Page 75 of Corrupted Union

Fuck me.

I was so glad she knew the truth, but what a fucking tragedy for her to live with that misunderstanding for so long. No wonder she was shocked.

“That’s one hell of a silver lining.”

Rowan grinned. “It really is. And what about you? What did you and Dad talk about?”

“He wanted a rundown of what had happened.”

“What did you tell him?”

“The same thing I told the authorities. No reason for him to know any more than that.”

She nodded, gaze returning to the road ahead as my phone rang over the car speaker. I automatically selected privacy mode on the dash display and answered my phone directly. Tor was calling, and Rowan didn’t need to hear every detail of our conversation.

“Yeah?”

“I need to know how long I’m dog-sitting. Do I need to give him food and water?” He was talking about Stetson. He wanted to know how long I planned to keep him alive.

“I’ll head over there in a bit to check on things myself, but you can give him some water in the meantime.”

“You sure? He already smells like piss,” he groused.

“Suppose you could hose him off. Two birds, one stone.”

“Fuck, yeah.”

The line went dead. I set the phone back in the console and let a small smile grace my lips. Today was turning into a pretty fucking phenomenal day.

“That was about Stetson, wasn’t it?” Rowan asked.

I peered at her from the corner of my eye. “I’m gonna take you home, but I have to go out for a bit. You think you’ll be okay alone?”

She arched a blond brow. “I’ve lived alone since I was eighteen, you know.”

“You went through a lot yesterday. That can change a person, and rightfully so. The Russian is still a question mark, and Wellington could have a vendetta. Besides, there’s always a certain degree of danger present for people close to me.”

“I’ve spent some time thinking about all that even before yesterday, and I decided life with you isn’t all that different from having a politician in the family.” She said it so matter-of-factly that I almost laughed.

“You really think so?” I asked skeptically.

“Well, you might involve a bit more danger, but you should see some of the whack jobs Dad deals with. You never know when one might go off the deep end. One time, this giant tattooed mobster broke into their house and held me at knifepoint. Can you believe that?” Her eyes gleamed with mirth.

“You don’t say.” My tone was drier than an AA birthday party.

“I do,” she continued, unfazed. “So you don’t have to worry about me staying at your place alone.”

“Our place,” I corrected automatically.

Silence.

“Our place,” she finally said in a much more reserved tone. “You sure you want to do this? The danger’s over now. No one would blame you if you wanted to walk away.” My little lamb’s voice shrank to no more than a mouse’s squeak.

The car behind me blared its horn after I slammed on my brakes and pulled to the curb. I cupped the back of her neck and locked eyes with her, reinforcing our connection in every way possible.

“I know you have a lot of old scars to heal, and we didn’t start down this road in the most conventional way, but the one thing in this world I never want you to doubt is me and my commitment to you. I don’t care what you did or didn’t do in the past. I don’t give a fuck about what your father does or how you ended up in my club. All that matters is that I chose you, and I will continue to choose you so long as you’ll let me.”

She blinked back tears, her lip quivering. “Okay.”

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