“Nice to meet you, Faye,” I say, smiling at the beauty.
She stands up and walks over to me, pulling me into a hug. “Irish, she’s stunning. Look at all this hair,” she says, touching it. “You look like the heroine from Brave! Jess was right!”
“Should’ve known Jess couldn’t keep her mouth shut,” Ardan mutters, then slowly pulls me away from Faye. “All right, all right. Where’s everyone else?”
“No one else is here right now, but we have a dinner here tomorrow night, remember? So why don’t you bring Tina? Everyone’s been dying to meet your mystery woman, Irish.”
She looks to me. “Are you free tomorrow night?”
I nod.
“Perfect.” She beams, then grins at Ardan. “Totally punching above your weight with her.”
Ardan throws his head back and laughs at that. “Don’t I know it.”
As he shows me around the rest of the clubhouse, I realize that I missed something. Jess knows Ardan, and she knows Faye. How did I not know this?
“How does Jess know everyone here?” I ask him when we’re in his room at the compound.
“Trace, Jess’s old man, is a member of the club,” he says, taking his boots off.
I pause, something hitting me. “Is that how I got the job at the salon? Because it’s a hell of a coincidence otherwise.”
At my tone of voice, Ardan stills, then turns to me. “Jess needed someone. She was looking through the applications when she was here, and when I heard her mention your name, I told her to give you the job.”
“Just like that?” I ask, feeling angrier and angrier with each word that comes out of his mouth. “What if I was shit at my job?”
“You aren’t,” he says, reaching his hand out for me. “You’re fuckin’ talented.”
“You didn’t know that, though. So basically I got the job only because of you, not because of me or what I can do. I don’t know, it just feels like I didn’t earn it now.”
Is it an overreaction that I feel like I need to quit?
“Jess is always raving about how lucky she is to have you,” he says, taking my hand and bringing me closer to him. “You kept the job, and that was all you. I just told her to give you a chance. She had about twenty people apply, Valentina. You wanted the job, and I wanted you to have what you want. I’m sorry if it comes off as—”
“Controlling,” I insert.
“Controlling,” he continues, now scowling at me. “But it was within my power to give you that, so I did. And I’d do it again. So if you want to be angry, then be angry, because I don’t regret it.”
I throw my hands in the air. “You’re unbelievable. So basically this whole time I’ve been working for the club, is that what you’re trying to say?”
He nods slowly. “The club owns the salon, yeah. But we don’t have anything to do with it; we just funded it for Jess, really.”
I’m pretty sure my eye is starting to twitch. “Why didn’t you just tell me that from the start? I don’t like all these hidden secrets and shit!”
“Because I knew you would act like this,” he admits, lying back on the bed and staring at the ceiling. “You’re proud, I know it. But fuck, Valentina, I did you a favor, it’s not the end of the world.”
I puff out an angry breath and climb into his bed. He’s right, in a way, but so am I. Here I thought I’d done everything by myself, but really he’s been taking care of everything from the beginning. I know that if that’s the only thing I have to complain about in this relationship, I’m pretty lucky, but still, the fact I didn’t even know Jess was a part of his MC makes me feel stupid and out of the loop.
“There better not be any more secrets,” I say to him. “I’m serious, Ardan. I know you can’t tell me everything you do with the club, but when it concerns me, I want total honesty.”
“There’s nothing else, Valentina,” he says, sounding tired. “If anything, this shows how much I wanted you right from the start. I kept you completely away from the club because I wanted you to know me, Ardan, and not just Irish. But you also have Jess as a friend now, someone you can turn to if you have any questions you want to ask a woman, or, I don’t know . . . I just thought it would make bringing you into my world a little easier, because I plan on you staying here.”
Softening a little, I scoot next to him and lay my head on his chest, on the spot where he was injured. “You plan on me staying here?”
“I wouldn’t put so much effort in with you if I didn’t,” he says, closing his eyes. “I want you as my old lady. What did you think we were doing here?”
“Ardan,” I say when his rant is over.
“Yeah?”
“I love you too.”
Although Ardan can be controlling, it’s completely different from Darren. I get it now. The two men are nothing alike, nothing. It’s the thoughts and the reasons behind why Ardan does things, and the fact that even if I don’t listen to him, he won’t hurt me in any way. He has a good heart, and I can deal with his alpha tendencies. He just wants to take care of me, but there are no conditions behind it. He just loves me and wants the best for me.