“No!” Marek shouted. “No.” He shook his head, hitting the top of the table once more.
“You did promise her,” Tripp said.
“Promise her what?” Ace asked. “What are you guys talkin’ about?”
My ol’ man looked to his best friend before opening his mouth to respond. Marek didn’t give his silent approval with a nod, but he gave it when he sat back down and threw his head back, stealing his eyes from everyone at the table.
“Before we killed Psych, he decided to mess with Marek one last time.” Our VP took a quick breath. “He told us that the reason the war started between our clubs in the first place was because he’d raped Marek’s mother, and that wasn’t the worst part. He then insinuated that Marek and Sully were half brother and sister.”
“You’re related?” Kaden uttered, his mouth dropping open at the shock.
“No, they’re not related. It was Sully’s father’s last-ditch effort to fuck with Marek before he died. But while we waited to find out for sure… let’s just say he didn’t handle things with his wife so well.”
“I didn’t,” Marek finally spoke up. “And I did promise not to hide anything like that from her again, but I can’t… I can’t bring myself to tell her about Tag, reminding her about Vex.” He shook his head vigorously. “I won’t.”
“You might not have a choice,” my ol’ man said, clutching his friend’s shoulder in a show of support.
I wasn’t sure what was gonna happen once we left this room, but one thing was for sure, whether Sully was told about Tag or not, I didn’t believe Marek was ever gonna be the same.
31
“Are you all right?” Lincoln walked into the bedroom looking tired and beat down, a frown marring his gorgeous face. “Bad meeting?”
“You could say that.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?” I moved from the bed and walked up in front of him, reaching for his hand, which he readily gave. “I’m a good listener.”
“Thanks, but it’s club business. Nothing I can discuss with you.” He pulled away from me and disappeared inside the bathroom, reemerging moments later and taking a seat. When I sat next to him, wanting to offer him any support I could, he pulled me onto his lap, hiding his face in the crook of my neck. The action surprised me, but only seconds later, I melted into his touch. He wrapped his arms around my waist and held me prisoner, but I wasn’t about to complain. In fact, I preferred this position rather than sitting next to him.
Lincoln didn’t scare me.
His touch made my heart skip a beat.
His kiss had made my stomach flip.
The way he looked at me made my soul hurt because it had taken me so long to find him.
“Is this okay?” he grumbled, his words muffled against my neck.
“Of course.”
“Of course,” he echoed, breathing me in like he was trying to commit my scent to memory. Then he said something I never expected. “I need you.”
Our eyes weren’t connected, which was good because I was sure I looked odd with the way mine widened at his confession.
“You do?”
Lincoln finally moved back and looked at me. “I do. More than I want to.”
“What does that mean?” I had no idea what he was gonna tell me, but whatever his response, I believed there was no going back for me. Not that I wanted to. With my own thoughts confusing me, my brain barely had time to register his response.
“I don’t know.”
“Oh.” Disappointment covered me like a shroud.
Moments passed, and neither of us spoke another word nor made a move. I wondered if he cared for me other than as someone he saved. Did he feel something deeper for me as I did for him? Could I love someone I barely knew? Was it possible for feelings to develop that quickly? Or was I feeling something else entirely for Lincoln?
I didn’t dare voice the craziness rattling around inside my head. Instead, I remained as still as I could because I didn’t want our physical connection to break. But several moments after he’d pulled me to sit on his lap, he set me on the bed beside him.
“Are you in the mood for some Chinese?”
“Sure.” I watched him walk across the small room, entranced with the simple way in which he moved. His stride was typically confident, sexy, but today his gait was different. I couldn’t explain such a thing, but whatever plagued Lincoln affected every part of him. I only wished there was something I could do to help, all without knowing the issue.
“Do you want anything in particular or wanna leave it up to me?”
“You can choose. That’s fine with me.”
“Okay. I’ll be back soon.”
The second he was gone, I missed him. I could barely inhale a breath. It was alarming how much I’d become used to his presence that when he left, he seemed to take the air with him.
If what I felt for him was something other than love, I’d hate to know how messed up I’d be if I ever fell hard.
“Are you sure you don’t want more?” he asked, sliding the container toward me. I would’ve been content eating in the room, but he convinced me to join the land of the living, so we sat at the bar. And since most of the guys weren’t here, I agreed. That’s not to say I didn’t like his friends. They’d been nothing but nice and respectful. But I preferred solitary with Lincoln over anything.
“I guess I wasn’t as hungry as I thought.”
“We gotta fatten you up, woman,” he teased, winking at me right before I looked down at myself. I wore one of the maxi dresses Riley had given me, and while it was comfortable, the size was a bit big.
“You think I’m too skinny?” I hadn’t meant to sound so self-conscious, but how Lincoln
