Page 48 of Outlaws’ Runaway

“We're not fucking letting him kill you,” Savage snarls. “You want to know chances? Chances are that he only gave a shit about you to start because of the money, and now he’s noticed that we don’t want to turn you over and he wants to use you to piss us off. It’s all about saving face with them. Fabbri wants to show that he can set the terms. If we go, hand over the money and let him feel like he’s the bigger man, he’ll back off.”

Paige nods, but she doesn't exactly look reassured. “But you don’t know that for sure.”

This time, it's Poe who puts his arms around her from behind and pulls her in, kissing the top of her head and nuzzling into her hair. “No, nobody knows exactly what will happen. That's why you hired us, remember? We’ll take care of the bogeymen.”

“Hired.” She rolls her eyes. “You knew from the start that I’d have to hand over the money.”

“You’ll just have to find some other way to pay us back,” I tease. “Might take a while. Years even.”

She leans into Poe. “Years? I’ll have the laundry to take care of, if that's even salvageable, and you guys will go off on your next adventure and forget all about me. I want the scary part to be over, but I’m not ready to go back to the real world.”

I shake my head. “Forget about you? Why the fuck would we do that?”

Savage looks caught between being frustrated and straight up pissed. “You really think we’d be doing all this for anyone? Kitten, think about it. You’ve been here long enough to know we don’t need to go through this much trouble just to get laid. Right now our only goal is keeping you safe and mitigating the damage with the Fabbris. After that, what the four of us decide to do is up to us. I wouldn’t fucking blame you if you walked away. Shit, it would probably be the smarter choice.”

I glare at him. “Like fuck it is.”

Poe trails his fingers down the side of her neck. “A million dollars is a lot of cash, but like you said, we knew from the jump that it had strings attached. I wouldn’t turn it down if it ends up that putting Stefano in the ground and giving the Fabbris the middle finger is our best option, but it’s never been about the fucking money. It's about you.”

“Stop creating problems in your head. You're our million bucks, not that bag.”

She swallows hard, then sniffles. “I just don't understand why?—”

This time it's Savage who kisses her.

“You can't just kiss me every time you think that?—”

Poe tilts her head back so he can lock lips with her from behind.

“No, seriously! I?—”

My turn again. I fucking love the feel of her lips, the pure softness of her. She feels so good in my hands, and she’s tastes like fucking heaven.

She places both palms on my chest and gives me a surprisingly strong shove. I let her push me away. For now. “Seriously! No!”She ducks out of Poe’s arms and holds up her finger at Savage who's moving in again. “Bad bikers, stay!”

“Is that supposed to work on us?” I ask with a laugh.

She pauses, picking her words. “So even if there's no money, and even if this situation resolves itself and you're not quote unquote,working for me,anymore… You’re saying maybe we can see where this goes?”

We exchange glances, and there's not even a hint of hesitation before we nod. Let’s do this. I capture her chin and tilt her my way. “Baby, the only way you're getting rid of us is if you choose to walk away and tell us not to follow.”

And then she's the one who's kissing me, before moving on to Poe and Savage.

I eye the door to Savage's bedroom. “This should probably be celebrated somehow, right?”

Paige smiles but it’s a little wistful. “Planning for forever when we might only have one night?”

“Eat, drink and be merry, right?” Poe says. “Shit, Paige. You need to grab life and live it because nobody is ever guaranteed tomorrow.”

She traps her lower lip in her teeth, and it's the sexiest fucking thing.

“You seem confused. Let us show you.” Savage sweeps her right up in his arms.

She looks past him towards the bedroom door, then nods. “Okay.”

28

PAIGE

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