Chapter 10 #2
Eventually, I captured her mouth again, kissing her as we floated slowly back down and I savored the feeling of her body shuddering softly beneath mine.
When she finally stilled, eyes half-lidded and heavy with satisfaction, I rolled over and wrapped her up in my embrace.
Then reality began to seep back in. “Shit. You’re not gonna be able to fucking walk now. ”
Aubrey giggled and buried her face in my neck.
“Worth it,” she whispered, making me chuckle.
I kept her tucked against me for a while, neither of us in a hurry to move. However, we both had shit to do today, and reality ultimately forced its way back in and got us up and moving.
Somehow, I managed to only make her come with my mouth in the shower, rather than fucking her up against the wall like I’d been tempted to. But I’d seen the slight winces she was trying to hide when she walked.
You’re a bastard, Blitz.
I knew it was true but still couldn’t wipe the satisfied smile off my face after her screams bounced off the tiles.
I took her home to get ready for class, but stopped her with a hand on her knee before she got off my bike. “Be back after work to take you to dinner. Pack a bag.”
She blushed, but shy happiness spread across her face as she quickly nodded, like there would never be another answer.
Over the next several days, Aubrey spent every night at my house. We never discussed it outright or sat down and formally decided anything. It just happened.
I’d be there to pick her up at her place after nannying or classes, and more often than not, she’d step out of the apartment with an overnight bag already packed.
And I helped the process along without her realizing. Each time Aubrey returned briefly to her apartment, I’d casually suggest she bring something else over—always something practical and necessary.
The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me.
I’d started this whole thing with a carefully constructed plan designed specifically to use Aubrey for my own agenda.
Now, I found myself rearranging every aspect of my daily life around her presence.
Her belongings scattered throughout my house were clear evidence of just how completely I had shifted.
Where I’d once planned carefully calculated revenge, I was now busy figuring out ways to make sure she felt comfortable and secure in a home I no longer thought of as just mine.
At the clubhouse, the changes in me hadn’t gone unnoticed.
My brothers had started giving me subtle glances and raised eyebrows, noticing how infrequently I stayed overnight there anymore, and how quickly I seemed to vanish as soon as my club business was finished for the day.
They didn’t miss the shift in my mood, either.
My usual calm, approachable demeanor had turned edgy, impatient, and irritable anytime I wasn’t with Aubrey.
More than once, I caught myself checking my watch or pulling out my phone, tracking the minutes until I’d see her again.
I wasn’t fooling anyone, and the Kings weren’t exactly subtle about their suspicions.
Edge, in particular, was the first to openly give me shit about it.
One afternoon, when my mood had soured after spending a longer-than-expected day away from Aubrey, he shot me a smug grin across the bar counter, leaning back casually on his stool as if he had all the time in the world to observe my discomfort.
“You’re a real joy to be around lately, brother.
You know, if I had to guess, I’d say this shitty mood of yours is all about a woman. ”
I shot him a look that would’ve silenced anyone else, but Edge just met my glare with an easy, infuriating smile.
“Go fuck yourself,” I muttered irritably.
Instead of being offended, his grin only widened. He raised his glass in a mock toast.
“Thought so. About damn time someone knocked your carefully organized world off kilter.”
It annoyed me to no end that he wasn’t wrong, and he knew it. Edge chuckled to himself, clearly satisfied he’d gotten under my skin, and turned back to his conversation, leaving me standing there silently stewing.
Kane was quieter about it, but no less perceptive. I’d catch him watching me with an assessing look. Our prez had always been able to read people effortlessly, and he’d clearly gotten my sudden shift in priorities without needing me to explain it.
He hadn’t said anything yet, which should have made me relax, but somehow it only ratcheted up my tension.
Kane Beckett didn’t act hastily or without reason.
If he was holding back, it was because he’d already figured out more than I’d intended him to.
I knew eventually I’d have to face that conversation, but I was willing to let it remain unspoken for as long as possible.
Right now, the only thing that mattered was Aubrey. She was already too deeply entrenched in my life, home, and heart. There was no going back.
All the while, Tripp continued to fulfill his prospect duties with the same laid-back charm and easygoing attitude he always displayed.
He remained present at the clubhouse, and despite my outward pretense of normalcy, I felt the frustration and resentment simmering beneath the carefully constructed mask I wore.
Tripp was far more observant than most prospects, and he’d clearly picked up on the subtle changes in my routine and attitude. He didn’t hesitate to tease me about it, tossing out knowing remarks with the casual confidence of someone who was convinced he had me figured out.
It took everything in me not to let my anger slip through and show him exactly how deeply his betrayal had cut me.
Because even as furious as I was, things were becoming increasingly complicated every day.
Many of Aubrey’s anecdotes painted her brother as a bureau problem child who constantly clashed with supervisors over choosing morality instead of procedure and integrity over protocol.
There had been quiet pride in her voice when she explained how often he found himself in trouble for doing the morally right thing, even if it wasn’t procedurally correct.
She didn’t know much about his current assignment; the bureau kept details from family.
But what little she knew was significant.
She had told me that Tripp hadn’t wanted the undercover gig, that he’d argued strongly against taking it.
In the end, the higher-ups had given him an ultimatum—take the assignment or find another job.
That revelation made me reconsider all the seemingly insignificant things that had always thrown off any suspicions I might have had about him.
It made sense now why he’d subtly steered the club clear of potential trouble more than once, and why he’d never pressed too hard when a question was answered vaguely.
He’d carried out every single duty asked of him as a prospect, and many of those tasks had skirted, if not outright crossed, the lines of legality.
He’d done his job perfectly, playing both sides of his world with precision and internal conflict that I now understood had been genuine.
Of course, none of that excused what he’d done or the lies he had told.
My anger wasn’t going away any time soon.
But at least I understood now that Tripp hadn’t been some calculating snake pretending to be a friend for the sake of the job.
The conflict I’d seen in him hadn’t been manufactured.
And that made everything infinitely messier instead of clearer.
I had spent my life navigating the shadows, knowing that morality wasn’t black and white. The Redline Kings operated firmly in the gray, and the situation with Tripp had become just as murky.
By the time I returned home one evening, my mind was heavy with those complicated thoughts, exhaustion tugging at my edges.
But stepping inside my house, the tension eased almost immediately.
Aubrey stood barefoot in my kitchen, wearing one of my oversized T-shirts, which fell loosely around her thighs, offering an inviting glimpse of her legs.
Her dark hair spilled around her shoulders as she moved about the kitchen, her smile easy as she told me about her day.
Everything shifted again, and my world narrowed down to the woman standing so comfortably in my space. Aubrey’s presence had filled every corner of our house, turning it into something more meaningful. Irrevocably hers as much as mine.
I watched her quietly, the sound of her voice washing over me as she spoke, laughter dancing in her eyes as she relayed some story about the kids she cared for.
I caught myself imagining this exact scene happening day after day.
Aubrey barefoot in my kitchen, telling me about her day, filling my space with her warmth, and the quiet intimacy we’d somehow managed to build so quickly.
Only the funny stories would be about our kids.
The truth still hung over us like a storm cloud.
Eventually, Tripp would discover the extent of our relationship, and Aubrey would learn the real reason I had sought her out in the first place.
I couldn’t pretend that everything would remain easy.
But I knew without a doubt that Aubrey was mine now.
I wasn’t about to give her up, no matter the cost.