Chapter 24 #2
Stepping out of my hold, Iris turns to her sister, and with slumped shoulders and the drag of their feet, they enter the house together to figure shit out, leaving me outside with Coffin, Rot, and Sola.
“I hope she’ll forgive Dee,” Sola whispers, staring at the closed front door with sadness.
“It’s gonna work out.” I’ll make sure of it.
“You’d better not hurt her, Dark.”
“I won’t,” I vow.
“Your shitty track record says otherwise.”
“I get that. But you’re happy, right?”
“I wasn’t talking about what you did to me.
And yes, I am happy, even if how I got here was all part of one of your many lies.
I’m talkin’ about what you did to Kali and Abby…
and however many other women you played.
If I find out you play games with Iris, I will drive Dee to your house and let her finish the job she started. ”
I clutch my chest dramatically. “Christ. You don’t mince words.” I chuckle, not at all offended. I’m more impressed than anything. If I play games with Iris, I’d expect nothing less than a visit from Dee.
Rot wraps an arm around his woman’s neck and pulls her closer to kiss her temple, but his gaze stays fixed on me. “No. I’ll drive. Then we’ll stuff your severed dick in a specimen jar for Iris to keep.”
I wince at the thought, and Rot laughs, as does Coffin, but the wink that follows from the dark-haired biker says all I need to know.
He understands I’m not gonna screw this up.
Sure, Sola came to them under false pretenses, but they’re all married now.
Happy and shit. I have no intention of playing games with Iris.
Not now. Not ever. No matter what happens.
When Sola told me what she and Dee discussed, I was the one who put the full plan in motion. I made the calls and did whatever I had to, to be there for her, like she was for me in the cabin. Well, not exactly. But you know what I’m gettin’ at, right?
For as long as it takes, I wait outside for Iris to finish.
Sola and her men leave at some point, and Doug drops by to check in.
I sit on the edge of the porch and pet a floppy-eared dog that melts into a puddle of wrinkly skin on top of my feet.
His tail slaps the grass as he rolls onto his back for me to pet his belly.
Mia watches me love on her dog from a safe distance. She’s skittish around men. All men. Rightfully so, given how we found her. At least the color has returned to her cheeks, and she’s put on some weight.
“He’s a fun guy,” I comment, making small talk, and talking about a pet is always safe.
“He used to hate men.”
“But now he doesn’t?”
“He loves everyone now.”
“Probably because he knows you’re safe.”
Mia shrugs and tugs up the corner of her cardigan to cover the scars on her shoulder. “Yeah. Maybe.”
The front door opens, and beyond the screen, Iris stands looking a whole lot of broken. With red-rimmed eyes and a shuddery breath, she presses her fingertips to the glass. “It’s time to go.” Her haunted gaze locks on me.
“It doesn’t have to be right now,” I explain as I pat the pup’s belly one last time before I push off my knee to stand.
“No. It’s okay. I don’t want to waste any more of your time.”
“The only place I want to be, Iris, is here with you, for however long it takes.”
“How can you say that? You don’t know me.”
“I know enough.”
“I don’t like men, Dark. I… I have nothing to give you besides money.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“Then… I… I don’t understand… I don’t know you. I don’t trust you.”
“That’s okay. You don’t have to. Trust is earned, and it takes time to get to know someone. All that matters is that you’re okay.”
“I’m not. None of this is okay.”
“It will be.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’ll make sure of it.” I step closer to the screen door and look into her eyes, so she can read my face when I say what I need to say.
“Sweetheart, listen to me. I don’t have all the answers.
I never have. I never fuckin’ will. But what I do know is that you don’t know who you are any more than I know who I am.
We’ve spent how many fuckin’ years pretendin’ to be people we’re not?
A fuck ton. I’m not gonna act like my shit hasn’t hurt the people I love.
It has. More times than not. But I’ve spent the past…
month? Month and a half? Something like that…
In my ex-wife’s house, lost… and somethin’ tells me, you feel the same as I do. ”
Pressing her lips together, Iris dips her head.
My idiot heart gives a thump.
Yeah. She gets it. I knew she did.
Maybe… just maybe, we can be lost together.
‘Cause together is damn sure better than alone.
I reach for the door handle and pull it open.
Tilting her head back, Iris blinks up at me. “There’s a place for me?”
“Just for you.”
“The back of my truck is full of plants, and probably dirt, now that I slammed on my brakes. It’s gonna be such a mess.”
Offering her my hand, I grin at how fuckin’ adorable she is. “Then let’s get your plants home and your truck cleaned.”
“Y-you’re sure?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. I’ve never been surer of anything in my life. Let’s do this.”
“Okay. But just remember, I don’t like men.”
“Roger that.”
“I’m not sleeping with you.”
“Agreed.”
“I mean it.”
“I know you do.”
“Just because you look like that.” She gestures to all of me, raking her gaze from head to toe, never pausing on any specific spot, which is good ‘cause I’m getting hard from the attention.
My anatomy digs Iris. Oh, he digs her very much.
But I’m a gentleman. Or I can be. And she’s the last person I’d ever hurt.
“Doesn’t mean I want to have sex with you,” she finishes with fire in her eyes and a sultry grit in her voice that seeps into me, damn near making my knees buckle just so I can worship at her feet.
Christ.
I’m a mess.
Now let’s get the fuck outta here before she notices the erection.