Chapter 8
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Julie
My alarm goes off, making me groan. I wake up slowly with a tingle between my legs from the delicious dream I had.
“Good morning,” a deep voice rasps, reminding me that I’m not alone.
I feel the bed shift as horror fills me.
Oh no. I had a dirty dream with him next to me in bed?
That’s…
“I know you’re awake, Julie. I felt your breathing change,” he says with humor in his voice.
Yeah, but what else did you notice while I was sleeping?
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s not polite to stare?” I ask, eyes still closed.
“I can’t help it.”
“It’s creepy,” I point out.
He scoffs. “Please, we both know you don’t mind.”
“Good morning,” I say, changing the subject as I open my eyes.
“Morning.” He smirks.
Yak is sitting on my bed, his back against my headboard, in a different shirt than he had on last night. Tabby, the traitorous whore, is lounging in his lap purring. He looks well rested and way too pleased.
“Why are you smiling like that?” I narrow my eyes.
“Can’t I smile at a pretty girl?”
I roll my eyes as I feel my cheeks heat.
Pretty. He thinks I’m pretty.
“You don’t need to flatter me,” I mutter.
“Just speaking the truth.”
I pull the blanket up and tuck it under my chin. “I didn’t think you would actually be here when I woke up.”
He nods and crosses his ankles, his boots hanging off the side of my bed. “After I left last night, I contemplated not coming back. Just dropping your keys off, but then I realized we really needed to talk, and it would be better to do it in person. It really can’t wait.”
My second alarm goes off, and I watch as he reaches over to the nightstand and shuts it off.
“I have to get to work,” I tell him.
“Go shower, and we can talk before you have to take off.”
“I don’t know if I’ll have time,” I protest.
I don’t know why I’m fighting him on this, but for some reason, I have a feeling I won’t like what he has to say. After last night, I already feel bad enough. I never should have gone looking for him.
But I did, and I have to face the music, and by music, I mean consequences.
“You’ll make time. Now hurry up. I’ll go make some coffee,” he says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I watch as he gets off my bed, setting Tabby down gently, and heads out of my room. Sighing, I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling.
How is this real life?
I’m not the type of girl who takes risks. My life is carefully planned out, but for some reason, meeting Yak has changed that. He’s changed me, and it’s scary.
“I don’t hear you moving,” he yells from somewhere in my house.
“I’m up!” I yell back and toss the covers back.
Quickly, I grab clothes from my closet and then head into the bathroom.
As the shower heats, I put my hair up so it won’t get wet.
I lock the bathroom door before I get into the shower.
As I shower, I think about how stupid it was that I locked the door.
If Yak really wanted in, he would find a way.
After taking the world’s quickest shower, I shut the water off and step out.
I dry off and wrap the towel around me. I walk over to the counter and start going through my routine.
I put on a little face cream, then do my makeup lightly.
Once that’s complete, I hang up my towel and get dressed.
Lastly, I redo my hair, putting it into a low bun at the base of my neck.
A knock on the bathroom door startles me.
“Coffee’s getting cold,” Yak says from the other side.
“I’ll be out in a minute,” I tell him.
Only when I hear his boots stomping on the floor, walking away, do I leave my bathroom. I make a quick stop at my closet and slip on a pair of heels and grab my phone from the nightstand before I go in search of him.
“Morning,” I tell him as he comes into view.
He smirks as he leans against the kitchen counter, ankles crossed.
“You already said that,” he says as he brings a cup up to his mouth and takes a drink.
“I’m being polite. Is this for me?” I ask, pointing to the to-go coffee cup that’s on the island.
“Yeah, I made it with a dash of cream and one spoonful of sugar. I hope that’s okay.”
“No, that’s perfect, actually.” I pull the cup toward me. “So, what did you want to talk about?” I ask, cutting to the chase.
“You aren’t safe,” he says bluntly.
“You’ve already pointed that out, yet you haven’t told me what you are thinking,” I point out.
“Because you inserted yourself into my world, I’m going to have to keep close to you. I don’t trust Aragon, the guy from last night. I know if given a chance, he’s going to get you alone, and I don’t even want to think about what he would do to you.”
“So, you are going to be hanging around?” I ask, heart racing.
For some reason, I don’t hate the thought of him being around. What bothers me, though, is the idea of him doing so when he doesn’t want to.
“I’m going to be on you like white on rice.”
“Okay. So, we see each other. That’s not that big of a deal.”
“That’s not all, though.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not going to be with you every moment of every day. You’ll be safe enough at work, but here at home…you won’t be safe if I’m not here.”
“You’re wrong. My house is solid,” I tell him confidently.
No, I don’t have an alarm system, but my dad went over the place. If it were easy to break in, he would have pointed it out.
He would never let me live somewhere he felt was unsafe.
“Bullshit. You don’t have a security system, and there are no cameras on the outside. You only have a wooden door and frame. I could easily kick it down to gain access. Should I keep going?” he asks sarcastically.
“What are you suggesting?” I grit out.
“Cameras. Not just outside, but I want a few inside as well.”
“No. Absolutely not,” I say adamantly. I grab the coffee and my bag off the counter. Turning, I head toward the door, only to be stopped when he wraps his hand around my arm, pinning me in place.
“Wait. This isn’t up for discussion, Julie.”
“No. It’s a full sentence. Remember?” I ask, heart racing.
Yak
Annoyance courses through me. Why is she fighting me? After last night, how does she still not get it?
Jesus Christ. I never should have saved her.
I shouldn’t have interfered. Keeping Yooper alive is already a full-time job.
I don’t have time for a woman who fights me at every turn.
But luckily for her, I wasn’t built to walk away when I see something wrong happening.
I just need to convince her to fucking listen. Really listen.
It also works out in my favor that the one man I suspect of the shit going on with Yooper is the one who set his sights on her. Which is part of the reason I claimed her.
Two birds, one stone.
“While normally I’d agree with you, right now I don’t. I’m trying to keep you safe, and I can’t fucking fathom why you are trying to stop me from doing that,” I snap.
“Language,” she scolds.
“I don’t understand you, Julie. At all. You’re more concerned with the way I talk than you are about living.”
“That’s not true. Now let go, I need to get to work,” she half-heartedly protests.
I look down and see my hand is still wrapped around her upper arm and let go so fast like she burned me.
I begin to pace the small floor of her living room. “Fuck,” I curse.
“I’m starting a curse jar. Every time you cuss, you’ll need to put a dollar in it. You don’t need to have such a potty mouth,” she says, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
I smile even though my body is on edge.
“Done,” I tell her, taking out a dollar and handing it to her.
She looks shocked. “Thank you.”
I sigh. “Look, I get it. You’re a strong, independent woman who doesn’t like being told what to do.
Hell, any other time I would admire the hell out of that, but not on this.
You literally ended up on the worst person ever’s radar.
The man thinks he’s a damn king and that everything he wants is his.
He doesn’t take no for an answer on anything.
I’ve told you all the ways your home is breechable.
I’ve laid it all out for you. I’m not asking you to put cameras up.
I’m telling you.” She opens her mouth to protest, but I hold up my hand and continue.
“Only you and I will have access to the cameras through an app. No one else. I’ll only look if I get an alert.
I’m not going to be sitting somewhere with my cock in my hand watching you every chance I get.
That’s not my style. I’m just genuinely trying to keep you safe in the only way I know how.
That’s it. I need you to let me do my job.
I know you don’t like it, but you walked into a hornet’s nest when you crossed through the club gate.
This isn’t up for discussion, I’m sorry. ”
Should I tell her I plan on adding a security system? Yes, but that’s a fight for another day. I just can’t…not right now. I’m barely holding it together as it is.
I turn to face her and watch as she swipes a tear away with a shaky hand.
“I’m not trying to be difficult,” she says quietly.
“I know you’re not.”
I do, and hell, I can’t really be that mad at her. She doesn’t know me from Adam, and I’m asking her for a lot to blindly trust me.
“Is it really that serious?” she asks softly.
“It’s serious enough that if I thought you would do it, I would send you away until the threat could be eliminated,” I tell her honestly.
When she flinches from my words, I stop holding back. I walk over to her and gently cup her cheeks between my hands.
“I didn’t want this for you. I tried to keep you out of it but failed. Not even your father could save you now. You’ve been marked, and it’s up to me to try and keep you safe, but in order to do that, I need you to let me,” I murmur.
Her whiskey-colored eyes search mine, looking for deception, but she finds none.
“You’ve saved me once before,” she whispers.
Even though her voice shakes, I hear the certainty in it.
I nod. “I did, and I will again, but you have to let me do it my way.”
She takes a shuddering breath. “Okay.”
“You mean it?” I ask, heart racing.
“Yes, but I need you to be honest with me. Lay it all out. I don’t like surprises, Jameson.”
“First, I need you to never call me Jameson outside of these four walls. Especially if you are around any of my brothers. We don’t use government names.”
“That’s…a choice,” she says carefully.
I bite back a smile. “It’s just the way we do things.”
“What else?”
“I’m going to install cameras and maybe replace your door. For sure I’m going to change your locks. Upgrade them.”
“And?”
“And I’m going to be around. A lot. Like you’re going to get sick of me a lot.”
“What do you need from me?”
“I need you to play the part of being my old lady. At least until I get this mess sorted out.”
“What is an old lady?” she asks so innocently I have to stop myself from laughing.
“Think of it as the MC version of a girlfriend,” I say, downplaying what it really means.
Because let’s be honest, if I told her it was the equivalent of a wife, she would lose her shit, and we are already running short on time.
“Okay. That sounds easy enough.”
“I’ll make it as easy for you as possible.”
“I’d appreciate it, but I have another question.”
“What’s up?” I ask, taking a step back.
“What mess are you trying to deal with? You made it sound like more than what’s happening with me.”
Son of a bitch.
I should have expected her to ask, but I was hoping she wouldn’t.
“I can’t get into that. Club business.”
“But…”
I shake my head. “I can’t, Julie. Not just to keep you safe but to keep my family safe. If you really were my old lady, then I could confide in you, but I can’t. I just need you to trust me.”
Trust.
By the end of this, I don’t know who’s going to be more burned out on that word. Her or me.