Page 11 of Stone

Fox raised an eyebrow in question.

“Her name is Britta. Nobody but me calls her anything else.”

Fox pressed his lips together as if holding back a smile, and I narrowed my eyes. He cleared his throat and continued, “I kept them far away fromBrittaand her mother. King trusts his patches like I do you, so we’re confident it’s a prospect. Just need to find a way to smoke him out.”

“Francesco’s plant should be able to help with that,” I told them. “Probably easiest if we get them on a conference call rather than speculating what they can or might do. Get us all on the same page right away.”

Fox gave me a chin lift, indicating I should go forward with that plan.

Both men happened to be available, so we hashed things out for the next few hours. Without knowing much right then, we couldn’t do a whole lot until Francesco’s inside man or King’s investigation yielded some information.

I was fucking exhausted when I trudged down the hallway to my room. But I also felt lighter than I had in years. Britta was finally with me, in my arms and in my bed, and I was never letting her go.

The room was mostly dark when I entered, but I could see just enough from the partially closed door to the bathroom since Britta had left the light on in there. It probably made me a fucking pussy, but the fact that she’d been so considerate had warmth blooming in my chest.

She slept curled up in the center of the bed, her cheek resting on one pillow, with her gorgeous blond hair spread out behind her. Her curvy body was wrapped around my other pillow, and I smiled, thinking that she was using it as a substitute for me. Especially when she hugged it tighter and inhaled deeply before settling back down.

Damn, she was cute. And so fucking sexy that I’d been rock hard since the minute I saw her earlier in the day.

Before I met Britta, it had been years since I’d felt even a passing interest in a woman. But she brought out a side of me that I hadn’t even known was there.

After the incident during my first year out of law school, I’d built a wall around myself. It had been the only way to keep all the anguish and rage contained inside me. Since then, only my brothers have been able to penetrate it, but they couldn’t even break the shell completely.

I knew Britta would smash it to pieces. Maybe that should’ve scared the shit out of me, but it didn’t. The fear that I might let her down was still there, and it would probably drive her batshit crazy that I was so overprotective, but as long as she knew I loved her without limits, I had no doubt she’d put up with my caveman attitude.

She’d have to get used to it because there was nothing that I wouldn’t do to keep her.

I’d never felt such an overwhelming need—to fuck her, to keep her safe. Hell, just to fucking be around her.

I couldn’t take my eyes off her while I stripped out of my clothes. As much as I wanted to wake Britta with my hands and mouth all over her, I could see the darkness under her eyes, and her expression was pained.

I left the bathroom light on so I could stare at my beautiful girl. Pulling back the covers, I couldn’t help smiling when I noticed she was wearing one of my shirts. I slipped in behind her and wrapped her up in my arms and legs. She immediately released the pillow and turned over to curl against my chest with a cute little sigh.

She was going to fucking kill me with sounds like that. I sighed and told my dick to stand down so I could try to get a little rest.

“Shaw?” she whispered sleepily.

“Go back to sleep, baby. You need your rest.”

“Did you figure out who the mole is?”

“What?” I asked, surprised at her question. How had she known?

“You guys are adorable trying to protect me from being scared, so I let you. But it was pretty obvious that the only way they could have found us was if there was a leak in the organization.”

“Damn, I obviously underestimated you, baby,” I said with a grin. Then I grimaced. “But I don’t think anyone would describe us as adorable.”

Britta giggled. “Cute, then?”

“Fucking hell, baby. You’re making a bunch of badass bikers sound like teddy bears.”

“Maybe I was only referring to you,” she replied softly. “I probably should have said hot or sexy as sin or something like that, but…um…”

“Yeah?” I encouraged her when it sounded as though she might not continue.

“Well, you…um…have a cute butt.”

I couldn’t help it. I tossed my head back and laughed, but I tried to squelch it quickly when she buried her face in my chest. I didn’t want to make her feel any more embarrassed because I loved her honesty.

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