Page 71 of Bound By Temptation

“You’re gonna start a riot in the gym,” I grumbled to him as he leaned down to me.

“Anything for you.”

I looked up. “Would you stop with that?”

He smiled. “Never.”

Returning my focus to the game, I felt him behind me the entire time. But it didn’t stop me from cheering on my niece, even jumping to my feet when they won the first set and during the second when she served and got the team seven points.

What I didn’t expect was Ax and Raid to cheer right along with me.

Yeah. Shit. I was officially in trouble.

24

AX

People coveredthe bleachers and kept getting in front of GramO as the game got over. What the fuck was wrong with these people? Respect was lost to some. Everyone wanting to be the first here or the first to leave. Slow the fuck down already.

I whistled loud, and everyone around us stilled. Moving quickly, I got in front of GramO. “Ms. Olive, may I?” I held out my hand, and she took it, smiling.

We went down the stairs slowly, those around us still stopped. If I had to be a bastard to let the woman get out safely, I would be. That being said, I flat out was a bastard so I didn’t give a fuck. GramO was the matriarch in Indie’s family, and she deserved the respect of that. People who didn’t have respect for someone just because they weren’t wearing a cut pissed me off.

They were the reason the world was turning to shit in so many places. Here in Sumner, I’d do anything in my power to stop the leaching. Respect and loyalty came in all different ways.

On the last step, GramO looked up at me as if to tell me something, and I leaned down. She came up to my mid/lower chest. She was a little thing, but I had a feeling she packed a hard punch. I wasn’t wrong. “Thank you, son. Now you get my granddaughter and you grovel until your knees bleed, then heal them up and grovel more. My Indigo deserves the world, and if you’re not one hundred percent in, you turn away from her now. If you’re in, be all in. Don’t hold back because if you do, you’ll lose her and this time it’ll be forever.”

Yeah, her punch definitely hit hard, right to the soul.

“I’m all-in, Ms. Olive. Swear it. Indie is my queen and she always will be respected and treated as such. You have my word.”

She smiled and put her hand on my cheek. “Now get that brother of yours over here to help me out to the car.”

“You really need help?” I asked, raising my brow.

She smiled wide. “Little ol’ me? Of course. And he’s a looker. I’m old, not dead.”

I burst into laughter and waved my brother down who came immediately. “Can you walk Ms. Olive out?”

He grinned and held out his arm to her. “This beautiful woman? Absolutely. Nothin’ I’d love more.”

GramO smiled as Raid led her out of the crowded gym.

A feminine hand came to my shoulder, and the scent of sweet vanilla came to my nostrils.

Indie.

“Thanks for being so nice to her,” she said as I spun her around so we were face to face and wrapped my arms around her tight, pulling her to me.

“Hey!” she protested, but I didn’t give her a moment to say anything else as my lips were on hers. What was only hours I’d waited to feel her again felt like years.

Only thing I wanted in this world was my cut, family, and Indie.

She put her hands on my chest and began to push back but didn’t stop kissing me. She was at war with herself, and she had every right to be.

Her head was telling her I was a worthless piece of shit and never to trust me again. While her heart was telling her she loved me and she could trust me until my dying breath.

At least that meant I was cracking through a bit, and I was going to take it and run with it. Any opening she gave me I’d prove I was the man she needed.

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