Page 27 of Oz Wisdom

"Give it to me."

Of course, he'd changed his mind about the phone after hearing her confession. She dug it from her bag and handed it to him. It wasn't like she had anyone to call anyway.

Oz took the phone and dropped to sit on the edge of the chair. "Sometimes it becomes necessary to cut ties with people to be healthy. You can still care and not wish bad for them, but for your peace of mind, you must cut all ties. Whether it be friends or family. Blood family too. You must take a knife and chop that one last frayed thread connecting you to them.”

Taylor listened as she watched him quickly navigate through the device.

He looked up, his eyes filled with a determination she hadn't seen before. The phone tumbled from his hand. He stood.

Taylor sucked in a breath as his heel came down on the phone shattering it.

"We tried this your way. Now we're going to do it my way. Your last thread is cut.” His palm slid down her arm, releasing the bag from her fingers, letting it fall to the floor with a thud. Then he tugged the backpack from her shoulders, and it landed next to the first bag. "You're coming home with me. I'll help you find a job to get you back on your own feet. And most of all, we're going to work on that confidence of yours.”

Hope welled up in her. Should she hope? "You still want to help me, knowing what all you know about me?”

"First thing you'll learn is that I don’t do anything I don't want to.”

Taylor leaned back, resting against the hardness of his chest. No rebuttal came. No argument. As much as she wanted to stand up and disagree, she realized this was her best option. "Why?" she whispered.

"You'll figure it out."

What did that mean? For some reason Taylor couldn't name, she didn't question Oz. She accepted that as fact and said nothing.

"Now, let's salvage the day with something happy."

"That sounds nice,” Taylor agreed.

Oz spun Taylor in his arms. "This is what's going to happen. You're going to put this morning out of your mind. From this point on, it's you and me. You focus on what you need. No one else matters. Got it?"

Taylor only nodded.

"I'm going to step out and update King on my return time. Take your time. Freshen up. We'll make a night of it.”

"A date?" The words tumbled slowly from Taylor before she realized it.

Oz grinned. "Darlin’ we've been dating all week."

Taylor lips parted but nothing came.

"You know what that tells me?”

Taylor slowly shook her head.

"That it's been way too long since you've been with a real man." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'll give you a little time, but I'll be back."

Chapter 13

Oz leaned back in his seat, the same hardback chair he sat in each week. Pressing business had been discussed and he knew things were winding down. King would soon be wanting more details of his trip. He scanned his brothers’ faces around the table. How would they react? Not that it really mattered. He did what he did and didn't regret it. At that moment he understood how his brothers had felt when they had gone against club rules for a woman. Oh, but not any woman. Taylor was special. He could see it. He just needed her to see it.

“Oz?” King spoke, snapping him from his thoughts.

He turned his attention to his president. “Yeah.”

"You reported the delivery a success. How was Taylor's reunion?"

Oz took a deep breath. "I brought her back with me." A quick note of reactions from his brothers told him exactly what he expected. Brick's eyes narrowed, cutting deep. KO's head dropped in disapproval. Rash's head fell to the side as if waiting for an explanation. And King's shoulders raised on a deep breath and his glare wasn't one of approval. He glanced toward Nova last. He got it. His lips twitched upward in amusement.

"I met them,” Oz pushed on. "That's a toxic household. Much worse than her being emaciated and homeless. The parents were more concerned about her interfering with their lifestyle. And her sister. . .” He shook his head, recalling the joy she radiated from attacking Taylor. "That bitch is evil. She was the first to put Taylor on the streets when she wouldn't conform to sabotaging a friend’s relationship.”

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