Damaged and the Outlaw (Damaged #4)

“I’m her father.”


“You’re the guy who came in her mom and had a swimmer get lucky. Let’s not put ribbons and bows on what you are to her. Now, back off.”

Scott crossed his arms and smirked. “You’re young, so you don’t get it. I’ve been around and I don’t need my kid whoring in my territory. It’s a big town. Take it somewhere else.”

Raven was focused on her father when he said whoring, but her gaze quickly turned to me as I pointed the gun at his head.

“Tell me why I don’t kill you right here?” I asked Scott who pretended he wasn’t pissing himself.

Around us, people moved away. Those customers who weren’t club members were corralled from the place. Scott knew this was between him and me and no one was interfering.

“You really going to start trouble over a piece of tail?” Scott asked.

“Wrong answer,” I said, smacking him with the gun. “The answer I’m looking for is that Raven is none of your business. You will not speak to her. You will not look at her. You will act like she’s a stranger. If you don’t stay away from her, I’ll kill you.”

“And after someone kills you?”

Years of lies kept me from showing how much that question bothered me. My gaze held steady, but Raven shrunk at his words.

“Raven is my woman,” I said, deciding I couldn’t hide from the truth anymore. “If I die, she’s the responsibility of the club. Men like Judd will protect her and I don’t think he’ll lose a second’s sleep over dropping you in a shallow grave, asshole.”

Scott realized he was fucked. A guy in the club claiming a woman made her untouchable even to her shitty dad. Even if it didn’t, Scott wasn’t an enforcer. He wasn’t a guy Kirk needed around. His death would mean little. The mole Kirk had killed months ago meant more in the scheme of things than Scott.

Without saying another word, Scott walked away and the tension in the bar eased up. People talked more freely and outsiders were allowed back inside. I watched Scott leave then looked at Raven. Her expression was unreadable.

“I want to go home.”

Raven bolted from the bar and I wasn’t surprised. We were safe in our lies. Fuck buddies didn’t fall apart when one of them was killed. If I was merely her lover, Raven could replace me. If she loved me, my death meant a broken heart. I knew her fear, but the words were out in the open and I refused to take them back

“Your woman?” she cried when we got outside. “You clingy bitch!”

“Don’t act like you don’t feel anything for me.”

“You’re a nice guy I enjoy fucking. Now, you’ve ruined that.”

Holding her still, I forced her to look at me. “I love you, Raven.”

“Fuck you.”

“You love me too.”

“You wish, loser.”

“I know you’re scared.”

“That you’ll turn stalker now that I’ve dumped you.”

My ego insisted I put Raven in her place. My heart knew how scared she was that we weren’t playing anymore. Everything was real and all of her walls were coming up. Suddenly, I was the enemy attacking her.

“I need you,” I said, lowering my voice and softening my stance. “I haven’t needed anyone in a long time, but I have no choice with you.”

“This isn’t fair,” she said, hands in fists. “You’re a dead man and you expect me to make your final days special.”

“You can say whatever hurtful shit you want, but I know you love me too. We need to stop playing games.”

Raven shook her head and tried to find something nasty to say that would make me walk away from her. Nothing was changing my mind. I saw on her face how she was stuck. More than anything she was panicking.

“I’m not the losers you’ve been with before. I understand you.”

“I’m going to fuck someone else,” she said, walking away. “We can still be fuck buddies. We’ll just screw other people and it’ll go back to the way it was. You’ll see how stupid you’re being.”

Raven walked around in a weird circle until realizing she had no way to get home. Turning to me, she stared wide-eyed. I knew nothing I thought to say would fix the fear in her expression.

“Do you want me to take you to Lark’s house?” I whispered as she stared at the dark road.

When Raven looked at me, her panic faded into something worse. Despair. I’d said the right thing. She needed me to lash out and hurt her. The only escape from her feelings was if I broke her heart. We both knew that wasn’t happening.

“I’m not your woman,” she mumbled while walking to my Harley. “I’m the thing you’re holding onto because you’re afraid to die.”