Page 61 of Red Queen (Red Thorns Crew 3)

Max

I watched her lying there, spreadeagle on my bed. The second I moved away from her grip, she slid along the sheets. Inching closer. Pressing her hand against my back. Sliding it up and down my leg. Enticing me, in her sleep, to try and come back to bed.

I couldn't, though.

The second I stood up, she made her home against my mattress. With her head burrowed into my pillow, her arms spread out and her legs straightened. She had my comforter entangled between thighs I wanted to kiss. She had her hands twisted into sheets when I wanted them twisted into my hair. But I couldn't sleep in with her this morning. I couldn't stay.

I had things I needed to do.

She needed the rest. And I wanted her to sleep. I had a feeling she hadn’t gotten a good night’s rest in days, and that was important for anyone. Much less a woman like herself who had a lot of decisions to make. Like with her parents. And her education. And what to do if things went south with her family. I kept bouncing back and forth between what was right and what was selfish. I knew the right thing to do was break up with her. Leave her. Let her progress through the rest of her life and make something of herself.

Then again, I’d tried doing that with Benji.

Look what that got me.

I rifled through my dresser and pulled out some clean clothes. I pulled the jeans up my legs gingerly and muffled my grunts as I tugged my black shirt over my head. Fucking hell, I’d hurt for weeks. That much was certain. But I wouldn’t take the pain medication they’d given me.

I couldn't let anything alter my focus.

There were things that needed to be done and issues that needed to be addressed. I needed to figure out where the fuck Rupert was, for starters. He hadn’t been with the crew when they rolled up yesterday. Which meant he was still in custody somewhere.

Or worse.

I also needed to figure out what the fuck my father’s plan was. Because if he really wasn’t dead, we had much bigger problems than where Rupert was located. My greatest fear was that my father had Rupert. The thought made me shiver to my core. As I turned around, gazing at myself in the mirror above my dresser, I took in my bruises. The stitches along my left cheekbone. The ligature marks around my neck and the bloodied scabs on my knuckles.

I look like shit.

A light flashed in the mirror and I slowly turned around. Dani’s phone had been silently going off at all hours of the night. As I walk

ed around to her bedside table, I peeked down just before the light dimmed. A rock settled into my gut. I tapped her screen, just to make sure I’d read it right. And I had.

She had eight missed calls from her father.

Not just from her father, though. She had even more missed calls from Hannah. And her mother. Twenty-three in all, and not one of them had been answered. I frowned as another call silently rolled in from Hannah. I watched the screen light up and dim. Light up and dim. Should I pick it up? Answer for her? Let her roommate know that Dani was simply sleeping, and I’d make sure she called back once she woke up?

You know damn good and well you can’t make Dani do shit anymore.

I grinned at the thought. She really was coming into her own. Commanding my men and owning her sexuality and bringing me to my knees with just one kiss. She was more in control than she thought. And the only upper hand I had in all of it was playing on that part of her that didn’t know just yet.

God help me when she figures it out, though.

I smiled at the thought as I gazed down at my sleeping woman, her shoulders rising and falling with her steady breaths. I wanted to wake her up with my cock. I wanted to make love to her before I went anywhere. But things were weighing on my mind and I needed to talk to John.

I bent down and pressed a soft kiss to the back of Dani’s head. She shifted around and yawned before spreading her arms out even further. Still seeking me, even though she was dead asleep. Every step away from her side felt agonizing. It was torture to my heart and my soul. But my mind was more focused than ever before. There was one end goal. One thing I wanted to accomplish once we got through this bullshit.

I want my father gone.

I slipped out of the bedroom and closed the door behind me. And as I made my way to the kitchen, the sounds of several footsteps at once caught my ear. I froze, clenching my fists as my heart leapt into my throat. I paused my movements and stilled my frenzied mind, watching as multiple looming shadows appeared against the kitchen floor.

John poked his head around the corner.

“Coffee’s up when you’re ready. Some of the guys are still here, so I’m gonna whip up something for breakfast real quick.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. I’m coming.”

He paused. “You good?”

I shook my head softly. “Yeah, yeah. Just--worried about Dani.”

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