Chapter 9 Blade #2
“I caught one guard sleeping, the other getting a blowjob,” he says with a shrug.
“They thought Eyeball had knocked me out. I faked it pretty good. I was in damn bad shape—well, you saw me, and that was after I’d recovered a couple of days.
I managed to escape and make it to my bike.
Bastard didn’t bother patting me down, past taking my weapons.
I guess he figured he was going to kill me, and he’d take my wallet and shit after that.
It took me three tries to get on my damn bike and fish my keys out of my pocket.
I held onto the bike with all I had. To be honest, I managed it longer than I thought I would.
I ended up piling up close to where Livy’s father’s place is.
Livy found me. She took me to the house.
Put me in her room and then went back out, got my bike and called someone she trusted to come get it.
She hid me, and when those bastards came calling, it took everything she had to get me outside, into her car, and drive me to the community center.
Once she got me settled, she went home. Livy could have turned me in, but she didn’t.
She lied to those bastards. They were waiting when she got back.
She faced them alone.” His eyes harden. “When she finally returned, Livy’s face was bruised, her nose swollen and bloody.
She was limping and her ribs were bruised.
The bastards had worked her over hard. There was a cut along her side.
She’d bandaged it, but it was clearly bleeding.
They tortured her, trying to make her admit she was lying—to give me up.
Olivia never gave in. She protected me.”
“I’ve seen the scar on her side,” I murmur.
I don’t realize that I said the words out loud until I notice the look on Bear’s face.
I don’t know exactly how to describe it, but it hits me strangely.
I figure it’s because she was injured covering for him.
He has to feel guilty as hell for the pain she endured.
“Livy risked her life for me. I owe her. She’s family.
I’ll protect her with my life. I always will.
Now, I’ve seen Livy happy before. She hasn’t been that in a long time.
Seeing how she looks at you, Blade—it’s special.
It has been a long time since I’ve seen that light in her eyes. I want the best for both of you.”
“Bear—”
“You need to mark my words, Blade. Livy will not let herself be with you if she knows you are part of this life. She just won’t.”
“You’re wrong. She may have some nightmares over the way they beat her because of you, but she won’t turn her back on me.
” My voice comes out sharp. “She likes you. She likes Ayita. Livy does that knowing you’re both part of the club.
What about her says that she can’t handle it?
Livy will accept it,” I insist. “She’ll accept me. ”
Bear exhales, long and heavy. “You’re dreaming, Blade.”
“I’m not.”
“You’d think differently if you knew everything the Feral Kings did to her.”
“That’s why I will protect her. Livy is smart. She will know who the real monsters are.” I lean forward. “I am going to claim Livy as my old lady. She will be part of the club, and damn it, she will know that she’s safe with us—with me.”
Bear’s eyes narrow. “Then do it with a wedding ring, Blade. That’s what Livy deserves. She deserves a man who will give up everything for her.”
“I will claim her both ways—the club and the ring. You’re selling her short. Livy’s strong. She’ll love being part of the Saints.”
“Then answer me this,” he hisses, his voice low and rough. “If you’re wrong—if she refuses to associate with the club—to have you if you remain a member—are you willing to give her up for the club? Can you make that choice? Because if you can’t, then she deserves better.”
The question hits like a punch. My stomach knots up as it plays over and over in my head.
The idea of losing her destroys me. The thought alone is enough to make breath lodge in my lungs and refuse to come out.
Fuck, what am I going to do if Bear is right?
If Livy won’t stay by my side, she isn’t the woman I thought she was.
I shake my head. It’s just not true. It can’t be.
I meet his gaze. “I don’t believe for a second that she’d turn her back on me.”
“If she does?” he persists.
“If she does, I’ll have to walk away. I can’t be with a woman who won’t accept my club, my brothers, my life. That’s not love.”
Bear leans in, eyes sharp. “So, you expect her to change for you, but you won’t for her? Seems to me, brother, that you’re not the man she truly needs either. It works both ways. If you love her—truly love her—you would offer to walk away from the club to keep her.”
I glare right back. “You’re not changing my mind. So, unless you’re kicking me out, can we eat and talk about the casino groundbreaking?”
Bear studies me, then nods slowly. “Fine. You’ll attend the groundbreaking as the face of the consortium.
We’ve already pushed it getting the council to back us with me there.
They think you’re small-time—a wet-behind-the-ears attorney wanting to play big man in town.
At the moment, the council agreed to everything because they think we’re going to make a glorified bingo parlor.
By the time they realize we’re coming in to change the whole damn place and take control back for the people of Cherokee, it will be too late. ”
I listen, nodding when I should, but fuck if my mind’s already miles away.
Livy’s laugh echoes in my head. Her soft voice, her gentle hands.
Bear’s words gnaw at me. Maybe it’s time to stop holding back with her.
If I can make her truly fall in love with me, make the connection deep—she won’t be able to walk away from me.
If that’s what it will take, I will do it. I can’t allow her to walk away. Fear isn’t something I know well, but the thought of losing Olivia Davis scares the hell out of me.
That’s why I won’t stop until she is completely in love with me.
Until she marries me and has my babies.
And when I get that from her—I will bust my ass to make sure she never regrets it.