Page 50 of The Devil's Ice

“Babe?” he said quietly.

“Oh.” she repeated, as she clocked what she’d just said. “Is that – is that OK?”

“Hell, yeah, baby.” He brought her hand to his lips, planted the softest kiss on her palm. “It sure is.”

“So this one day, the day of Scars’ and Zoe’s wedding, actually, when you guys were all up at ranch and I was working, this guy came into Satan’s… and he was my type, you know? Like my type in every way, and he asked Julianne for me to serve his table. I started to walk on over to him – and you know how I dothatwhen I’m flirting.”

“I sure do, Vix,” Ice said fervently, remembering countless times when she’d sauntered over to him, her heart-attack-inducing thighs all taut and exposed, her perfect breasts peeking out of her unbuttoned shirt, her sky-high fuck-me-now boots bringing the top of her head to just below his chin. The woman moved like dirty poetry, like a knowing angel, and the thought that other guys had been on the receiving end of that little miracle pissed him off – but again, she did it to get tips to survive, and she’d never taken it any farther. Not even when he’d given her every excuse to throw herself at another guy. “There’s a reason that you make more tips than any womanI’veever known.”

“The thing was, I couldn’t do it.”

“Couldn’t flirt?”

“No.” She smiled. “I couldn’t even get to his table tostartthe flirting.”

“Say what?”

“Yeah. I aborted the mission after three paces. Turned right around, dumped the tray on the bar in front of Mel and went for a break.”

“Why?”

“Because,” Vixen said succinctly. “I felt like I was cheating on you. I felt committed to you, like we were involved, and not just for steamy, mind-blowing sex in the back rooms, either. I cared about you, and I liked you, and I wanted to be with you andjustyou, and even though we weren’t speaking at the time and you were being a grade-A asshole, just thethoughtof kissing another man felt like I was being unfaithful, and I couldn’t do it. So I didn’t.”

“I’m really happy to hear all of that.” He paused. “Even the grade-A asshole part, ‘cause that’s totally fair.”

“Which brings me to what we were talking about last night, about how we know each other at our cores, even while we’re missing a metric fuck-ton of pretty basic details.”

“So what do you know about me, Vix?”

Ice held his breath as he studied her face; waited for her answer as his eyes ran over the scars again, musing how they made exactly zero difference to him in terms of her beauty. Vix remained the most staggeringly stunning creature that he’d ever seen, with the hottest little body that he wanted to get on his knees and worship.

More than any ofthat, though, was the fact that the woman was turning out to be someone that he really enjoyed being around fully clothed. Ice was surprised to realize that if for the rest of their lives, he and Vix just sat here on this bed, drinking coffee and eating their body weight in pastries and chatting, he’d be happy.

“I know that you’re loyal to the club,” she said quietly. “They’re your family, and I know that they’re the only one that you have. I get the feeling that they’re the only one you’ve everreallyhad. So you’ll hurt and maim and kill for your President and your brothers – and I don’t think you lose any sleep over it at all. If you’ve done something for the MC, to protect it and its members, then your conscience is clear. Doesn't matter how many bodies you’ve left in your wake – the club is your family, and family is worth killing for. Dying for.”

He gave a nod.

“I don’t need to know names of who you’ve killed. No details about anything you’ve done to hurt people. Not because if I knew them I’d be in danger, or because I’d look at you different… but because I know that when Dawson Kinney walked off with half the club and all the contracts, just abandoned Wolf so early in his Presidency, you stayed. I know that Dawson would have asked you to go with him, and he’d have thrown money at you. Maybe more money than you’ll ever see in your life.”

“You’re not wrong, Vix.”

“Didn’t think I was.” She gazed at him. “You stayed with Wolf and the club. You’re not someone whose loyalty can be bought and sold, not at any price. So I know that about you, Ice: I know that when you consider someone family or important to you, you’ll die before you betray them or let them down. And I think that nowI’msomeone who you’ll die to protect. Me, Zoe, Keira, Hannah and Joe.”

“Goddamn right.”

“So I won’t know everything that you do; I won’t know most of it, actually. And I’m fine with that, Ice, because I don’twantyou to talk about it once it’s over. I see no need to go over bad things, and I’d hope that if you were to tell me something, it’s because me not knowing puts me in danger. Beyond that, it’s between you and you.”

“Understood.”

“But –” Vixen took a deep breath, readying herself for the hard part of this conversation. “I know that somethingdoeseat away at you, and whatever it is, that’s the reason why you’re so in control when you drink. If I had to guess – and this is only a guess – I’d say it’s because of your father. I think he did something to you and your Mom when he was drinking, and it was so bad, you never got over it. More than that, I figure you were a heavy drinker for a long, long time to cope with whatever he did… until one day you looked in the mirror and saw that you were becominghim. That’s when you stopped. Put down the bottle and even though you might have half-a-beer every six months, you never picked up the hard stuff again.”

Ice stared at her, utterly dumbfounded that she’d gotten it so right, despite him not breathing a word.

“You don’t have to tell me,” she said hastily. “Really, babe. I’m not hinting around for the story. I just – it’s something that I know about you, something central to who youare.Like your loyalty, and your integrity at not being bought, I know that you have things that you wish were different, and seeing as how hard you fight forthisfamily, I think it’s because you lost your first one in some way that was so traumatic, you dove into a bottle.”

“Shit,” he muttered, feeling a bit shaken. “Are you a witch?”

She gave a small laugh. “I’ve been called that, and worse.”

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