Page 92 of Roar & Lizzy: A Forever Kind of Love

Lizzy walked under her own power. He slowed his steps to make up for her shorter strides. The palms of his hands itched, needing to touch her and assure her that he would take care of her. But he feared upsetting her more.

Despite tonight's events, she was okay. He was okay. The club was okay.

Halfway across the street, she seemed to gain energy at the sight of the house and walked faster.

At the door, she hesitated and then went inside without saying or looking at him. Coco shut the door, making no excuses that her friend came first. He stared at the wooden door, wishing he could go inside and take Lizzy to bed. To hold her all night until she believed he'd never do anything to harm her.

Unable to make himself leave, he sat on the step. Pulling on his braid, he stared across the street at The Fire Ring. With his men already settling after having their night ruined with the cops visiting, the only sound before the sun made an appearance was the occasional car that drove past on the street and the six o'clock train whistle.

Tonight should've been a celebration. Slag successfully sent the shipment to Norway. For the rest of the journey, the responsibility for the guns and money was out of their hands. It would be up to his MC brothers in Norway to get them off the cargo ship.

Tomorrow, he and his men would start all over gathering for the next shipment—aiming for six months to complete the deal.

The threats would continue to come at them. Lagsturns Motorcycle Club was Slags starting off point because he knew they would be the easiest to piss off. They had the farthest distance to come in retaliation. The Lagsturns had a longstanding reputation for being disjointed and feral and would be an easy way to attract attention in Portland.

The next time wouldn't be as easy as they faced down Moroad MC. Most of them were unable to leave the state of Idaho. It would take long hours, and they'd need to play smart to stay alive as they pitted the gangs inside the penitentiary against each other in an attempt to usurp Moroad's power over the others by eliminating the extortions.

He needed Lizzy to be strong and patient for him.

Rubbing his face, he needed her love. He'd never met a woman who could stand up to him without throwing drama in his life. She could get mad. She could disagree. But she faced him straight on.

Except for tonight. He'd gone too far. He'd expected too much.

He'd broken her.

Thinking of her lying in bed, believing she'd lost what they had together killed him. He wasn't going anywhere. She belonged to him.

If she needed time or proof that she was the only woman for him, he'd damn well give it to her.

If she needed time and proof to learn he'd never hurt her, he'd give her that.

He loved her.

He'd give her whatever she needed to understand that his world could make her happy. That they could have the rest of their lives together. They could have a family.

There were things he'd already done to make sure she understood how he felt. Because of club business, he hadn't shared everything with her. The information floating around the Slag clubhouse wasn't for her ears.

He wanted to protect her. There was no reason to trouble her or bring extra worry to her. That was his job to shelter her. He would shoulder the troubles that came at him.

He would wait for her, for however long it took. If he had to chase her across the world, he'd get on a damn ship and sail away because he wasn't going to lose her.

Traffic picked up in front of him. Occasionally, a dog barked on the street as its owner let the animal out for their morning run. The street lights flickered and then turned off as daylight broke.

And, he continued to sit on the step waiting for Lizzy.

He'd be here when she woke and would do whatever needed to be done to have her look at him as if he was the only man in the world.

---