Released (Devil's Blaze MC #3)(4)

“Damn it, Nicole.”

“So you want to sleep alone tonight,” she says, daring him to say anything else.

“You couldn’t make it through the night without me either, Mama, so don’t go tripping.”

“Don’t make me prove you wrong. I might miss you, but I’m stubborn…” She says it so sweetly that I hardly believe she’s threatening Dragon with not sleeping with him. It’s obviously a threat too, because the look on his face becomes deadly serious.

“You try keeping me out of our bed, Mama, and I’ll turn your ass so red you won’t sit for a week.” I know my eyes go round as I listen to them. It has less to do with what they’re saying than the vibrating connection they seem to have. It’s so powerful it lights up the room.

“You say that like it’s a threat, Dragon,” she whispers with a soft smile.

Dragon grabs Nicole by the back of her neck and pulls her into him. The baby in his arms acts like nothing is happening. I get the feeling he probably sees this a lot. His hold on her is almost violent as she grips his sides to steady herself and looks at him.

His face goes soft. “Woman, you’re going to be the death of me.”

“Dragon,” she whispers, straining up towards his lips.

“I’m gonna go and make sure the men have the perimeter secure. You try to behave, Mama.”

“I love you,” she whispers, and my heart clenches.

“I love you, Mama. Forever,” he whispers against her lips before taking them in the hottest kiss I’ve ever seen. It’s the emotion you can hear in his words, though, that makes me feel like I’ve been gut punched.

I’m jealous of this Nicole. I can admit it freely. This is what I should have had with Skull. Would it have been that way if I had ignored my father’s summons and threats? Would I have this kind of love now if I had confessed everything to Skull? Maybe… but then, if I had done that, my sister would be dead. That is truth. That is real. If I had ignored my father and alerted Skull, Katie would be dead.

I did the only thing I could have done.

I squash the little voice in my head that I should have tried harder when I had Gabby. I don’t need to hear it again. I never seem to stop hearing it these days.

Dragon hands Nicole the baby and then leaves. I shift Gabby to my other side, nervously. Will Nicole turn as surly as Dragon did? Will she take Skull’s side immediately too? Am I doomed to be the enemy as long as I’m here?

Nicole watches every step Dragon makes until he goes outside and the door closes shut behind him. Then, she takes a deep breath that sounds more like a sigh. She turns around to look at me. She has a guarded smile on her face as she takes me in. “I’m Nicole, Dragon’s wife.”

When she turns her smile directly on me and I get a good look at her face, that’s when it hits me. I know exactly where I’ve seen her before. She was the woman standing outside the movie theater the night I went into labor with Gabby.

“You dated Skull,” I whisper, and I wish I could’ve stopped my stupid mouth, but I didn’t hold it back—not even a little.

Nicole looks a little shocked. “Good Lord, no. Why would you say that?”

“I saw you at the movie theater the night I went into labor. You came outside of the theater with Skull. He was—”

“Flirting. Being Skull. I can assure you, we’ve never dated.”

“But…”

“Never, Beth. Can I call you Beth?”

“Yeah, I guess. Though, I think I’m public enemy number one, so I’m not sure why you want to talk to me.”

“Do you love Skull?” she asks, and wow, I guess that’s a way to cut through the bullshit and get right to the point. How on earth do I answer that?

“I don’t think I know who this Skull is,” I tell her, which is the truth in a way. I still love the Skull I knew. I always will, but no one needs to know how stupid I am.

“Fair enough. But what you’ll need to figure out, Beth—and in a hurry—is whether or not you want this Skull, because he’s the one who’s here now. He’s the father of your child, and you need to—”

“I don’t think there’s any way to work this out, Nicole. In complete honesty, Skull hates me, and I’m not exactly sure how I feel about him.”

“There’s a thin line between love and hate, Beth.”

“I’d really rather not talk about this with you. I think I’ll take Gabby back to our…”

“Disappointing,” Nicole says, studying my face.

The word irritates me and I jerk up to give her a look. “Disappointing?”

“How easy you give up. You think you would have learned that’s not the way to handle things by now.”

Her words are like a slap to my face. She doesn’t know me. She doesn’t know anything about me. And yet …

She’s right. I’m really getting tired of that damn voice.

“Listen, I don’t think you have the right—”

“Maybe I’m wrong? Dragon said Skull told him that you saw some pictures and took that as total proof that Skull would send not only you away, but also his daughter—”

“He did! I got a note…”

“A note from the man you love saying he wanted nothing to do with his daughter? Do you think so little of yourself?”