Page 13 of Ripper's Redemption

Bama cracks a grin, but it comes out more like a grimace. “You should see the other guy,” he jokes, though we both know there wasn’t another guy—just the Commander’s goons doing his dirty work.

“Yeah, well, next time you try to play hero, maybe pick a fight you can actually win,” I shoot back, pulling up a chair beside him.

The leather of my cut creaks as I sit, and I settle back into this rigid chair as comfortably as I can.

“It wouldn’t be much fun if I did things the easy way,” he says, wincing as he tries to adjust himself on the bed. I lean forward to help him, but he waves me off. “So, what's been going on at the club?”

“Nothing much besides what we talked about before. Oh, and I’m dating Tara now,” I say casually, watching his reaction closely.

His eyes widen in shock. “Tara? Gears’ daughter?”

“That would be the one,” I confirm, leaning back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “And no, Gears doesn’t know yet. Not that I care when he finds out—Tara’s a grown-ass woman and can date whoever the hell she wants.”

“Man, you’re playing with fire,” Bama chuckles, though it quickly turns into a cough. “Gears ain’t gonna be happy about that.”

“I really don’t give a shit if he is or not,” I say, smirking. “All I care about is being happy, and right now, Tara makes me happy.”

“Well, just don’t come crying to me when Gears has your ass,” Bama warns, but there’s a twinkle of amusement in his eye.

“Not gonna happen,” I reply, feeling a warmth spread through me at the thought of Tara.

It’s more than just the thrill of forbidden romance; I genuinely do like the woman, but she doesn’t want anything more. That’s all right. I can keep my feelings in check while hopefully enjoying some relationship-like benefits.

“Good luck with that, brother,” Bama says, his tone softening. “You deserve some happiness.”

“Thanks,” I say, and for a moment, there’s silence between us. But, I don’t let it stay silent for long. “So, you and Stiletto, huh?”

Bama’s face goes ghostly white. “What did she say?”

Licking my lips, I debate on what to tell him. “Just that the two of you had a thing goin’ on, then you got in a bad fight the night you were shot. She thinks it’s over between the two of you, that you didn’t really wanna be datin’ her and shit.”

Bama inhales deeply, “I wish I could say she’s wrong, but she isn’t. When she asked me if I wanted to date her I said yeah, but I didn’t think that shit through. Then I saw how attached she was gettin’ and I didn’t wanna hurt her, so I kept up the ruse.”

I shake my head, “That was the exact opposite of what you should’ve done.”

Bama chuckles and winces from the pain of it. “Yeah, I know. I just don’t have it in me to hurt women like that, and tellin’ her the truth was sure to hurt her.”

I arch a brow. “Lyin’ to her about it was sure to hurt her too.”

His expression grows somber. “I know. I was damned if I did, and damned if I didn’t.

He’s not wrong.

I know Bama well enough to know hurting Stiletto wasn’t something he wanted to do.

He just needs to get better at being honest with women about his intentions.

I toy with him a bit. “I hate to break it to you, but I’m gonna have to give you some real hardcore manwhore lessons if you wanna play the field.”

Bama laughs hard and winces, “Fuck, man. You can’t make me laugh like that. The last thing I need is to be a manwhore. All I need to do is wait around for the woman I really want, and do right by her.”

I cock a brow. “Oh, so there’s another woman?”

I know what Stiletto told us, how Bama looks at this other woman with a glint in his eye, and never looked at her like that.

Bama shakes his head. “Yes, but no. There’s a woman I’m interested in, but outta respect for Stiletto I’m not gonna pursue it for a while. I don’t want it to look like I didn’t try with her ‘cause of the one I’m really drawn to.”

I cock my head to the side a bit. “I hate to break it to you, brother, but it already looks like that.”

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