Page 43 of Gio

He looked properly chastised, but he wasn’t done yet. “It’s not about you, Harp. Gio isn’t the settling down type.”

“I haven’t asked him to! People do have sex without getting married as I’m sure you know.”

“But Harper.”

“No! Gio looks at me and sees a capable woman. Instead of keeping me hidden, he taught me how to shoot so that I can take care of myself no matter where I am and it ever occurred to you to do that, so whatever you think of your best friend, I think he’s pretty fucking great.”

He knew when he was beaten and I saw in his eyes that he knew it, but Cole was a stubborn bastard where his sister was concerned. He wouldn’t give up, I knew that. “Come with me, Harper. I’ll keep you safe now that I’m back.”

She stepped away from him when he reached for her. “No thanks. I have work to do and I won’t have you keeping me caged up. If you don’t piss me off again, maybe we’ll have dinner together.”

Cole glared at her retreating form before he turned that glare my way and I read it loud and clear.

He wouldn’t forgive me for this.

Not ever.

That was a worry for another time. I turned to the rest of the MC who looked on with a mixture of amusement and worry and motioned to the destruction. “The Blood Reapers were sending a message I assume. We were asleep and they never even attempted to come upstairs. I wounded one and Harper wounded the other. They’ll survive but they’ll be limping.”

Rocky nodded and stepped forward. “We’re gonna have to do something about them, sooner rather than later.”

Better to deal with war with an enemy than with my lifelong best friend.

Chapter 25

Harper

“Go easy on him, Harp.” Gio sighed and pressed his forehead to mine the minute he stepped off the bike. “He has every right to be pissed. I promised him, years ago, that I wouldn’t make a move on you. I broke that promise.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, you agreed to that when I was a teenager. I’m grateful you didn’t come after me back then but now? He’s being unreasonable.”

“You’re his sister.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “I am but I’ve also been living my life and getting hurt for years and he hasn’t been any wiser about it. He doesn’t get a say in this. Promise me that.”

War swam in his eyes, and I held my breath because it wasn’t until that moment that I realized I wasn’t sure who he would pick if he had to. But then his hazel eyes cleared, and he nodded. “If I could resist you, we wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

Those words shouldn’t have made me all warm and fuzzy inside, but dammit they did. “You mean that?”

“Fuck yeah, I do Harp. The last thing I ever wanted was to fuck up my friendship with Cole. But you were also the last woman I expected to knock me on my ass.”

I smiled at his gruff words. “That was kind of sweet.”

He grunted out a laugh. “Thanks, babe. You bring it out of me.” He winked and wrapped his arm around me. “So you’ll go easy on Cole?”

I nodded. “I’ll goeasy-ishon him and that’s all I can promise.”

“Good enough for me.” He held the door open with a smile which grew when I kissed his cheek.

***

I felt Cindy’s gaze on us the moment we stepped inside the clubhouse, but I didn’t have time for her bullshit, not today. I glanced around until I spotted Cole and marched over to where he sat laughing with Maverick, Hawk, and a man I didn’t recognize. “Cole,” I growled. “You wanted to talk. It’s now or never.”

His smile faded and he nodded. “Yeah, let’s talk.” He walked down the hall past the bedrooms and out of another door that led to an outside area. “We’ll have some privacy, at least for about ten minutes before the guys or one of their old ladies lets their curiosity get the better of them.”

I ignored his smile. “Right.”

“You’re still pissed.” His back was to me as he watched the horizon where the sun had just started to make her descent, the sky was a beautiful splash of colors. “Gio is a player, Harper. He doesn’t settle down.”

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