Page 47 of Savage Heart

Her words struck himtwice.

Thatbitch….

Thebrat….

In a blink, he had Amelia’s throat in his grip, and he was leaning over her, nose to nose, growling into her shocked face.

“What did I say about you even speaking Liz’s name? And then you call my daughter—my fucking daughter—a brat?” he snarled, and her eyes widened, fear finally filling her muddy gaze. “If you were a man, I’d rip out your goddamn throat, but since you’re just a bitch, I’m going to give you one last chance to save yourself from having your ass kicked from the club.”

He could feel her swallow against his grip.

“T-Trouble…I…I did-didn’t mean…” she stuttered, choking on air. He wasn’t holding her hard enough, but just enough to get his point across.

“Youdidmean that shit, and that’s why you are banned from here.” He shoved her, and watched as she toppled against the reception desk, her hand flying to her throat. “I see you ‘round here again, I’ll simply forget you’re female and take care of you like I would any man who disrespects whatbelongs to me.”

At those last three words, he watched in utter disbelief, as Amelia’s expression morphed from fear to jealousy to downright belligerence.

What the fuck wasthe dealwith this woman?

Shaking his head, he crossed his arms over his chest, and pinned her with a “don’t fuck with me” glare. “Get the fuck out of here, Amelia. And stay away from me, Liz, and Erika. We are off-limits to you—do you fucking understand me?” He was barely holding himself back from choking the fuck out of her, but the red marks already appearing on her neck, made something in his twist.

Red marks on her neck….

Mama…after his father got rough with her because she was two minutes late getting his dinner on the table. That had been one of the first times young Erik had noticed something was wrong in the Skaarsen household. He’d been just around six years old then—he grown up real quick after that, though.

Too quick.

Suddenly, breakfast revisited his throat, but he pushed it back down with a thick swallow. Fuck no, he was nothing like his fucking pa, but it was moments like this when his history of violence filled him with so much guilt, he was drowning in it.

Amelia was standing there, staring at him like he was a stranger, and he probably looked like one.

“Go on, get the fuck out. Don’t come here again,” he commanded, then turned and walked behind the reception desk to the door that led to his office. He could hear Amelia’s heelsclick-clackingaway in a hurry, and once the door to the parking lot slammed closed, he heaved a sigh.

Shit.

What the fuck was that?

It took an hour longer than he’d planned to inspect and approve the parts shipment, and then finish payroll for the pay period, but once he was headed out of the office, his phone was to his ear, and he was calling Hawk.

“Yo,” the fucker answered, a tinge of humor in that one word. “We just the left the condo—I’m assuming that’s why you’re calling.”

“Yeah. You get everything my girls will need for a while?” he asked, throwing his leg over his bike and settling onto the seat. And fuck if saying “my girls” didn’t make his heart clench and a smile spread over his face. They werehis girls, his loves, his everything. And he’d be damned if anyone got in the way of that.

He couldn’t wait to meet Erika officially. What would it be like to spend time with her? He bet she was smart—probably too smart, with a mama like Liz. Did she like to read? Did she draw? Did she like dolls? Shit, he had no idea what little girls liked, but he’d make it his mission in life to make sure his little girl had everything she needed to be happy.

He’d make sure his woman did, too. If she let him.

Immediately, his mind flew to thoughts of the fucking Russians. AFK was doing some not-so-legal digging on them and their operations in Vegas, and Grimm was using Savage Protection’s many resources and connections to find someone within the Bratva willing to work with the Raiders from the inside. A CI, who liked money and was willing to turn on Oblek. Finding a brother willing to turn on him shouldn’t be difficult;from what Trouble had heard of the man, Danil Oblek was a fucking psychotic bastard, who got his dick hard with blood and knife play on unwilling women.

Like fuck I’ll let that sick asshole anywhere near my girls.

“We packed two duffel bags, one box of toys and stuffies, and another box of the snack foods from the cupboard,” another voice answered, and Trouble smiled at Fae’s exuberant reply. Hawk must have had them on speakerphone.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot,” Trouble remarked, immediately wondering if his girls would need a trip the mall to grab what they were missing. He hated malls—the people, the noise, the lack of clear visibility, but what he hated now was the fact that they’d be out in the open where any Russian fuck could spot them and target them. Fuck no, the mall was out. They’d shop for whatever shit they needed online like Skathi did; Skathi hated malls more than he did.

“Then you try getting this shit in Fae’s baby car,” Hawk grumbled, and Trouble could hear Fae gasp.

“It’s not a baby car, it’s a Mini Cooper,” Fae fussed, making Trouble chuckle. Fae’s car was big enough for her since she was no larger than a pixie, but Hawk always complained when he had to ride in it because he was a massive fucker.

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