Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 44435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44435 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 178(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
She sighed, looking up at me. “Tango, it’s okay if you want him like that,” she said softly.
I clenched my jaw, my temper flaring. “I’m fifteen years older than him, Jessica, and he’s got a lot of shit to work through. I’ve got my own baggage on top of that. He doesn’t need that shit.” Gabriel needed someone steady. Not someone who randomly suffered flashbacks. Not someone that watched their best friend get blown to smithereens in front of them.
That kind of shit… no. Days I had flashbacks left me unstable. Gabriel didn’t need a man like me. Didn’t need a man who liked to get his hands bloody when he spiraled out of control. Didn’t need a man with a dead body count so high, I couldn’t even remember the number anymore.
She arched a brow at me. “And if he asked you one day to be his?”
I tightened my hands into fists, tucking them beneath my biceps, refusing to answer her. Because if he did ask me, I was pretty sure that would be it. I’d give Gabriel anything in the fucking world.
I had a feeling all that boy had to do was ask.
But until he uttered those words to me, I’d continue resisting him. I’d continue to try to do what was right.
I’d continue trying to make sure he always found better.
3
Tango
The sound of gravel crunching under tires reached my ears. I set my book down and got off the bed, walking over to the window. After moving the curtain aside, I glanced down at the lot. Three SUVs were parked in a straight line, and I was surprised to find Alejandro, the leader of the Mexican Cartel, getting out of the backseat of the middle SUV.
What the fuck was he doing in town? We had affiliations with him due to Scorpion’s deep connections in the Savage Crows MC’s Texas Charter, where he used to be a member before being patched in as president to this charter of SWMC. He and Johnston clashed heads more often than not, so Alejandro tended to stay away and deal with Scorpion through phone calls.
If he was making a personal trip to come out here… well, that meant only bad fucking news. Goddammit.
“Everything okay?” Gabriel asked from the bed, his book lying on his lap, his long, thin fingers holding the book open.
I let the curtain fall back shut, nodding my head even though I didn’t know for sure if everything was okay for Gabriel. Regardless, I would keep him safe. Gabriel knew that. Scorpion would let the club know what we needed to know, and I didn’t feel like dealing with Alejandro. He was a dick with a smart-ass mouth and no fucking boundaries. I avoided him as much as possible.
“Everything is fine.” I padded back over to the bed and settled back down on the mattress, shutting my eyes again. I heard Gabriel flip the page in his book. He and I had a lot of days like this—me just laying here dozing on and off with him devouring whatever book he’d decided to read that day. I’d listened to the audio of the one he was currently reading last night, so I knew nothing in it would trigger him.
Gabriel slid a little closer to me, pressing his thigh against my side. Without thinking, I curled my hand around his knee, holding him to me. I craved Gabriel’s company however I could get it. And this…having him with me like this was damn near perfect.
A light knock sounded on my door. I grunted and cracked open an eye. “It’s open.”
Mark poked his head around the door, his black hair hanging into his eyes. He flicked his head to make it swing out of the way, his blue eyes peering at me. “Scorpion is calling church. Alejandro is here.”
I rolled to my back and sighed. “Oh fucking boy,” I muttered before I sat up. If Scorpion was calling church already, then it was definitely bad. I yanked on my boots, nodding once at Mark. “I’ll be down in a minute.”
He nodded and shut the door back behind him. I looked over at Gabriel, who was watching me, worry in his eyes. I hated that he was concerned. Hated that he and I both knew if Scorpion was calling church with Alejandro here, it meant Alejandro had news we needed to know. And Gabriel also knew that news was probably bad.
Alejandro had never met my boy. But that didn’t mean Gabriel hadn’t heard about him, especially since his father was the Ghosts of Chaos MC’s president, who worked for the Russians. And if there was one person in the world the Russians hated, it was Alejandro Garcia. And his hatred of them was just as strong.
I leaned over the bed and pressed my lips to Gabriel’s forehead. “Stay upstairs, you hear me? I don’t care if someone tells you to come down. If it’s not me giving you a direct order, you keep your cute ass right here. Clear?”