Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons MC #4)(64)

“Rake, I—”

“Are you f*ckin’ mine?” he asks, enunciating every word.

“Yes,” I whisper. I was. All his. In every way.

“Then f*ckin’ act like it,” he replies, turning and walking away.

Ouch.

I watch Rake disappear, then turn to Anna. “How’s Arrow going to react?”

Anna closes the space between us, standing next to me with our arms touching. “He’s going to be really angry because he’ll think I put our safety in jeopardy. Here’s the thing though, you were there—we weren’t in danger at all, because Talon would have protected us from harm the way any of the Wind Dragons would have.”

“I know,” I admit, wrapping my arm around her. “We just see it as going to visit a friend. But the men see it as a betrayal, I think. You’re Arrow’s old lady; I’m pretty sure we crossed some kind of boundary today.”

“We did,” she whispers glumly. “I just didn’t want to let Talon down. It was his birthday, how could I have said no? We shouldn’t have gotten drunk.”

“We shouldn’t have done a lot of things tonight,” I reply, laying my head on her shoulder. “But now we have to suck it up and feel their wrath.”

“I’m sorry I made you come, Bailey.”

“If I didn’t I would have been worrying about you all night, so I’m not. And I saw for myself just how much Talon cares for you, like you’re his sister,” I say, taking her hand and pulling her toward the door. “Let’s go inside before we get into more trouble.”

She cracks a smile. “Maybe I should wait out here so Arrow can yell at me away from everyone.”

“Nah.” I giggle. “Let Rake hear it so he doesn’t decide to yell at you too.”

She giggles a little too, then sobers. “Thanks for being my partner in crime tonight.”

“Any time, babe. Any time.”





Rake


“I heard them f*ckin’ thanking each other for being partners in crime,” I tell Sin and Arrow, running my hand through my hair in frustration.

I turn my head to look in Arrow’s direction. “If Anna wasn’t my sister, I’d be telling you to control your f*ckin’ woman right now.”

Sin sighs and crosses his arms over his chest. “Arrow, control your f*ckin’ woman. This Wild Men shit has to f*ckin’ stop. I know she thinks of Talon as family, but this is crossing a line.”

“Don’t I f*ckin’ know it,” Arrow says gruffly, his eyes hard as stone.

“I’ll get Faye to talk to them,” Sin says distractedly. “I’ll handle Talon. Looks like the bastard needs to be put in his place.”

Arrow steps forward. “I want Talon.”

Sin studies him for a second before replying. “Fine.” He then looks to me. “Handle your woman. Yeah, this was Anna’s idea, but she went along with it.”

I bite my tongue and just nod, agreeing with his comment. “Yes, Prez.”

I walk to my bedroom, feeling tired, frustrated, but more than anything, relieved.

Bailey is okay.

My sister is okay.

The night could have gone in a completely different direction. If anything had happened to either of them, I don’t know what I would have done. I’d be in prison though; that’s for damn certain. I try to let Anna have her time with Talon—I know she sees him as extended family of some kind, even though I don’t get it. He’s not our blood, and he’s not a brother, so to me, he’s no one. And if he puts anyone I love in danger again, I will f*ckin’ end him.

Everything with Bailey has been going well; it was only a matter of time before we hit a bump in the road, and in terms of bumps, I’d take it. They both came home safely. Bailey had Anna’s back, and even though their plan was stupid and selfish, they’re both safe. As much as I want to wrap Bailey in my arms and hold her, I need to let her know she f*cked up.

I’ll just have to hold her when she’s fast asleep.

After I’ve made her understand that she can’t just do as she pleases anymore.





TWENTY-SEVEN





Bailey


I’VE figured out what my problem is,” Tia says, brushing her hair and looking at me through the mirror.

“You need to get laid?” I guess, sitting down on her bed and waiting for her to continue.

“Well, yeah,” she says, grinning. “But that’s not what I meant. I’ve realized that I think I’m the exception to every rule. For example, if a guy says he’s only looking for sex, nothing else, I’ll say I’m okay with it, and sometimes I am,” she adds, putting the brush down and turning on her chair to face me. “But sometimes really I expect more and I think that they’ll change their minds in the long run, when they won’t. I feel like I should always be the exception to their rules. Which is stupid, isn’t it? I just end up getting hurt in the end, over something that I could have easily avoided.”

“You should be the exception for the man you’re meant to be with,” I tell her, pondering her words. “And you will be. You’re amazing, you know that? Any man should be thanking his lucky stars to have someone like you.”