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She stares at me with innocence in her doe eyes, and it pisses me off that she’s been put in this situation.

“Did he hurt you?”She shakes her head.

Good.Killing him on Alessio’s turf would take some explaining, but if he’d hurt her, I’d spill his blood where he stands.

Her eyes drop to my other hand and widen when I pull the massive diamond from my pocket.I’d purposefully chosen the largest stone in the store to make a statement.Sophia was my property now.She watches closely as I slide the stone onto her finger and squeaks once it’s on.“Do you know what this ring signifies?”

She shakes her head again.

“You’remyproperty, Mouse!Nobody gets to touch you and keep their fucking hands.”

Something shifts in my chest as I stare at the ring on her finger, the reality of my words suddenly sinking in.

Sophia is mine—she belongs to me now.

What the fuck am I thinking?

I remind myself this is just temporary—a way to fuck with Ivan, nothing more.

“Make sure she's at the church on time tomorrow,” I growl before quickly stepping back onto the elevator and tagging the button for the lobby.

“What the hell was that?”

I ignore Haze’s question ‘cause the only thing I know for sure is that I’m completely fucked.

* * *

I can feel my enforcer's eyes burning a hole into the back of my head as we walk into the clubhouse, but I'm trying to ignore him.I know what he's thinking; it's not like me to feel any kind of way about a woman.I've had my fair share over the years, but they've always been interchangeable.One woman is as good as another.Right?Except, now I'm not so sure about that because Sophia—soon-to-be—St.James is mine and if another man so much as touches a single hair on her head, I'll paint the streets with their fucking blood.

This must be what defeat feels like.I'm so fucked.

I shake off my internal pity party and scan the common room, spotting Pop at a table in the corner with Cherry perched on his lap.

Can this day get any worse?

“Get gone,” I growl, pulling out a chair across from them.Pop pats her ass and nods for her to take off.Cherry narrows her eyes but does as she's told.She's barking up the wrong fucking tree if she thinks she's going to become an old lady one day.That shit won't ever happen.It may be hypocritical, but no man will make a woman his permanent piece, knowing all his brothers have been for a ride.

“Something bothering you, Son?”

Rubbing at the back of my neck, I'm not sure how to explain the turn of events from the last few hours.“Uhm…”

“He's getting married,” Haze adds unhelpfully.Never even heard the stealthy bastard creep up behind me.

“I was getting around to telling him.”

“You gotta rip it off like a Band-Aid.Boss.”

I roll my eyes.Good Lord, he's a pain in the ass.“I’m getting married.”

Pop looks from Haze to me, then throws his head back and laughs.The humor dies on his lips when he realizes he's the only one laughing.“Shut the fuck up.You were only gone three hours.How the fuck did this happen?”

Exhaling heavily, I nod my head for my enforcer to take off, then holler toward the bar."Trina, bring me a beer.”The timid waif scurries over with a bottle, carefully places it in front of me, then disappears just as quickly.Pop watches impatiently as I thumb the label, looking for the words.

“Times waisting, Son.”

Exhaling heavily, I let the events of the last three hours spill out between us.

“Well, fuck me.It's not exactly the worst thing that could have happened, though.You're getting older and it's time you settled down.In a way, I’m glad your hand has been forced, Son.You've been a lone wolf for far too long and it'd be nice to have a few grandkids running around this place.”

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