Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
Scythe
“You hungry?” I ask, stroking the side of Josephine’s cheek after waking her.
After spending hours with her body, I’m not surprised she dropped off the way she did.
I exhausted her, but I had to wake her a few minutes ago.
I didn’t know if she’d eaten anything, and I wanted to make sure she did.
While she’d been asleep, I’d cleaned her up, tucked her under the covers, and went in search of food only to find she’d made enough food for a damn army.
Thankfully my brothers made sure to fix a plate for Josephine and me before devouring the rest of it. Warming it up, I took the plates back to my room. I ignored the looks from my brothers, knowing they’d heard my woman’s cries of pleasure. There was no hiding those noises, and I don’t give a damn.
I was worked up while toying with her body. It was all I could do to keep myself in check and not punish her. But she needed to be punished for acting like a brat.
“Hmmm,” Josephine mumbles, pulling me from my thoughts.
When I got back in the room, I set the food down next to the bed and climbed on the bed to wake my woman.
“Come on, Freckles, you gotta eat.” I grin at how sweet she gets when she’s sleepy.
Josephine slowly blinks an eye open and looks up at me without question.
“Let’s sit you up so you can eat.” I pull away and help her sit up. I know I don’t have to treat her like she’s fragile, but I like to take care of her- especially after what we did.
Josephine pulls the sheet up to cover her breasts, and I decide to be nice and grab one of my shirts. Without a word, I slip it over her head, and she gives me a small smile of gratitude. I lift one of the plates and fork up some of the pasta, twirl it on the rungs and feed it to her.
“I can do that myself,” she murmurs and takes a bite.
“I know, but I want to do it.” I shrug, making it out to be not a big deal when we both know it is.
Several minutes pass in silence, the two of us staring at each other while I feed her and take bites of the delicious pasta myself.
Once the first plate was empty, I set it down and picked up the other.
Josephine shakes her head and waves a hand. “No more. I’m full.”
“Okay, baby.” I chuckle and start eating the food myself.
“Why did you let that clubwhore touch you?” she asks, eyes somber.
“I didn’t let her do anything,” I answer honestly. It wasn’t the plan I’d been putting in place. That was supposed to happen tonight, but knowing Josephine has her memories, I didn’t need to do it. Thank fuck. But it was fucked up that Slick tried the shit she did.
Styxx got her to confess she’d been the one to pick the lock to my room, and the other bitch had been along for the ride.
I’d been informed by Styxx he’d made it known that was the only warning she was going to get.
Slick, however, didn’t get the hint and decided she was going to try her luck.
That was the last straw. I knew it. I just needed to see how far she was going to try and push it.
I’m sure by now, Diablo or one of the others has gotten her off club property at the command of Reaper. Styxx would have gone straight to him after I took off with Josephine.
“From what I saw, it definitely looked like you were allowing her to touch you. She was all pressed up between you and Styxx after you guys got back.”
Wait, she saw that?
“I was laughing at something Thanatos said when she came up. Why didn’t you come say something then?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugs and pulls that bottom lip in between her teeth. “I don’t think I knew what I should do because I don’t know how you feel.” Her comment comes out soft and quiet, but its words hold a punch.
“Freckles, you mean everything to me. I wouldn’t have started something up with you if I thought it wasn’t going to work between us.
” I’m not ready to say the words, not the ones that I really mean.
But I know what I feel for her. It’s why her not trusting me and accusing me of shit pisses me off.
There’s no way I could ever step out on Josephine.
“I realize that now,” she murmurs, lowering her lashes, hooding those beautiful eyes of hers, looking seductive as hell.
“Good,” I grumble, leaning in and kissing her lips.
Pulling back, I take a bite of the lasagna and groan.
“Fuck this is good.” I put the fork at the food.
“You did a damn good job on dinner, baby.” I polish off everything on the plate and set it on the other while the two of us make small talk.
But now it’s time to get to the bottom of something.
I need to know what all she remembers. “Do you know who took you?”
Josephine shakes her head and leans against the headboard. “No, I don’t remember. I woke up this morning with a splitting headache and my memories. I’ve tried to remember that part, but it’s fuzzy.”
Fuck. That sucks she doesn’t know who hurt her.
“It’s okay, baby,” I tell her, not wanting her to get upset at not knowing. She’d been drugged, so it was a long shot she’d have remembered anyway, but I hoped.
“If I do, I’ll make sure to tell you,” she retorts hastily.
I nod and pull her into my arms. “Okay, Freckles, now the next thing we’ve got to talk about . . .”
“Yes?” Her response is hesitant.
“You have a place you’re renting, but I want you living with me. If that means I move in with you, then so be it, but we’re gonna be together.”
“I really like my house. I don’t want to move. In fact, the owner even offered to sell me the property. His kids don’t want it.”
“Then we’ll buy it.”
“But—”
I press my lips to hers, stopping her protest. “We’re buying it.
You and me. I told you you’re mine. We’re living together, and I’m not letting you go.
Now that’s out of the way, what I want to talk to you about is, we’re no longer on lockdown and you can go back to work, but you’ll do it with a prospect on you.
I don’t want you going anywhere without him, one of the members of the club, or me. You got me?”
“I don’t know if I’m ready to go back to work.”
I notice the apprehension in her voice, but I know she’s got to do this. She needs to go to work, get back to normal. She should have already been doing it, but with lockdown she hasn’t been able to.
“Baby, it’ll do you good.”
“Okay.” She nods. “I’ll start back on Monday.”
That was just a couple of days away, and it would be just fine with me. This means I can have her all to myself for a little bit longer. Maybe take her back to the cabin and spend time alone, together without anyone around to mess with us.