Page 42 of Scorched King

I blew out a hard breath. “Fuck. I’m into her, okay. We spent a lot of time together in the hospital and I miss her. But if you and her are heading towards something I’m backing out. It’s as simple as that.”

“Is it really?” he asked, sitting back in his chair. “Because if she ain’t worth fighting for, then you definitely are NOT the right man for her.”

His words rankled me. They made my skin burn and my hands clench. What the fuck? If she was mine, I’d fight to the end of the earth and back for her. “What kind of bullshit is that? I’d do almostanythingfor her.”

“That’s just it. Almost isn’t good enough is it?” He took a long drag on the cigar and blew out the smoke in thick white rings. “That woman deserves everything and the man willing to give it to her.”

“I’m not fighting you for her. That’s the bottom line. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

He leaned forward, a dark scowl stamped across his face. “Fuck no. I wanted to hear that you’d kill me for her. Because that’s the kind of man she deserves. And I can tell you right now that she is never going to settle for less. She ain’t into fucking for the sake of fucking if you know what I mean.”

“Fuck you.” I was so angry at his choice of words I let that slip out before I could stop them. But to talk about Sasha like that made me sick enough to take on anyone. I knew she was too sweet and good for the likes of us, but that didn’t stop me from wanting her. Nor did it stop me from fantasizing about all the dirty things I wanted to do to her.

I’d held her in my arms too many times in that hospital not to have her scent imprinted on my brain. It had taken the restraint of a saint not to make a move then, and I was not going to be up for sainthood anytime soon.

He got fucking still and stared at me without saying a word. It unnerved me, but I’d said what I’d said so I intended to own it. I just hoped it didn’t lose me my place in the club. This club was my life now. And it had saved me more than once. Without it… Well, I just didn’t want to go there because it was a dark, ugly pit.

Finally JD slapped his hand down on the table. “Now that’s more like it. A little weaker than I’d like, but I’m going to chalk that up to the loyalty you have for this club. Something I value more than you can possibly understand. Especially now.”

I nodded, trying to shake off some of the anger. JD could be brusque at times, but he inspired loyalty and fellowship in his men and that’s what had drawn me to Wrath in the first place. I just hoped this traitor thing didn’t finally end it all.

“That’s why I don’t want to fuck anything up. I like being Wrath and I intend to keep it that way.”

JD turned serious again, leaning across the table in my direction. “Whether or not you pursue Sasha is not going to change that. I even get the draw you have to both. She’s a good girl.”

He took the final swig of his whiskey and laser focused his gaze on mine.

“But look, here’s the deal. My love life died with Malia and I’m not looking to change that. If I thought Sasha was the kind of woman who could live without love and be happy with good sex, then I’d push your ass out of my fucking way and she’d be mine. But that ain’t her deal. Despite what she’s been through, she has a tenderness about her and a true belief in love. So if you think you could love that girl the way she deserves then I say go for it. Deal?”

He held out his hand and I took it to shake, both our grips firm and serious. “Yeah. That sounds fair.” Although my skepticism didn’t quite believe…

His eyes narrowed a second before his grip tightened and he hauled me across the table and got right in my face. “But you need to get her on the same page as you and quick. I won’t stand in your way, but I’m this fucking close to losing my shit with her. If that happens, she’s fucking ruined.”

I started to say something, but his grip tightened and I was in danger of getting some bones broken soon.

“If you hurt her or play any fucking games with her. I will put you down. She may not be mine to love, but she is mine to protect—for now. Until someone else takes over that job. You fucking feel me?”

I could hardly believe that JD had the strength to haul me across a fucking table with one arm. He’d taken me by complete surprise. Yet, I admired the extent he would go to for Sasha. His actions may not have matched his words, but he was right about one thing for sure. She deserved that kind of loyalty.

“I feel you, boss. I have no desire to hurt her. All I want to do is spend more time with her and see if this thing between us can go somewhere.”

“Fair enough. Although I ain’t joking. You need to lock it down quick.” With that he dropped my hand and stubbed out his cigar directly on the wooden table. “Now, I’m going home because I’ve still got work to do tonight and I’m not into fucking babysitting my own crew.”

I watched him go, both relieved and nervous about our conversation. His devotion to his dead old lady made sense, but it also made me sad. He wasn’t so old that he couldn’t find happiness with another woman, and there was no better woman than Sasha. But those were murky waters to be navigated, and I didn’t wish that on anyone.

Especially not Sasha.

But his words still also rang a little hollow.

“Hey, Prez?” I called out before he could hit the door and disappear.

“Yeah?” He turned back and looked at me in question.

“No offense, but uhh?—“

“Just fucking spit it out,” he sighed, his hand scrubbing over his short beard, fatigue showing in his eyes.

“I get that whole thing about the past, but it doesn’t—I don’t know—fit.”

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