I shifted so I was facing her with one leg up on the bed. “What’s going on? Why the fuck are you covering yourself up after last night?”

“What is this, Kick?”

Now I was really fucking confused. “What do you mean? I thought we knew what this is.”

She motioned toward me with her hand and said, “Why are you dressed and leaving so early? It’s like you’re running out on me.”

I flicked my hand out to catch hers. “This,” I pointed to myself with my other hand, “is me fighting for you, Evie. Fighting for us. This is me bringing you into my world.”

She sucked in a breath but didn’t say anything, just waited for me to go on.

I struggled with where to begin. “I’ve done a lot of shit in my life I’m not proud of.” I let go of her hand but she reached for it and grabbed hold of me. My gaze dropped to our hands and then shifted back to her. The fierce look of love on her face gave me what I needed to continue. “I’ve hurt people, for fuck’s sake.” She needed to know this, but it fucking sucked to have to lay it all out, because I knew she’d probably want to walk away from me once she knew it all.

“Okay.” She said nothing else, just sat quietly waiting for me. Like that wasn’t enough for her to make up her mind.

“How can you love a man who does that?” I demanded, needing more of a reaction from her. I couldn’t gauge her thoughts from a simple ‘okay’.

She shifted closer to me on the bed when she should have been shifting further away. “Kick, you forget I’ve known you for almost your whole life.” She placed her hand on my chest. Over my heart. “I know you here. I know the good you carry in you, and I know you feel like you have no good left in you, but I see it. I see you. So when you tell me you’ve hurt people, I know you would have had your reasons. I don’t judge you.” Her gaze never left mine as she gave me those words and I saw no judgement there, only acceptance.

I stared at her, stunned into silence for a moment. “Storm is involved in a lot of shit and I’m buried deep in that shit, baby. I’m not gonna spell it out for you, but it’s not fuckin’ legal shit. Can you handle that?”

She blinked a few times, giving away her hesitation, and I waited for the blow to come. “I’m not an idiot. I’ve always figured the club was into that kind of stuff.”

“And you don’t care?”

“I wouldn’t say that. I’ll admit it concerns me, but I put it out of my mind.”

I scrubbed my face. “Shit, Evie, if we’re together and I bring you into this world, there are gonna be things you won’t be able to put out of your mind.”

“Like what?”

“Like the shit that’s about to go down with your father.”

She sucked in a breath. “What’s about to go down with my father?”

“He owes all that money to a fuckin’ dangerous man who wouldn’t hesitate to kill for an unpaid debt. I’m gonna blackmail the guy into letting your dad out of his debt. And that shit will probably blow back onto the club, and fuck knows where that will end up.”

Worry took over her face, and I hated that I’d put it there, but she wanted the truth. And then she gave me something - my first glimpse of hope that we might have a future together. “So Storm is into shit and some of it I won’t be able to put out of my mind, but I know that you’re the kind of man who protects what is his. And if I’m yours, I know deep in my soul that you’ll do anything to make sure I’m safe. That’s how I know I’ll be able to handle this shit.”

Her words took my breath away.

She accepted this.

Me.

She accepts me.

I roughly pulled her to me and wrapped her in my arms. “Fuck, you amaze me,” I murmured as I held her close, never wanting to let her go.

When I did eventually release her, she smiled and said, “Together, Kick. We’ll get through anything if we just stick together. We always have.”

I stood. It was time to go and save her father.

Bending, I kissed the top of her head and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day, baby.”

I ignored the look of surprise on her face at my words.

Yeah, I never used to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

I could change, though.

I could change for Evie.

***

“Mr Gambarro isn’t taking visitors today.”

Was she shitting me? I eyed the woman who was blocking my access. Uptight, middle-aged bitch who probably just needed a good fuck. “I don’t give a flying fuck if he’s not taking visitors. You tell him I’m here to settle a debt, and that he’s gonna want to see me.” I paused and then added, “Tell him it’s about Michael.”

She scowled. “I’m not interrupting him. You’ll need to make an appointment like everyone else.”

I slammed my hand down on her desk, causing her to jump in her seat. “Go and fucking tell him I want to see him and that it’s about Michael!” I roared.

She glared at me and continued to argue. “I don’t know who Michael is - ”

Rage blinded me and I struggled with my kneejerk reaction to inflict pain in order to get what I wanted. Instead, I placed both hands on her desk and bent my face close to hers. “Bitch, I’m about two seconds away from doing some major damage here. Go and tell your boss he’s got a fuckin’ visitor.”