Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 38973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38973 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
“Put that on your face, honey.” When he followed her instructions, she looked at me then, a warm smile tilting her lips. She held her hand out. “I’m Blakely, Jax’s old lady.”
Reaching up, I shook her hand, smiling. Yeah… she might have definitely been way too damn gorgeous for a scraggly grump like Jax, but there was something about the way she carried herself that let me know they were a perfect match. He was grumpy and cold, and she was warm and full of smiles, but I had no doubt she wasn’t the woman to be fucked with.
Any woman with a man like Jax had to be a force to be reckoned with.
“Gunner,” I told her. “Make yourself at home.”
Shaw stepped deeper into the living room, his eyes locked on Ace. Ace leaned his head on my chest again, his eyes shutting as he held the ice to his swollen face. “Ace…”
“I’m not coming home,” he mumbled, not bothering to open his eyes.
Shaw took a seat on my coffee table, his brows furrowed as he gazed at his youngest brother. It was clear he was concerned. I knew he wanted to take charge and force Ace home, but I wasn’t going to allow him to bully Ace into this. Besides, I didn’t want Ace home until this shit was dealt with. I wanted the entire ring dismantled before I brought my boy back into civilization.
We were playing by my rules now.
“Ace,” Shaw sighed, “you’ll be safer surrounded by all of us. Please come home.”
“No,” Jax and I said at the same time. I looked at Jax as he crossed his arms over his chest, his feet planted shoulder-width apart. “This happened to Abbie, too, remember?” Jax continued. “It shouldn’t have happened again, Shaw, but it did. Ace stays here. Cameron may be cool with keeping Abbie around the clubhouse while this shit is happening, but I’m not.”
“I’m not either,” I said, trying to hide my surprise at the news of this having happened to Abbie, too. Lightning rarely struck in the same place twice, but it had this time. And my boy had been the victim. Anger rolled through my veins at the thought. “He stays here. You had the opportunity to keep him safe, and quite frankly, Shaw, you failed.” He flinched, unable to hide the pain in his eyes. I felt bad for him; I did. Because I knew he loved Ace. But Ace was mine. He was mine to protect. And had I known he was leaving the clubhouse, he wouldn’t have been by himself. This wouldn’t have happened to him. “He stays here, Shaw. And he’s not coming home until this ring is dismantled.”
Shaw sighed, dropping his head, his elbows braced on his knees as he leaned forward. Reaching up, he dragged his hands down his face, looking much older than I believed him to be. He looked at Ace. Ace, who now had his eyes open, just stared back at him unflinchingly.
“I’m sorry, Ace,” Shaw rasped. “I’m sorry I failed you when I promised no one would ever touch you again.”
Ace swallowed thickly, the sound audible, but he didn’t say a word. Silently, Shaw stood to his feet, looking at me. “Please keep me up to date on his progress. Jax has my number.”
I nodded once. “I will,” I assured him.
He clapped Jax on the shoulder, then quietly left, the front door shutting behind him with a barely audible shnick. Ace sighed, snuggling in closer to me. I tightened my arm around him, turning my head to press a kiss to the top of his. “Thank you,” Ace quietly said, his voice a bit muffled by my chest. “I just… don’t have the energy to fight with him.”
My chest tightened. My sweet boy was a brat through and through, and I couldn’t deny how concerned it made me that he didn’t have it in him to fight with one of his brothers. In the very short amount of time I’d been around Ace and them together, I knew my boy loved to push every single button they had.
Ace pulled the ice pack down from his face and leaned back, looking up at me. “Can we go upstairs?” He glanced at Blakely and Jax, who were sitting together in my recliner, Blakely on Jax’s lap. He was tracing one of the bruises on her arms, and she was talking quietly to him—so quietly I couldn’t hear, not that I wanted to. “I don’t really want to be around anyone right now but you, Papa.”
I nodded and gently pulled him onto my lap. He wound his arms and legs around me, tucking his battered face into the curve of my neck. Standing, I headed for the stairs, knowing Jax would figure out sleeping arrangements for him and Blakely.