Chapter 36
“Mr. Controlling strikes again!” ~ Dakota
A few weeks later
Dakota
I glare at my bank statement. I want to say what I’m seeing – the return of my latest loan payment – makes no sense. But I know exactly what happened and I know exactly who to blame.
“Dakota,” Rhett hollers as he knocks on the door to my suite.
I yank the door open. “How dare you?”
He holds up his hands. “Dare I what?”
“Don’t give me your innocent act.” I shake the bank statement at him. “I have all the proof I need right here.”
He guides me inside before shutting the door behind us.
“Don’t push me around!”
He blows out a breath. “I thought you’d prefer to discuss the issue in private.”
He’s right, but I’m not admitting anything. Not when he did what he did. “How dare you?”
He snatches the bank statement from my hand and throws it onto the kitchen counter before grasping my hand and hauling me near. I try to fight him but he’s having none of it. He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight.
“Havoc, you can’t expect me to allow the woman I love to be in debt to a loan shark.”
I ignore how squishy I feel at his easy admission of his love for me and concentrate on the issue at hand. “Allow me?”
“Fuck,” he mutters. “Wrong choice of words.”
“No.” I shove his shoulders but he doesn’t budge. “I think you used the exact word you meant. You can’t control me, Rhett. Look what happened when Adam controlled me. I ended up with a bunch of debt.”
He growls. “Do not compare me to Adam. I don’t want to control you. I want you to be free. Free of debt to do whatever you want.”
I’d love to be free. “But this was my problem to deal with.”
He growls as he pinches my chin. “No, it wasn’t. It was your asshole husband’s problem and you got stuck with it when he died.”
If only I’d figured out what Adam was up to before he died. I purse my lips. “He was my husband. The law says I’m responsible for his debts.”
“Really?” He cocks an eyebrow. “You’re pulling the law as your trump card? You know damn well the debts to a loan shark are illegal as hell.”
“Do I need to remind you of the snake?” I shiver.
He releases me and retreats a step. “I’ve changed my mind. Be mad at me all you want. We’ll get through it. What I won’t get through is watching you work yourself to death to pay off a debt that isn’t yours to begin with.”
“I was managing.”
“Havoc.” He sighs. “You’ve barely managed to pay the interest on the loan each month, and you’re working two jobs. One of which I know pays extremely well.”
“Extremely well? Are you saying I’m not worth it?”
“You’re determined to fight me today.”
I throw my arms in the air. “Of course, I am. You paid off my debt without my permission.”
He stalks toward me. I try to hold my ground but I fail and end up retreating until my back hits the wall. He slams his hands next to my head.
“I want you to live with me.”
“I know.” He’s told me often enough.
“But you refuse to move out of this ratty old motel suite as long as you’re working the night shift here.”
“The suite is part of my compensation. If I move out, Sadie can’t afford to keep me on. And I can’t lose this job.”
“Your debt is paid. You don’t need this job anymore.”
I narrow my eyes on him. “I didn’t ask you to save me.”
“Havoc, you don’t have to ask. Anything you need, I’ll bleed to give you.”
My body melts at his words. But I refuse to give in. I can’t. He doesn’t know everything.
“I want to give you a home, a family.”
“You’ve given me a family,” I whisper.
The Raider family has embraced me with open arms. They message and call, and pester me constantly. Rhett thinks they’re cockblockers. I think they’re wonderful.
He cups my face. “Let me give you a home, Havoc. Please.”
I wish he could give me a home, but I’m afraid he won’t want a home with me when he knows.
“I’ll get you a pet. But not an otter.” He shivers. “Otters freak me out.”
I giggle. “Viking is adorable.”
“She scurries on the floor.” He smiles down at me and those blue eyes sparkle with warmth. “Move in with me and we’ll get a dog.”
The temptation is nearly too much to resist. I love dogs. I love him. I glance away before I give in to those pleading, piercing blue eyes.
“There’s another problem,” I mutter.
“Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together.”
I nearly smile. How Rhett has changed his tune over the past weeks. He’s gone from jumping to accuse me of keeping secrets to being ready to slay my dragons for me. And with all of his intensity focused on me, it’s hard to resist him.
“We haven’t discussed children.” I whisper the words, hoping he won’t hear me, but he does.
“I’ve been waiting for you to bring up this topic.”
I scowl at him. I’ve been terrified to bring up the topic. Scared he’d leave me when he finds out the truth. And here he’s been waiting for me to bring it up!
“You have? Why didn’t you bring it up?”
“I didn’t want to push you.”
I lift a brow. “Didn’t want to push me? But you’ll pay my debts?”
“Two different things,” he grumbles.
He really needs to stop being right. It’s beyond annoying.
He kisses my forehead before grasping my hand and leading me to the sofa. He sits down and pulls me onto his lap until I’m straddling him.
“Children,” he prompts once I’m settled.
I wring my hands together. “I don’t want to have any.”
“Don’t want to give birth to any children or not have any?”
Leave it to Rhett to catch on to the distinction immediately. I debate stalling more, but my time is up. I have no excuses left.
“I don’t want to give birth to any children.”
“Because of your diabetes?”
I nod.
“Okay.” He immediately gives in and I wait for the catch. “We’ll adopt.” And there it is.
“Who says I want to adopt?”
He tips his head back and barks out a laugh. He laughs with such vigor, his entire body shakes. He wipes the tears from his eyes when he finally calms down.
“What’s so funny?”
“You.” He chuckles. “Thinking, I don’t know you.”
I glare at him. “You don’t know every little thing about me.”
He pinches my chin and forces me to meet his gaze. “You, Dakota Bell Raider, want children. You want a family. It’s your biggest desire. The one you’re most afraid to reach for.”
“First of all, my name is Dakota Bell.”
“For now,” he mutters.
I ignore him. I have enough problems. I don’t need to add dealing with my feelings – which are frankly all over the place – about marrying him to the mix.
“Second, maybe my biggest desire is to kick you in the balls and watch you suffer.”
He smirks. “But then I couldn’t make you come with my cock.”
I feel him begin to harden beneath me and my panties dampen in response. My body is easy for this man.
“Now.” He presses his cock against my core and I nearly moan. “Are you going to admit you want a family? Or do I have to force the confession from you?”
“Force?”
“By not letting you come until you admit the truth.”
I glare at him. “Orgasm denial doesn’t sound fun.”
“Oh, Havoc, it’ll be fun. Trust me.”
I debate giving in. Sex with Rhett is out of this world. But if I give in now, I don’t know if I’ll get the courage to say the words I need to say again.
“But don’t you want children of your own?” I blurt out.
“Adopted children are still children of our own. I don’t give a shit if the kid has my DNA or not. Dad proved to me, sharing DNA does not make you a parent. And Stuart showed me you can be a parent without sharing DNA.”
“How do you know the perfect thing to say to me?”
He smiles. “Because you were made for me. No one else could break through my walls the way you did.” He grasps my hand and places it over his heart. “You and I are entwined. Two souls separated at birth but now reunited.”
“When did you become this romantic?”
“Since the second I saw a gorgeous woman with curly, blonde hair sleeping in her car in the parking lot of the distillery.”
“Which is why you yelled at me for being a vagrant and threatened to call the cops on me.”
“You scared the hell out of me. One look at you and I knew you were going to change my life.”
I grin. “But in a good way.”
“In the best way.”
“Agreed. I love you, Rhett.”
“And I love you, Havoc.” He trails kisses along my jaw. I tilt my neck to give him better access. He reaches my ear and bites the lobe. I moan.
“You gonna move in with me?” he whispers.
I give in. How can I not? “Yes.”
“You gonna make a family with me?”
“Yes.”
“I love you, Dakota. Down to my bones.” He stands with me in his arms. “The heavy is done. Time to show you how much I love you.”
“With orgasms, I hope.”
He chuckles. “As many as you want for the rest of your life.”
Thanks for reading! I hope you’re enjoying the Raider brothers and Smuggler’s Hideaway!