“Well guess what Nicole, it appears he plays connect the fucking dots pretty damn good because he found not only Dani, he’s found you and the club, too. All because you and Dani were too stupid to give me a heads up.”
She steps back like I slapped her. I realize I didn’t say it right, but I’m fucking pissed. I step away from the door and come closer to her.
“Damn it, you should have told me! We’re supposed to share this shit, we’re a team.”
“Don’t you pull that crap, Dragon. There’s a whole shitload of stuff you don’t share with me.”
“Club business only—I have to keep that between me and the boys. You’ve been around long enough to know how that goes. Don’t start crying about it now, just because you fucked up.”
I know that’s a fucked up way to put it. Shit. I can tell by the way her blue eyes glitter with so much anger that this is going from bad to worse in a hurry. I just can’t get a handle on it. She’s left me feeling betrayed. Still, the look in her eyes hurts me. Has my woman ever looked at me like that?
“Club business. How fucking convenient. Newsflash Dragon, Dani is my girl and our business is just that, our business. I didn’t fuck up shit, you’re just being a self-righteous prick.”
“We’re having a baby. We’re getting married in a few fucking days and you say this crap to me?”
“Yeah, well I don’t see that happening.”
“The fuck you say, woman, I’ve about gone my limit with your ass.”
“That’s good Dragon, because I think I’ve done the same with yours.” She growls as she stomps away from me.
“Where the hell are you going?”
“I need time away from you.”
I watch as Nicole opens the door to our bedroom. Her words play over in my mind. Since the day we met, I don’t think we’ve spent more than a complete day away from each other. I need her like air. Her words cut open a piece of me that I thought had been healed. The wound is even more intense because it is inflicted by my woman.
“Mama, don’t do this. Whatever this is, we’ll work it out, but don’t take us to this place.”
She turns around and we’re only standing about three feet apart, but it feels like a fucking ocean.
I need time away from you.
“You don’t get to decide this, Dragon. To say that I have to tell you everything when you aren’t willing to do the same. You don’t get that. It can’t work that way.”
“Your secrets almost got us killed today, Mama. They almost ended the life of our son.”
Her hand goes to her stomach and she presses against her stomach, the ring I gave her glitters in the semi-dark room.
“And your secrets don’t do the same?”
My mind goes back to the day on the mountain when she got shot.
“You always knew there was shit going on, I didn’t keep you in the dark Nicole, even if I couldn’t give you all the details.”
“I was going to tell you,” she whispers.
“When? After the fuck-wad already killed someone I care about? Or worse, you? Do you know what the fuck it would do to me if I lost you?”
“I promised Dani I would wait until she left.”
“Left? She can’t leave, Nicole. This fucker will grab her the minute she tries to run. It’s too late for that baby, and hell, as much as she pisses me the fuck off, I like the bitch. She’s not facing this shit on her own.”
“It’s too late,” she whispers and her hands go around her stomach cradling it as her tears fall harder. I’m getting fucking tired of seeing those tears fall from her eyes all the time.
“What do you mean it’s too late? I got this, Mama. You know I’ll always protect me and mine. Dani’s your girl. That makes her part of the family. I won’t let this Kavanagh fuck get her.”
“She’s gone, Dragon.”
“What? What do you…?”
“She left not long after we got back. She’s been planning it for days.”
“Sit down on the bed Mama, I think it’s time you and I talk this out,” I say, uneasiness grabbing me at the idea of Dani out there alone.
Chapter 10
Nicole
I sit on the bed and lift my head when I feel Dragon at my feet. He slides my sandals off, placing a kiss on each ankle once it’s done. His touch is so gentle and completely at odds with the argument we’ve just had. I watch as he slowly trails his hands up my legs, pushing my dress up as he goes.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting you undressed for your nap,” he says kissing a path up my leg.
“We…I thought we were fighting?”
“We’re having words Nicole. I might be pissed, and you might be pissed but, Mama, get this straight…You’re my woman and there is no ending this, or time away from us. You feel me?”
My heart stutters. I didn’t mean the words when I said them. I’m scared, worn out, and terrified for Dani. I shouldn’t have laid into Dragon like I did. I might be pissed off because it seems like a double standard, but in truth, I don’t even disagree with him.
“I feel you,” I whisper as his hands reach under my dress and pull down my panties. I shift so he can take them off. He throws them to the corner once they clear my legs.