming every part of my being, the happiness that I feel overwhelming. She reaches out, her fingers gripping my shoulders as she shakes me slightly.

Once her expression registers, my smile falters, then completely falls. Her eyes are wide, and she looks horrified. Completely and totally horrified. I open my mouth to tell her that I’m okay, but I don’t get the opportunity.

Before I can say a single word, her eyes flick from mine as she looks over my shoulder, and then they narrow. “Tell me what the fuck has happened to my friend,” she snaps.

But she’s not asking me. She’s asking the person behind me, which I assume is Bishop. I open my mouth to respond to her question, but before I can say a single word, I hear Bishop’s voice. It comes out deep and growly but not mean. Intimidating but not sharp.

“You need to calm the fuck down, babe. I got this.”

I think that Briana’s soul might actually separate from her body for a moment and float out of her and above us at Bishop’s words. Then it settles back inside before she clears her throat. If there is one thing that I learned after I moved in with Briana, it was not to tell her to ever calm down, not that I ever did, but I’ve seen plenty of people try.

“Calm down?” she asks, obviously seething.

If Bishop is bothered by her question or the way she asks it, he doesn’t act like it. In fact, he clears his throat and moves closer to her, placing his body halfway in front of mine as if to block me from her if need be. My lips part in awe at the strategic move, and then I close my mouth and press my lips together because I don’t and won’t ever need protection from Briana.

She is the one who saved me.

“Yes, calm the fuck down. I got this, and I got Dakota. You can sheath the claws.”

Briana jerks back as if she’s been physically assaulted, then she leans forward, her eyes focused nowhere but on Bishop. I want to stop whatever this is between them because I think they are both the best people I’ve ever met in my life. It’s like watching a bad wreck. I can’t look away, but I also feel as if I’m moving in slow motion, and I can’t do anything to stop it.

“You misogynist piece of shit,” she hisses. “You got this? You don’t got shit.”

Sucking in a breath, I hold it for a moment as I wait for Bishop’s response. I can tell that he’s half annoyed and half amused by this exchange. I just don’t want him to get fully annoyed. I place my hand on his forearm and squeeze it with my fingers, but he doesn’t even flinch.

He continues. “I got it, babe,” he murmurs.

“I couldn’t get hold of my friend for days. I come here, and she looks like complete and total hell, and you’re telling me that you got this? She’s standing in front of me, her hair a mess, wearing a man’s T-shirt and barefoot. Please tell me how you got this .”

Shifting my attention to his profile, I watch as his lips curve up into a grin. Then, when I swing my gaze to Briana, I watch as the color of her face deepens from pink to deep red. Then she opens her mouth, no doubt to say something that will piss Bishop off, but I step forward and to the side, slightly moving between them.

“Do not protect him,” Briana growls.

I’ve never seen her this way before. I have no idea what is going on with her, but when I reach out to wrap my hand around hers, I squeeze it gently as I continue to look directly into her eyes.

“I’m okay. Bishop is right. He does have me. The men who kidnapped me, they did it because they thought they could get somewhere with this club because of who my father was.”

I shouldn’t have said the word kidnap .

Briana’s eyes widen, and I think I blink too quickly because, without a doubt, her head spins around on her shoulders. Then she leans forward and screeches a single word.

“ Kidnapped ?”

Oh. Shit.

“It’s okay, Bishop saved me,” I say quickly, not giving her a chance to completely blow her top. Briana’s gaze flicks from mine to his, then back to mine, before shifting back to meet his. “He found me and brought me back here. We’re engaged.”

Why I decided this was the moment to blurt that out, I have no idea. But I did it, and now, the second those words leave my lips, I’m regretting it. Sucking in a breath, I hold it, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Briana won’t freak out.

“Engaged?” she whispers in disbelief.

“Engaged,” Bishop decides to confirm.

Her eyes focus on mine, and she searches them. “We need to have a conversation, me and you, alone.”

Bishop snorts. “I don’t fucking think so. You come here with some badass attitude, and now you want to talk to my woman alone? So you can fill her head with bullshit? I don’t think so.”

“Bishop, I think we do need to have a conversation. Briana came all the way here from Oregon because she was worried about me. I think I should assure her that there’s nothing to be worried about.”

Bishop does not want to relent. I can tell by the look on his face and the way his jaw is set, but I don’t care. I’m going to have a conversation with Briana, and he’s just going to have to not like it.

“Go up to my room. I got shit to do here before I can take you to the motel. There are some clothes up there, and you can take a shower if you want,” Bishop grinds out, but he doesn’t look away from Briana.

Turning to him, I lift my arm and place my hand at the center of his chest as I tip my head backward and look up into his eyes. “Thank you, Bishop.”

He tears his gaze away from Briana’s to find mine and then, as if a switch is turned off or on inside of him, his entire face softens. He dips his chin and touches his mouth to mine before he speaks again.

“After this, we go home, baby,” Bishop murmurs against my lips, and my entire body sways.

Home.

Together.

Wherever it may be, it doesn’t matter as long as we are together.