Page 115 of Riot's Thorn
“You do that. Thanks for fixing me up,” she says.
“Not a problem. Come by any time for that tour.”
“Will do!” She waves as I carry her to a car the club owns; this one is legally registered. I’m not taking any chances of getting pulled over with her.
I wish things were ready for her at the compound, but we’re still a week away from finishing, so we drive out to her place in NoCal. She sleeps most of the way, which makes me happy. Her body needs all the rest it can get. Now that she’s done liquidating her dad’s assets, she has no reason to get out of bed until she’s feeling better.
Reaching over, I place my hand on her thigh. She startles for only a split second and barely opens her eyes. When she sees it’s me, she sighs contentedly and places her hand on top of mine. Before Parker, I didn’t know what it felt like to have someone be relieved to see me. It fills my chest with so much emotion, I can hardly breathe. Is that what love feels like? I think it might be.
Holy fuck. I think I love this girl.
Parker ends a call as I walk into her bedroom with her lunch. Handing her a sandwich and a bag of chips, I sit down next to her, plumping her pillows and making sure the ice pack is still in the optimal position. It’s been two days of me forcing her to stay put and two days of her bitching.
“Who was that?” I ask.
“My freaking PA.”
“Roland?” That fucking idiot? Why is she talking to him?
“Yeah. He asked me out before all this happened, and I rejected him. He took it well, but you know how some guys are; they don’t like being rejected. So, he quit.”
“Good.”
She slaps my arm. “Don’t be like that. We ended on good terms, but with me unable to leave the cabin for the foreseeable future, I had to call and ask him to reconsider and finish the month.”
“No,” I deadpan.
“Yes. I need to get a few things wrapped up, and he’s the only one who knows what needs to be done.”
“I’ll do it.”
“That’s silly. It’d take me forever to explain it all to you.” She takes a bite of her sandwich. “No, he’s fine with remaining in my employ for the next two weeks.”
“Not if he goes missing.”
She pins me with a look. “He did have some very specific requests.”
“Like what?”
“Like keeping my psychotic boyfriend away from him. Do you know anything about that?”
“Yes. I broke his hand for touching you.”
Her eyes widen, and she blinks once, twice, three times. “You’re joking.”
“That would be a weird thing to joke about.”
“Riot!” she shrieks.
“He’s lucky I didn’t kill him.”
“I think you’ve done enough killing for me lately.”
Parker cried when I told her Bart and his wife were dead. At first, I thought she was sad, but then she explained she was relieved. I thought being relieved was a happy emotion, so I don’t understand why she seemed upset, but she said they werehappy tears. I didn’t bother asking for an explanation about that one.
“If there’s someone out there who wants what belongs to me, then there hasn’t been enough killing,” I warn.
“Roland meant no harm. He was just feeling the situation out. Once he knew, he backed off. So tone down the caveman, okay?”
