Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 408(@200wpm)___ 327(@250wpm)___ 272(@300wpm)
“Time to go downstairs,” he finally said.
I moved so I could look at him. “What are you going to do?” I asked.
A small grin tugged at the corner of his lips. “Eat. I’m starving.”
I frowned, but wasn’t sure if I should ask more or let him digest this and deal with it in his own time. Had I underestimated Blaise’s power over him? Did he forgive and accept Blaise on command?
He pressed a kiss to my forehead, then moved over me to pull my panties and leggings back up. “I want my cum leaking out of you,” he said, then winked at me before getting off the bed and pulling his jeans back on.
I stood up, and he grabbed my chin to kiss me one more time, then threaded his fingers through mine before heading for the bedroom door. We went down to the kitchen in silence, but I heard the voices as we approached. Levi was laughing, and Trinity joined him.
We stepped into the kitchen, and the table was full. Levi at one end with Kye, Huck, Trinity on the far side. Trev, who I hadn’t seen here before, was on the other side with Blaise, Maddy, and a high chair with an adorable blond boy shoving blueberries in his mouth.
“We started without you. Levi refused to wait,” Trinity said apologetically.
“Yeah, because once they start fu—”
“Levi! Words,” Maddy interrupted him, and then she smiled up at me.
Levi shrugged. “Once they you know, it could be hours before they come out of that room.”
I looked up at Gage, unsure. Would he say anything? Or was this how it was done? Had this not been painful for him? He’d been lied to by someone he trusted. Even if it had been what Gage needed at the time.
“Well?” Blaise asked, turning to Gage.
“Like I said, she didn’t need to be tested,” Gage replied, then started to walk us toward the table.
I didn’t move.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded.
Gage turned back to me and tugged on my hand hard enough to pull me to him. “Loyalty, baby. He had to test your loyalty. You’re different now, but he needed to be positive.”
“Yeah, because once, we couldn’t trust you with shit,” Levi said, causing Gage to scowl at him.
I shook my head, more confused than ever. “Wait … what? He told me all that to see if I’d be loyal to the family?”
Gage nodded.
“I’m, uh, stating the obvious here, but I wasn’t loyal. I told you.”
Gage smirked as he nodded his head. “Yeah, you did. About tore my heart out, seeing you so upset though. That part I hadn’t been prepared for.”
“I don’t understand any of this,” I said, getting annoyed. “And if all of that was some made-up story …” I stopped talking, feeling my temper start to stir.
“It was the truth. All of it,” Gage assured me. “I wouldn’t fuck with your head like that, baby.”
“But you knew already, didn’t you?”
He nodded.
“And I told Blaise’s so-called secret, which means I was not loyal to him.”
Blaise cleared his throat and stood up. “Not exactly the way I see it,” he said. “Real loyalty requires love. We are bringing you in after a past that might make many members question our decision. You don’t love me.” He smirked. “Why would you be loyal to me? But if you loved Gage, then your loyalty would be strong enough. You proved it by being loyal to him, and Gage is family.”
I hadn’t looked at it that way. It was smart. A little complicated, but it made sense.
“I made the mistake once of lying to Madeline to protect her. In the end, I almost lost her. I wasn’t loyal to her, and it could have destroyed us both. But I came clean. Suffered through watching her fall apart over something I never wanted her to know.”
“And we lived happily ever after,” Maddy finished for him.
Staring up at Gage, I frowned. “How long have you known?”
“A week,” he replied.
“And you weren’t upset?”
There was male laughter from the table.
Gage shot them a scowl, then turned back to me. “Yes, baby, I was upset.”
“So was Ms. Jimmie when he smashed a lamp against the wall, and then he tried to take a swing at Blaise, which got him shoved into the bar by Huck and they ended up breaking an excellent bottle of scotch,” Trev replied, grinning like the memory was funny.
Wide-eyed, I looked from Trev to Gage.
He shrugged. “I have a temper. Took me a bit to calm down.”
“You were restrained for over an hour while Blaise talked to you,” Huck said, sounding amused.
Suddenly, I was relieved he had known already and that the worst was over.
Levi stood up and clapped his hands together. “So, when are we going to load Shiloh’s stuff and move her in?”
“They’ve still gotta eat,” Huck said, scowling up at him.