Page 36 of Risk
“Now, Vixen. Let’s not revisit that old argument, we were making strides here.”
“It always was a thorn of contention between us, wasn’t it?”
“Seems it still is,” he criticizes, scoffing.
Now I’m the one who scoffs when I speak, “That’s because you always saidIwas the most important thing in your life, but it felt like a lie when you’d use club business as a way to avoid me or answer my questions.”
His body stiffens, readying for an argument. “You knew from day one that that’s the way things would be, Vixen. You didn’t go into a relationship with me blind. And you were, and still are to an extent, the most important thing in my life. But with that being said, my club is equally as important to me. Like you, they depend on me to keep their secrets and protect them.”
“In my head, I get that, I really do, MC man. I wish I could get my heart onboard, though. It always gets butt hurt whenever you cite ‘club business’ and keep me in the dark.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way, Vixen,” he apologizes. “But it’s part of living this lifestyle, I need you to accept that or we need to halt this conversation and separate as friends, and co-parents who can co-exist together peacefully for the sake of our son.”
“I don’t want that, I never wanted that,” I convey. “I can and will get over it as long as I’m not kept in the dark when it comes to Phoenix’s welfare.”
“So where do we go from here, Kenna?”
“We rebuild what we’ve lost,” I reply. “But we need to do it the right way.”
“What do you mean by that, baby doll?”
“We spend some time together as a family with Phoenix, have date nights, and we don’t pressure each other to be who we’re not. I want you to get to know the version of me that isn’t pretending and is fake. I don’t want to keep things from you anymore. If something triggers me, I want to be able to come to you and tell you about it.”
“Can we toss in some heavy petting in there too, Vixen?”
“Yes. Making out sounds like fun. And eventually, I’ll trust myself enough to give you my body.”
“Trust yourself, not me?” he inquires.
“There’s a lot of things I need to get past, Risk. One of those is the issue that I exposed myself to paying clients, willingly or not, I still feel dirty. I need you to be patient with me while I navigatemy way through that range of emotions. With you and the others at my side, I think I’ll work it out sooner rather than later.”
“I’m a man, not a boy ruled by his testosterone. If you’re only comfortable with kissing, holding hands, and over the clothes petting, then I can handle that and wait for you to be ready for more, Vixen.”
“Thank you, Risk.”
“Baby, you never have to thank me for putting what’s best for you first. We need to rebuild what we’ve lost, and if that means I have to prove myself and my fidelity to you, then that’s what I’m gonna do.”
“It’s not you I’m questioning, Risk,” I announce. “I still live in fear of Marshall finding me and snatching me. I think once that demon is out of the picture, everything else will fall into place.”
“Then I’m going to make it my mission to give you that peace you deserve. It’s my solemn vow to you.”
Bracing myself, I give him my trust by telling him, “I love you.”
He squeezes his lids shut and when he opens them, I see what he feels for me shining through his eyes. “I love you too, Kenna. More than anything else in this world.”
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
Risk
Auto founda lead and we’re tracking it down. All of our fingers are crossed that this isn’t a red herring, planted by Marshall and his cohorts to steer us down the wrong path. Standing outside of Senator Steven Albright’s house, we’re all in disguise to keep our identities from being captured on the CCTV monitoring system. We know for a fact that he has his house wired, which is why Dragon and Wrecker are going to do their mind fuckery on him and have him deliver himself to us instead of us breaking and entering then yanking him out of his bed for a come to Jesus meeting.
You’d think there’d be men prowling around his yard watching the perimeter for invaders, but he issobeloved by the community, that he’s let his guard down and has slacked on his personal security thinking he’s untouchable—we’re fixing to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s not. If anything, he’s opened the doors for men like us to take him without a trace.
“He’s got company, and it’s not his wife,” Dragon tells us. “Wrecker, put her into a deep sleep.”
“Not a problem,” Wrecker replies, closing his eyes and slipping into his dreamwalking hocus pocus.
