Page 20 of Stripping Keys
“So, there is something.” I nod at his confirmation.
“Like Nines said, some things aren’t our place to share,” Blow grunts, leaning back in his seat. “But since I’ve got a feeling she’s yours, I’ll tell you this, she’s worked her ass off for this club, and for that she has our gratitude. Not everyone sees it that way. They don’t know what we do.” He motions between him and Nines. “They also don’t know her history. We do, and because of that, she also has our respect.”
Those last words surprise me more than if I’d been slapped in the face. Marla doesn’t just have my Prez and VP’s gratitude but their respect. That’s not something to take lightly. Honestly, it’s the same as them saying she has their protection.
Still, I didn’t forget him saying that she’s mine. Do I tell them? Can I? The claim I hold on her is one that I won’t let go of. She’s mine, but still she’s forbidden to me. No matter how I view it.
“You gonna claim her?” Nines asks, watching me closely.
“No,” I tell them. I claim her now, it won’t be good. I might not be able to let her go, but I’m not letting her in fully either. Ol’ ladies are meant to be let in on things no one else knows. I can’t let her know the truths I hide. Meaning I can’t fully claim her as mine.
Both men look at me with a questioning expression, but neither speaks those questions out loud.
Clearing my throat, I get to my feet. “I’ll keep looking into everything and keep tabs on what we do have and if any players involved start to make a move.”
No way was I going to wait for them to speak about my answer to claiming Marla. I have other things to do than deal with that. It might make me sound like a complete asshat, but I already knew I was an asshole, so what difference does it make? Hell, I locked Marla up in my room.
CHAPTER NINE
MARLA
“Sweetheart, you gotta talk to us about what you’ve got yourself involved in,” Mom says, patting my hand in hers. She claimed me the moment Keys and I walked out of his room not five minutes ago.
My entire family was with us, and they were being quiet. This was unusual for my brother and sister. They would typically have something to say. The same goes for my dad.
Ignoring them and even Keys, who stays close. I mean close as in he’s stationed himself directly behind me, somewhat in the same manner as Griz stood behind Marley.
It’s eerie in a lot of ways. Like he’s got some claim on me when he doesn’t.
No, what he has is . . . I don’t even know what he has. Maybe it is some unspoken claim. I mean, he did say he wasn’t letting me go. That we were going to . . . I guess you could call what he wants some sort of claim.
While he’d been gone earlier, I’d thought a lot about what he shared with me about what was happening between us. It sounded to me like I was going to be his. As much as I didn’twant to like it, I really did. Admittedly to myself, that is, I’ve always wanted Keys. I wanted him before I saw him in person. His voice was the first thing to attract me to him, and I wanted him. I’d dream about him.
Now, with everything else going on, I might still want him, but I also don’t want to be held prisoner. Okay, so that might also be a partial lie. If it involved being imprisoned in his bed with him, I definitely wouldn’t mind.
But right now, I shouldn’t be thinking any of this. I shouldn’t be thinking anything along the lines of Keys in bed. I needed to deal with my parents and siblings. I needed to get them off my back, and then I needed to get back to work to make sure nothing was going wrong on any of the things I was working on.
Straightening in my seat, I shake my head at my mom. “Sorry, Mom, but I can’t do that. It’s nothing you need to worry about.”
Mom’s eyes narrow slightly.
“What do you mean you can’t do that. You can’t or you won’t?”
“Both,” I answer her without hesitation. “It’s nothing you guys need to worry about.”
My dad makes a growling scoff noise, earning a look from my mom before she returns her attention to me.
“When it comes to you, your brother, and sister, we always worry. It’s our job to worry about you all. What you might not think of as a big deal, is surely just that. Now, if you don’t want to tell us what you’re up to, you still need to give us something.”
“What you need to do is tell us what the fuck you’re into,” Marshall grumbles.
“What’s going on over here? Family meeting?”
Thank you, God, for West’s interruption. His presence keeps me from snapping at my brother.
“Nothing for you to be a part of,” Marshall grunts, glaring up at West.
West’s face flushes and turns a bright red as he glares back at my brother.
