Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
While he was getting settled, she slammed the passenger side door shut and rushed around the front of the Toyota to jump in. They needed to get out of there before they were seen and stopped.
Once her Highlander was in Reverse, she asked, “Where to?”
“You know this area a fuck-ton better than me. Somewhere it’s only me and you.”
Only me and you.
Where could they go besides the awful motel in Parsington? There had to be somewhere closer. When a lightbulb went off in her head, she quickly put the SUV into Drive and drove off the farm.
Not even five minutes later, she parked in a secluded tobacco field owned by the Fury but farmed by the local Amish.
Once she shut down the engine, they sat in uncomfortable silence. Her pounding heartbeat the only sound in her ears.
Someone had to get this conversation rolling.
“Rome—” she started at the same time he said, “Maddie—”
If he wanted to speak, she’d let him since she was dying to hear what he had to say.
“Never saw my life takin’ this direction.”
“I didn’t, either,” she responded.
“Never wanted an ol’ lady,” he continued.
“I never wanted to be one.”
“Didn’t think it was in my blood to settle down.”
When she countered with, “I never wanted to settle,” his brow scrunched low.
“Bein’ with me would be settlin’?”
She must have struck a nerve. “Well, first off, I’m not with you. Second, I don’t want to be forced into anything. I also don’t want to be with someone forced to be with me.”
“Ain’t…” He shook his head. “No one’s forcin’ shit.”
“Then, what happened up there?”
“Truth is, want no one else to have you. Wanna make you mine. Claimed you at the table upstairs. Now wanna claim you in front of the rest of the world. Want everyone to know you’re ‘property of Romeo.’ Now and forever.”
“Property of Romeo?” Her question came out in a squeak.
He muttered a “fuck.”
She cleared her throat to bring her voice back to normal. “Do you think a college-educated, independent woman wants to be property of anyone?” Especially a man.
“What’s the difference between wearin’ a man’s cut and a weddin’ ring? Don’t both tell others that you’ve been claimed?”
“Are you proposing?” she half-joked, but her stomach churned at the thought of the man sitting next to her proposing to anyone.
Romeo, a husband?
She leaned forward and looked up at the sky through the windshield.
“Whatcha lookin’ for?”
“Pigs flying.”
“You didn’t answer.”
She unclipped her seatbelt and turned in her seat to face him. “Neither did you.”
“Told you that I want you to wear my cut.”
At the time she only thought it was a knee-jerk reaction and when the reality hit, he’d change his mind. “Did you get their approval?”
If he did, she’d believe he was actually serious.
“Once I agreed to their terms.”
Her eyebrows pinched together. “Terms? What terms?”
“That I ain’t gonna dip my dick into any other female.”
She lifted a palm. “Hold on… You only agreed to that because they demanded it?”
“That’s the thing…”
Three heartbeats later she prodded, “What? Spit it out.”
Why did it look like what he was about to say would be painful?
“Haven’t been with anyone else since I spotted you at Bangin’ Burgers.”
Chapter Forty-One
Haven’t been with anyone else since I spotted you at Bangin’ Burgers.
“What?” she whispered. How could that be? “Why? Was your dick broken?”
He scowled. “That a fuckin’ joke?”
“I only want the truth, Rome, so I can make a good decision about where we go from here.” If anywhere.
“Just so you know, they made that decision for you.”
“That’s what they think, but they don’t rule my life. I won’t have some man forced upon me. They don’t get to vote on who I spend the rest of my life with. Or even who I sleep with.”
“So, you don’t wanna be with me,” he posed that as a fact and not a question. Unfortunately, his expression gave nothing away.
“I didn’t say that. What I said isn’t only about you.”
“I’m the only fuckin’ one in this goddamn cage, woman.” He jabbed his finger toward the floorboards. “I’m the one sittin’ in this seat. I’m the one who had to face your Fury family. I’m the one givin’ up my free—” He swallowed the last part of the word, and his face pinched like he swallowed something sour.
“Were you about to say freedom?”
He sneered, “That was some goddamn bullshit.”
She blinked in confusion. “What was?”
“Goin’ in front of that fuckin’ firin’ squad.”
“Like the Knights don’t do the same shit.”
“Not even fuckin’ close. If one of my brother’s wants some woman to wear his cut, more fuckin’ power to him. He wants to give up his freedom for some pussy, then…” He grimaced.
There was that freedom word again. Did he consider being loyal to one woman as restrictive as prison, where he truly lost his freedom? “Go on. You weren’t done. Finish.”
“Done.”
“Didn’t sound like it to me. Look, I get it. You’re afraid of losing your freedom. Guess what, Rome? You missed the point about you not being the only one this would affect. I’m involved in this, too.” Now she was about to dish some hard truth. “Here’s the bottom line… I won’t be with a man who doesn’t love me. One who doesn’t respect my decisions. I want a partner in love and life, not a damn dictator.”