Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81040 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
I swallowed nervously. “Huck is here?” I asked, then lifted my gaze to Liam.
“And raising fucking hell. What’s it gonna be? You don’t want him up here, we will do our best to stop him, but I can’t promise you we can,” he told me.
He was here and upset.
I stood up. “I didn’t know he’d look for me. I’m sorry. Yes, he can come up, or I can just go down. I don’t want to cause problems for you.”
Liam chuckled. “I’ll send him up. Fucker’s got the territorial gleam in his eye I’ve seen on Blaise, and I don’t want to stir that nest again.” He walked back out the door, closing it behind him.
I looked down at Maddy, who was grinning.
“Long story. I’ll share it with you sometime. Do you want me to stay? Or do you want to be alone?”
There were things I needed to say to him, and having someone else hear that would be difficult.
“Alone is better.”
She nodded, then stood up. “It’s terrifying to love a man like him, but I promise you, it’s worth it.”
She didn’t understand. Loving him was easy; it was losing him that was killing me.
“Thanks for all you’ve done to help me. I’ve enjoyed getting to know you.” I felt myself get choked up again.
Maddy stepped forward and hugged me. “Huck came here, which means our friendship is just beginning.” When she let me go, she winked at me, then headed for the door.
It swung open before she got there, and Huck filled the doorway. His gaze shot past her and locked on me. Just the sight of him made my chest swell. I wanted to keep him, and the fact that I wasn’t going to get to was shattering me.
Huck started toward me in long strides, looking so fierce that I worried that maybe I should have had Maddy stay. Was he mad because I’d had his boss’s wife help me leave? That might have been a mistake.
“Fucking hell, Trinity,” he said as he reached me and pulled me against him. I could hear his heart beating fast as his arms tightened around me. “Don’t ever leave me again.”
My hands gripped his shirt, and I buried my face against him, wanting to soak him in. He smelled like whiskey and cigarette smoke. But thankfully, I didn’t smell another woman’s perfume. Maddy hadn’t taken me into the club downstairs, and I hadn’t wanted to see it. Even knowing he’d been here last night, possibly with another woman, I wanted to hold on to him and never let go.
Did love make you this crazy? Shouldn’t I pound on his chest and tell him how much it’d hurt that he’d ignored my text and been here, watching other women strip? Yes, I should. And I was going to, if I could stop clinging to him.
“Why did you leave me?” he asked. His voice was strung tight, like he was in pain.
“Because you wanted to be with other women. I thought that meant we were done,” I said against his chest, not looking up at him.
“What? Trinity, look at me.”
I took a deep, calming breath, then did as he’d asked.
His hands cupped my face. “Baby, I don’t even see other women. You fucked me up. I just see you. Just want you.”
The lump in my throat was getting thicker. “But you were here last night.”
He nodded. “In a dark corner, alone, drinking, not facing the stage. No women.”
God, how I wanted to believe him. If this wasn’t a dream and he was really saying these things, then I wanted them to be true more than I wanted my next breath.
“I heard Gage and Levi last night. Gage heard a woman in the background when you were on the phone.”
He groaned. “That was one of the waitresses. Yes, I ordered drinks, but that’s it.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek. “I couldn’t pick her out of a lineup. I don’t even know her name. I wasn’t here because of you or us. I … I was sent something, and it was hard. Real fucking hard, and I had … have a lot of shit to work through, and that’s going to take me a while. My head was in a bad place last night.”
He looked pained, as if it hurt to even think about what had upset him. I looked into his cornflower-blue eyes and wished I could make whatever was hurting him go away.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m going to, but it was too raw yesterday. I’ve made some mistakes in life, but not like this. Not this brutal. Forgiving myself might never be something I can do.”
I put my hands over his and leaned into him. “You have me. I lo—” I stopped, realizing that I was about to tell this man I loved him. Not a good idea.