He still left guards with us, though, and he’d spent almost every night at her place. Silvie had moved into Cookie’s room, so at least he had a bed. Of course, that bed was pink and covered with stuffed kittens.

Apparently, Deke was above worrying about such things.

Around six, the front door opened and Deke walked in . . . home from work just like a 1950s sitcom, only with guns and cartels and lives at stake. Cookie came out of the kitchen, a determined look on her face and a plastic bag in her hand.

“Deke, we need to talk,” she said, her tone ominous, thrusting the bag at me. “Em, would you keep an eye on Silvie? I have a Lunchable in here, and some fruit in case she’s hungry. Not sure how long it’ll take.”

I nodded quickly.

“Out here or back in her room?” I asked, wondering what was the safest distance. I had a bad feeling about this . . .

“Room might be best,” Cookie said. Deke glanced over at the prospect he’d left with us that morning, who was watching uncomfortably.

“You can head out,” he said, jerking his chin toward the door. “I’ve got it from here.”

The prospect and I met eyes, and I’m pretty sure we were thinking the same thing. World War III was about to break out in that kitchen. I wished I could leave with him. Instead I grabbed Silvie and took her to my room.

Outside the house, I heard the prospect driving away. Coward.

“I’m hungry,” Silvie declared. “Mom lets me eat the treat first.”

Yeah, right.

“Start with the meat and crackers,” I told her, peeling off the plastic and handing her the food. Then I wondered why I bothered—the chocolate was probably healthier than the waxy, fake cheese in the little carton. I dug a granola bar out of my purse for myself, wishing I’d thought to grab a Diet Coke or something.

During the next hour, I read Silvie four books before starting a movie for her on my laptop. Then I crept out into the living room to scope out the situation.

I heard yelling in the kitchen, and then I heard something hit the wall and shatter.

I crept back into the bedroom.

Around eight Cookie knocked on the door.

“Sorry about that,” she murmured. Her hair was all messed up and her cheeks were flushed.

“Deke still here?” I asked quietly.

She shook her head.

“Nope,” she said. “He called someone else to come over. I think he’s got some stuff to sort out . . .”

“Everything okay?” I asked hesitantly.

She shrugged.

“Not sure,” she admitted. “But he’s gone for the night. I guess we’ll see what happens tomorrow. I’m planning on going to work. If he’s smart, he won’t try to stop me.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

My phone rang at eleven that night.

“Yeah?” I asked, not quite asleep but not entirely awake, either.

“I just got back to town,” Hunter said. “I know it’s last minute, but can I come and pick you up?”

“Of course!” I said, a wave of excitement perking me up. “When?”

“I’m just down the street.”

“Um, I need to grab some stuff,” I said, glancing around frantically. “Give me fifteen minutes? Or at least ten?”

“Ten,” he replied, his voice low and sexy. “Fuck, I can’t wait to get my hands on you, babe. The shit I’m gonna do to your body . . . Don’t forget to grab that dirty book of yours. You don’t need clothes, but the book sounds like my kind of reading.”

I giggled, feeling all silly and happy.

“See you soon, babe,” I said, hanging up the phone. I started grabbing things quickly and throwing them into my backpack. Then I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and nearly screamed. My hair was all lank and flattened, I’d already washed off my makeup, and even my teeth felt grimy.

Like something out of a horror movie.

I darted across the hallway to the bathroom and brushed my teeth, then sprayed some dry shampoo into my hair and slapped on some lip gloss. Full makeup wasn’t really an option at this point, but it was better than nothing. I dashed off a quick note for Cookie and crept quietly out of my room to the kitchen, where I propped it up on the table. I figured I’d email her, too, that should cover things well enough. Then I walked out into the living room to find one of the prospects, Gordie, on the couch watching TV.

Pisser. I’d been hoping he’d be asleep.

“What’s up?” he asked, taking in my backpack and shoes.

“I’m going out,” I told him brightly. Nothing to see here. “Don’t worry about it.”

He stood up immediately, fully alert.

“I have orders to keep all of you safe in the house.”

“You don’t get to make that decision,” I told him, sounding far more confident than I felt. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m not a prisoner.”

“I’m calling Deke.”

“Fine, call him,” I said, moving toward the door. Unfortunately, he was bigger than me and he blocked it. “Are we really going to do this? Like, are you actually planning to hold me prisoner in this living room?”

“If I have to,” he told me, his voice grim. “Deke can decide.”

Double pisser.

I whipped out my phone and called Hunter.

“I have a situation,” I told him. “They aren’t gonna let me leave. Maybe we should just do this tomorrow . . .”

Hunter growled through the phone.

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he said,

“Wait! What do you mean?”

“I’m coming to get you. How many guys are in the house?”

“Just one,” I said frantically. “But seriously, this could get ugly. Why don’t I—”

There was a pounding on the door.

I locked eyes with Gordie.

“That’s Hunter, and I don’t think he’s going away,” I told him quietly. “Is this really worth a fight? Just let me head out, okay? You don’t have a right to keep me away from him.”

“Not my call to make,” he said, shaking his head. “Deke’s on his way. You sit tight and he’ll decide how to handle this.”

Hunter pounded the door again. Shit. I texted him.

ME: Deke is coming so I think you should just go home. We don’t want a fight over this. Not now, when everyone is so touchy

HUNTER: No f**king way. You’re my old lady and you’re coming home with me. They have a problem with it, I’ll call in my brothers to help me

I froze. That didn’t sound good. Not at all.

ME: What about the truce? Wasn’t that our first priority?

HUNTER: I’ve already claimed you in front of my club, you’re my property now. If the Reapers won’t let my old lady come with me, that’s an act of war

I read the words and felt sick. Had he lost his mind? Yes, I decided. He had. Apparently he was so tired and worn out he’d forgotten what really mattered here.

Keeping the peace for all our sakes.

ME: It’s just one night babe. We’ll get it sorted out tomorrow. You have too much to lose here

HUNTER: No f**king way. I back down now it shows weakness. I’m not the one being unreasonable here Em. I just want to pick up my girl friend

More pounding on the door. Gordie looked nervous, but he stood his ground, blocking me.

“Open up!” Hunter shouted outside.

ME: Is this really about us, or about you making some kind of point with Deke?

HUNTER: It started out about us. But him saying I can’t see my woman? Thats a problem. Deke is pulling up now. We’ll figure it out

Sure enough, I heard a truck engine. Cookie wandered out into the living room wearing a man’s bathrobe, rubbing her eyes.

“What’s going on?” she asked, sleepily. “I have to be up at four. This better be important.”

“I think we’re having a contest to see who has the biggest dick,” I muttered, frustrated. “Hunter came to pick me up, but Gordie won’t let me out and now Deke’s here. I’m just waiting for them to start whipping out their rulers.”

“Ridiculous,” Cookie said. “Come with me.”

I raised a brow.

“Kind of in the middle of something,” I muttered. I heard Deke’s voice out front, yelling at Hunter. Shit. If we didn’t shut this down, someone was going to get seriously hurt.

“Come. With. Me.” Cookie said, her voice harsher than I’d ever heard it. Damn. She looked almost scarier than Deke.

“Okay,” I said, eyes darting toward Gordie. I followed her back to her bedroom, where Silvie lay sound asleep with her favorite stuffed animal tucked in next to her. Cookie made a “ta-dah!” kind of gesture, showing me the French doors next to her bed.

“You can go out there and sneak around the front,” she said. “Just bypass them entirely.”

I gaped at her and she shrugged.

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

“Because hormones impair thinking,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Go on. Get outside before they start shooting or something.”

“Why are you helping me?”

“Because I’m sick of this shit,” she said, her voice blunt. “The Reapers don’t own either of us. Deke has no right to keep you here and neither does your dad. Make your own decisions, Em. I miss Bagger every day of my life and I wish I’d spent more time with him. We just never know when it’s all going to end, and life is too short to sit around waiting for a man. I still think it’s a mistake to hook up with Hunter, but it’s your mistake to make.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, giving her a quick hug. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Good,” she said. Then an evil smile crossed her face. “I know it’s wrong of me, but I’m really looking forward to Deke losing for once. About time someone stands up to him.”

I stifled a giggle as she turned off the alarm and opened the door. Then I ran quickly across the wet grass, feeling the cold seep into my pink Chucks. I crept carefully around the house to find Hunter and Deke in a standoff on the sidewalk.

Gordie watched from the porch, mesmerized.

“You can leave on your own or we’ll make you, but you aren’t taking Em with you,” Deke was saying. “Not gonna happen.”

Hunter bristled.

“She’s my old lady now. She belongs with me.”

God, it would be so much faster if they just did a side-by-side penis comparison. I ran my eyes over Hunter, torn between wanting to lick his entire body and punch him in the face. Instead of doing either, I walked quietly to my car. I needed to time things perfectly. I took a deep breath and counted to three before opening the door, hopping into my seat, and sliding the key into the ignition, all in one smooth move. The car started right up (thank God!) and I slammed it into reverse, backing out into the street with a jolt.

Both men turned to stare at me, the surprise on their faces priceless.

I rolled down my window, foot poised on the accelerator.

“I’m leaving,” I yelled at them. “Hunter, call me if you’d rather sleep with me than fight with Deke.”

With that, I slammed my foot down and took off into the night.

Damn, that felt good.

• • •

“I’ll strangle you if you ever pull something like that again,” Hunter said, pacing back and forth across the hotel room we’d gotten. Under the circumstances, neutral ground seemed like a good idea.

Someone was grumpy.

“You could’ve gotten shot. I could’ve shot you. What were you thinking, sneaking around outside a house under guard?”

I leaned against the bathroom door frame, my arms crossed, and sighed heavily. This reunion had been nowhere near as fun as I’d pictured it. Sweet baby Jesus, but the man could pout.

“Maybe if everyone wasn’t so trigger happy, this wouldn’t be such an issue,” I said, my voice tart. “Don’t give me this shit, Hunter. You caused a big scene because you weren’t willing to wait a few hours to get things sorted out. Someone could’ve gotten hurt. Silvie could’ve gotten hurt. Don’t we have enough to worry about from the cartel? I thought you wanted peace?”

He stopped pacing to snarl at me.

“Goddamn, Em—whose side are you on? I’ve been going hard for four f**king days. I drove for six hours to get here and claim my woman, and I wasn’t going to let some pissant Reaper prospect keep her from me. You’re mine now. I don’t f**king share.”

I took a deep breath, poised to rip him a new ass**le. Then it struck me—something was really wrong here. Hunter was usually so cool, always calculating. This was nothing like him, something else was going on here.

“You’re overreacting,” I said slowly and deliberately. “I hear what you’re saying, but it’s not making sense. This isn’t like you. What happened?”

His face twisted, and he turned away from me, running a hand through his hair.

“Bad shit, Em,” he said finally. “I saw some bad shit today. Did some bad shit. I just needed to be near you, around someone clean and whole. He wouldn’t let me have you.”

Well, f**k. Now he looked all broken, and seeing this big, strong man so close to the edge made my insides twist. I still wanted to kick him, but I wanted to make him feel better even more. Hunter turned away, so I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him back into me. My cheek rubbed against the red devil on the back of his cut, reminding me that I’d left my club behind for this man.