Page 42 of Enforce This

“Oh,” she quietly interpreted my body language.

“Doug and I haven’t exactly been in communication lately,” I admitted, glancing back to her frozen features.

She hadn’t twitched a muscle in her face, but her eyes were so expressive I could damn near read her mind shifting from one assumption to the next, so I felt compelled to keep rambling.

“But, uhm– Well, Eric beat the shit out of his brother today, so I guess he probably heard about me.” I grunted at my own attempts at humor.

“Dr. Briggs’s bro–” Her eyes bugged, and her hand shot to her throat. “Are you telling me that my nephew assaulted the Rochester State Attorney?”

I couldn’t stop the slight smile that crept up with the fresh memory. “He sure did.”

“Wh– Why would he do a thing like that…?”

“Because of the things he did to me when I was a child. He is my stepfather’s brother.” I closed my eyes, cherishing the vivid memory of the terror that I had seen Eric instill in my former abuser.

Daisy didn’t make a sound. When I opened my eyes again, her lips had formed a tight line.

“I hope he got a few licks in before the county boys got him off of Briggs,” she coldly mused, after a few moments of staring into my eyes.

“Oh, he did.” I laughed.

“Good.” She grunted, reaching over to flip off the light on the bedside table. “That’s my boy.”

I sighed and laid there wondering if this was part of his past, or a side of him I hadn’t gotten to see because everything has been a fucking freight train for the last forty-eight hours. How much did I really know about the man I had married? And even worse, did it matter? If he was the only person that I knew that could keep me safe, did it matter who he was or what kind of man he might be?

That’s all it had been.

Forty-eight Fucking Hours.

I lost my mother, reconnected with an outlaw father, beat my estranged brother bloody, and married a stranger.

All in forty-eight hours.

I desperately wanted to believe that there was a way to tie the two parts of Easy Aviston back together. I really wanted a normal life, but I knew I needed a man who was capable of protecting me by any means necessary.

I just prayed I’d be able to find a healthy balance in the end.

If he is willing to reach for it with me…. Maybe… Just maybe it will all be okay.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Eric

I rolled into the parking lot and surveyed the bikes that were waiting. It looked like everyone was there. When I killed the engine, they stepped out of the shadows.

“Why the fuck is Oak here?” Mak spat, before I even dismounted. “And where the fuck is my sister?”

I snorted and shook my head, “Sister? You mean Mark’s daughter…. The woman you intended to hand over to our enemies.”

“That ain’t got shit to do with the club.” Mak smugly shot back. “It’s family business. We done here?”

“No, brother…” I laughed; I shouldn’t have… but it did feel good to have the upper hand. Mak was an asshole most of the time. “We’re just getting started.”

“Mother fucker–” Mak started, his eyes going wild.

“You can’t marry Mark’s daughter into the Valentino family. I already took the honor of making her my wife.”

His entire face fell. His eyes slowly became cold and he flew toward me. I ducked and we scuffled around like two locked bulls, sliding in the rocks.

---