Page 44 of Dangerously Kept

For a man who prides himself on being afraid of absolutely nothing and no one, I was terrified that Logan stole that from her. But he didn’t. Because my Baby is the strongest person I know, and she’s come out the other side better than any of us ever expected.

Now, all that’s left to do is finish this.

As much as I am freaking the fuck out about us all leaving this apartment again, I know we have to. I refuse to let everything we’ve worked so hard for fall apart just because we’re hiding from Declan fuckin Whelan. Nope. Not going to bloody happen.

But first, we’re going to have one last weekend for ourselves. It’s Saturday morning, and none of us have anything to do until Monday when my calendar is already booked with meeting after meeting. I’m dreading it, but it has to be done.

For now, we’re going to enjoy this weekend with Harper as a family. We discussed it quickly last night while she applied her skincare after our shower. We decided we wanted to take her to Kings tonight if she felt up to it. That’s really why Mac went there this morning. He met with the security before they went home after the shift to ensure all the necessary precautions were in place and ready to go. Ralph and a couple of his men will drive us to and from the club in an unmarked car. Once we get there, we will enter the building from the back, where double the guards will be keeping watch inside and outside the building. We even texted Luca and his guys to see if they wanted to meet up, which they were more than happy to do as they hadn’t had the chance to introduce themselves to our girl properly. I’ll feel better knowing they’ll be there to help keep an eye out as well. I know she needs this to get out of the apartment and regain some semblance of freedom, but I will not compromise her security.

Plus, I know all about their last little outing to Kings, and I’ll be fucked if I miss out this time, especially after seeing her with Mac last night.

And hearing her scream in the shower with Finn this morning.

And knowing that I get her all to myself once we get back tonight.

I. Can’t. Fucking. Wait.

Regardless of how worried I was when Finn told me what Harper planned on doing, I trusted her enough to know her boundaries. Not only that, but I know Mac was the right choice. He took care of her the way she needed to be taken care of.

Watching her be strong enough to take that part of herself back all on her own was one of the sexiest things I’ve ever seen in my life. None of us would have ever made the first move, no matter how much it was killing us. We wanted to wait until she was ready. And now that she is, all bets are off.

I’m just about to try and figure out this complicated as fuck coffee machine when I hear angry footsteps marching down the hall toward the kitchen, and I smile despite myself. I haven’t been on the receiving end of one of her ass-chewings in a while. I always like it when she gets fired up.

This should be good.

Propping my hip on the counter’s edge, I cross my arms over my bare chest and give her my most adorable smile. Maybe if I look good enough, I’ll still come out of whatever this is with my balls.

I do have gray sweatpants on. The ladies love the gray sweatpants.

As she comes marching toward me, dressed in a pair of leggings and an oversized band T-shirt, looking absolutely fucking edible, I spot Mac and Finn walking behind her, matching grins a mile wide.

Harper stops in front of me, hands on her hips, and just stares. Clearly waiting for me to explain why I did whatever she’s mad at me about. Her eyes quickly rake over my body, stopping once at my chest and then again at my half-hard dick that’s starting to tent my sweatpants.

What can I say, hotheaded Harper makes me horny.

“Hey, Baby.” I lean down to kiss her lips, but she puts her hand out to stop me, so I straighten. Still giving her my most panty-melting grin. “I was just about to try and figure out this spaceship so I could make us some coffee.”

“Don’t you fucking dare,” Mac says, sneaking around us. “You’ll wind up breaking it or make the worst coffee any of us have ever tasted.”

He pushes a multitude of buttons before dumping some grounds in. I shoot my thumb over my shoulder in his direction, “Knew that would work.”

Not a hint of a smile.

“Okay. Just tell me what I did.”

“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me.”

Finn huffs a laugh behind her, and I shoot him with a glare. “Baby, I’m gonna need some context. Nothing is coming to mind.”

“I told these two,” she points between Finn and Mac, “that I wanted to talk to all of you about selling my apartment and moving in here.”

Oh, shit.

“They just laughed and told me to come talk to you. Laughed, Ronan!”

“Baby.”

“Don’t Baby me. What is it? You don’t want me to stay here? I mean, that’s fine. I can go back to my place when all of this is done. I just thought that with the direction this was going, you’d all want me to stay. But, if that’s totally one-sided or you’re not ready for it or whatever, just tell—”

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