Page 66 of Broken Pact

“Oh god. What the fuck am I doing here?” I mutter in horror.

The memory of that night I left the clubhouse invades my mind, an unwilling visitor. Images of Jasper tangled up with some bunny—or multiple bunnies—invade my mind like a swarm of wasps. They sting and bite. Chills race down my back, and my face throbs. I take a half-step back, regret lodging itself in the back of my throat when the door opens.

Jasper’s naked torso fills my vision and the doorframe, and I feel like I might actually start crying again. Because there’s no way this man is half-naked and alone on a Friday night. Absolutely no way.

And how the hell could I be so stupid in coming here unannounced like this?

I’m shaking my head before he even opens that gorgeous mouth of his. My lips roll over my teeth, stuffing all the words back into my mouth where they belong.

“What a pleasant surprise. Did you miss me, baby?” He grins, a simple flash of his dimples, and that’s all it takes.

My emotions press against the flimsy damn I erected, and they start to break free. Right out of my eyeballs.

Tears brimming along my lower lashes as I walk backward. “I’m sorry. I-I shouldn’t have shown up like this. It’s not what we agreed on, and—” My breath hitches, and I look to the ground, searching for composure. I swallow roughly and mutter toward the dark hallway, “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

His hand wraps around my bicep before I can take a full step. “Hey, it’s alright. You’re always welcome here, baby.” There’s so much tenderness in his voice, genuine concern, that it does something weird to my insides.

It short-circuits them. Fries them until there’s no barrier left at all. And then I do maybe the worst thing of all.

I look up at Jagger, tears in my eyes and murmur, “I didn’t know where else to go.”

32

JASPER

There aren’t many things in life that shock me anymore. Amuse me and surprise me, sure. But shock? Not really. I’d like to credit my absolute piece-of-shit father for that one. Because once you find out that one of your parents had a whole ass double life for your entire life, it changes your perspective on things.

But Coraline Carter standing in front of my room inside the clubhouse with tears in her eyes and a red mark on her face not only shocks the hell out of me. It knocks something loose inside of me. This dark and depraved thing that I don’t know if I knew existed.

It’s different from the pieces of myself I’ve had to reshape and mold to survive those tough years of warring MCs.

Nah this—this is something far more dangerous. A beast without morals or rules, it’s tether held by one person alone. It rears up, pawing the air in agitation before it prowls along inside my consciousness.

I don’t think. I scoop her into my arms, bringing her inside my room and kicking the door closed with the bottom of my boot.

She buries her face in my chest, her tears soaking my shirt, but not before I see the swollen, red skin around her eye. I hold her tighter, my jaw clenched, trying to tamp down the rage bubbling inside me.

“What happened, baby?”

She shakes her head against my chest.

Whoever did this to her is a fucking dead man, I vow. The thought of someone hurting her sends a surge of anger through me, so potent it’s almost blinding. But I force myself to stay calm. I don’t go off half-cocked without the facts. That’s never been me.

Nah, if I’m going to ruin someone, I like to have all the information first. So I can plan properly and all that.

I carry her to the edge of my desk and set her down, my hands smoothing along the flare of her hips. I step into the open space between her legs, my gaze locked with hers as I search for any hint of what’s going on in that pretty little head of hers.

“Jasper,” she whispers, her bottom lip trembling.

My name sounds like a plea and a prayer on her lips, and I swallow hard. The raw vulnerability in her eyes hits me straight in the chest like some kind of fucked-up arrow. I uncurl her fingers from the edge of the desk and bring her hand to my mouth, brushing my lips along her knuckles.

“I’m here, baby.”

She shakes her head, pinching her lips closed as tears slide down her cheeks. She pulls her hands back and wipes the tears away. “It’s fine. I’m fine. Really.” She flashes me the saddest smile I’ve ever fucking seen before.

But I can see through it like it was made of paper. A surge of protectiveness rises through me unlike anything I’ve ever felt before. And I realize something with acute clarity.

Coraline Carter is going to ruin me.

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