Page 58 of Rage's Heart

“Hi, Mama,” she said when the call connected. “Yes, I know. I’ve been dodging your calls.” She rolled her eyes at me, making me smile. “I’ve been busy. Actually, that’s why I’m calling. About Sunday dinner…” She paused, listening. “Yes, I’m still coming. But I’d like to bring someone” Another pause. “My boyfriend, Rage.”

She paused, listening to her mother saying something on the other end, then laughed. “Rage, yes. Well, his name is actually Bryce, but everybody calls him Rage.” She listened again, her fingers nervously twisting a strand of hair. “You’ll have to ask him yourself. He’s a tattoo artist. He owns his own shop.”

Smart girl, leading with my profession rather than the club.

“No, I haven’t told Jack yet. That’s why I’m telling you first.”

Her voice took on a pleading tone. “Mama, please. This is important to me. He’s important to me. I need you to help be a buffer with Jack.”

I squeezed her ankle in silent support. There was no need for her mom to be a buffer. Her brother could like it or not; I didn’t give a fuck. Mac was mine. End of story.

“Thank you,” she said finally, relief clear in her voice. “And Mama? He has tattoos. A lot of them.” A pause, then she laughed. “Yes, they’re very nice tattoos. He’s very good at what he does.”

Another moment of listening, then her eyes met mine, soft and full of love.

“Yes, I am. Very happy.” She smiled. “I love him, Mama.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. Every time she said the words it felt like winning the lottery.

Mac smiled again before wrapping up her conversation with promises to arrive tomorrow around five. When she hung up, she looked both relieved and terrified.

“How bad was it?” I asked, continuing to massage her feet.

“Better than I expected,” she admitted. “She said she’d do what she can with my brother, but she can’t make any promises.”

I chuckled. “It’ll be okay, baby.”

“Baby steps,” she said, more to herself. “Though she asked if she has to call you Rage.”

This time, I laughed out loud. “What’d you tell her?“

“That she’d have to ask you herself,” Mac grinned, poking my ribs with her toe. “This is going to be interesting.”

“Interesting is one word for it,” I offered, thinking it was going to be anything but. I wasn’t trying to fool myself. Her brother was a cop and, well… I was on the other side of the law. And it still didn’t matter.

Her smile faltered. “I don’t care what my brother thinks. I love you, and that’s all that matters.”

Damn right it didn’t fucking matter. He might be her blood, but I’d end his fucking life if he tried to come between us. Pulling her into my lap, I captured her lips in a deep, possessive kiss.

“I love you too,” I murmured against her mouth. “And I’m not going anywhere, no matter what your brother says.”

“Good,“ she whispered, her fingers threading through my hair. “Because I’m not giving you up either. You’re stuck with me now.”

As I carried her to our bedroom, I couldn’t help thinking that stuck was the wrong word entirely.

I wasn’t stuck with Mac.

She was the one who was stuck with me, and it was going to stay that way.

Chapter Sixteen

Mac

“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep pacing like that,” Rage said, leaning against the bedroom doorframe, watching me with amusement as I frantically rummaged through our closet.

“Nothing fits right,” I muttered, tossing another rejected top onto the growing pile on our bed.

Diesel whined from his spot near the bedroom door, clearly sensing my anxiety was reaching new heights. He wasn’t wrong.

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