Page 47 of What He Wants

I was beginning to think that stupid shit, like having a future with a woman, as some of my brothers did, was within reach. I’d never wanted an old lady or a family. The Phantom Riders was all the family I needed. I trusted them and would die for them. They’d do the same for me. Having an old lady would only complicate shit. I wasn’t sure I wanted someone else to worry about, but telling Daisy that she was it for me had exposed my intentions.

“So, tell me about Daisy Mae Flowers.”

“How far back do you want me to go?”

I liked the teasing quality of her husky tone. Her lightheartedness made me calm inside. “I’ll leave that up to you, babe.” I shot her a grin.

“Well, I’m not very exciting. I was born and raised in Boston, and I lived there all my life until I moved here a year ago.”

“So, you have family there.”

She surprised me by saying, “No. If I did I wouldn’t be here. My grandmother raised me after my parents died in a house fire. I was staying with her the night that it happened.”

“I’m sorry, babe.”

She acknowledged with a slight nod. “She died a few years ago. The only thing I left behind in Boston was a bitter ex.”

I gave her a look. “How long were you married?” The last time I’d asked her that question she’d been vague. This time I wasn’t going to let her get away with it.

She sighed heavily. “Paul and I were married for almost six years. It wasn’t a good marriage, it was a messy divorce. I thank God we didn’t have any children.” I could hear the resentment in her voice. “I wanted a baby, once. But the longer Paul and I were together, the more I came to realize that a child would have only complicated our relationship.” She gave me a small smile. “Paul would have used any child we had as an anchor to keep me there.”

I didn’t like the thoughts her comment put inside my head. It made Paul sound like he’d been a controlling fuck. Had he also been abusive? “He hit you?” I tried to keep my voice level.

I could feel Daisy shut down as soon as the words were out of my mouth, and that told me a lot. “I think it’s time for you to tell me a little bit about you.” Her smile didn’t reach the shimmering green of her eyes, or disguise the sorrow she was trying to hide.

I gave her a hard look. “Did the bastard hit you?” As the silence filled the cab of my truck I thought about pulling over.

Finally, she admitted with reluctance, “Among other things.”

What the fuck?“Explain, baby. What other things?”

She sucked in a deep breath, for courage, I suspected, and released it on a noisy exhale. “Yeah, he liked to hit. But sex was his favorite tool of keeping me in my place. Beating me turned him on, and when I was too weak to fight him anymore, he’d, uh . . .”

“Rape you?” I snarled between my teeth, saying what she couldn’t. I was going to find the fucker and kill him. I gave Daisy a quick look. She was just sitting there, staring out the window, her jaw tight. I clenched my hands around the steering wheel, rage simmering just beneath the surface.

I wanted to fucking hit something.

She’d been hurt. Degraded. But the fact she’d divorced the bastard, had started a new life and was sitting next to me now, showed me that she was strong and independent. She hadn’t let a shit situation beat her down beyond repair. I’d seen a lot of destruction over the years, people who’d let alcohol and drugs ruin them. But there were other kinds of damage the mind and body could be put through that were just as devastating.

I reached over and took her hand in mind, linking our fingers. I couldn’t speak, too enraged by what she’d gone through at the hands of her ex. My blood was boiling. I was going to find the man and end him. “Why didn’t you turn him in?”

She snorted. “Paul owns an upscale restaurant in the heart of downtown Boston, and his best friend is the police chief.”Fuck!She shrugged. “I figured I was just lucky to get out of there at all.”

The fact that her ex and the police chief were best friends didn’t mean fuck to me, but I could understand why Daisy had thought the way that she had. She’d played it smart, and I couldn’t blame her for that. I pulled into the crowded parking lot of Willy’s Diner, parked the truck, and turned it off. Instant silence surrounded us. I pulled Daisy closer to me, then pushed my seat back so I could settle her on my lap. She straddled me without hesitation.

“You’re not going to fuck me here in the parking lot,” she laughed softly, looking around us.

The parking lot was full of vehicles, but all of them were empty. “Never been fucked in public?” I growled, kissing the tip of her nose. “You don’t know what you’re missing.” I gave her soft lips a peck, burying my hands in her silky hair.

A shiver went through her when I moved my mouth to the pulse in her throat. “I thought we came here to eat,” she breathed, offering me her neck.

My gut told me that I could go as far as I wanted with Daisy, that her mild protest was just that. It was her way of trying to be the sensible one. I grinned, running my mouth along her fragrant skin, sucking and nibbling my way to madness. I hadn’t meant for anything sexual to happen. I’d just wanted to make her feel good, to wash away the bad memories and replace them with better ones. But the feel of her hot core against my loins had caused my dick to turn hard as fucking steel. I groaned deep, finally claiming her soft lips for a long, needy kiss. She instantly opened her mouth for my probing tongue.

It didn’t take long for the windows to fog. A door slammed somewhere close, and we broke apart. Daisy’s belly grumbled with hunger again, as if to remind us why we were there. “Come on, babe, let’s go eat.”

I opened the door and stepped out, pulling her with me and setting her on her feet. Once inside, we found a booth close to a window. We’d barely sat down when one of the waitresses rushed over with two menus.

“Hi, Big John.” Her smile of welcome went from ear to ear, and there was a sparkle of eagerness in her eyes that I’d seen before. The girl was obvious in her attempt to snag a brother, any brother, and therefore came on to any one of us who stopped in for a meal. She was young and cute, and her tight uniform showcased her large tits and small waist. The trouble was, she was jailbait, and we all avoided her like the plague.

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