“Bryan,” she murmurs, cautiously holding my gaze.
“Baby.” Ryder moves to wrap his arms around my sister and the boys. The way he seems to protect them with his presence makes me want to respect him.
“Someone want to start explaining this bullshit to me? Why I’m getting told by my VP, my sister was here at his ol’ lady’s brother’s clubhouse and has been stabbed?” I can feel the tension nearly spilling into the room. Most of it I know is rolling off of me.
“Whip, brother, you need to cool it. Those boys are shakin’,” Stoney nags from behind me.
My gaze lowers down to look at my nephews and my chest aches for them. I don’t mean to make them shake out of fear.
Nodding slightly, Brielle steps out from behind her boys. She comes toward me cautiously, wraps her arms around my waist, and presses her cheek to my chest. I engulf her with my arms. My heart aching with how much I’ve failed her.
“Careful of her stomach.” I hear Ryder warning me as I hold my sister close.
“Fuck, Mini. Why didn’t you tell me you had problems?” I ask softly, immediately loosening my hold on her, not wanting to hurt her.
“My problems aren’t yours. You ate enough shit growing up, same as me. You got out as soon as you could. I wasn’t going to put more on you,” Brielle mumbles.
“I don’t give a fuck about that shit, Brielle. You should have told me. I would have killed the fucker a hell of a lot sooner than now.” And I would have if I knew what she was going through. I never liked the guy she was with and the fact that she hid just what a dickhead he was from me is more than enough.
“And I didn’t want my brother in a state penitentiary for something he didn’t need to do,” Brielle snaps, pulling away from me to give me her glaring eyes.
“Shut it, woman, and let me enjoy the moment seeing as I haven’t seen you in years. More years than I’d like to admit,” I grumble, the guilt eating me alive.
“Not your fault.” She winces in pain, and I wonder if she should still be in bed resting due to the knife wound to her stomach.
“Swear to fuckin’ God, Mini, that motherfucker is a dead man walking right now. I get my hands on him, he’ll wish he was never born,” I snarl. My anger starts to seep in, overthrowing the guilt.
“You’ll have to get in line for that,” Tyres objects.
“Tyres,” Ryder states firmly. “The boys are in here and they’re scared enough as it is.”
“Shit, sorry, little dudes,” Tyres says.
My eyes go back to the twins, and I swallow nervously as Brielle wraps her arms around me once again. “Meet your nephews and stop thinking about negative crap.”
“Crap? Seriously, Mini, that shit doesn’t justify as crap. It’s completely fucked up,” I rasp.
“True, but I try not to use that language around Marcus and Micah, thank you very much,” Brielle says sternly, poking my chest as I start chuckling along with several others in the room.
“Whatever, Mini. Introduce me to my nephews, then sit your ass down and start talkin’,” I command, setting her away from me.
“Don’t tell me what to do,” she argues. “You’re not the boss of me.”
“Brielle, I’m your big brother and I sure as fuck am. No matter how old you are, plus I practically raised you until I left for boot camp. Now sit your ass down, and I’ll introduce myself to my nephews.”
“Whatever,” she huffs snarkily as I turn and face my nephews, who were standing close to Ryder, staring at me in wonder. “Marcus, Micah, meet your uncle who is a pain in my backside.”
That day was one of the worst yet best days of my life because I got my sister back. But at the same time, I could have lost Brielle to Titus.
I refuse to go through the thought of something happening to Harper when I can prevent it from happening in the first place. Those letters Venom found are just the beginning and it’s not about to escalate to anything bigger. Not when she’s mine.
I’ve seen enough happen to those I care about to let it repeat once again with Harper. Her innocence needs to be protected. I’m not stupid. I realize just how innocent the night we were both drugged. I remember the tinge of blood I washed off my cock that morning.
Holding Harper close in my arms, I savor the moment with her. I only just got her in my life days before I took off for a week, and it feels like I’ve known her forever. Maybe from listening to Hart brag about his sister who is not only sweet and smart but the coolest chick he knew. The bond he spoke about with his sister made me feel like I’d neglected my own with Brielle. It’s why I’m working so hard to fix that relationship.
Harper makes a breathy sound and I memorize the sound. Everything about her is beautiful, and I hope once she lets me tell her what I’ve got to say, she’ll understand why I left the way I did. Either way, she’s mine and I’m not going to let anything come at her without standing in the way blocking it from touching her.
Chapter Eleven
Harper
Somehow or another, mostly due to sheer exhaustion, I fell asleep in Whip’s arms last night. I don’t know how or why, other than there wasn’t any chance of getting out of his grasp last night when he held me to him.
This morning, on the other hand, he’s simply holding me ever so gently in his arms. My head resting on his bare chest. During the night, at some point, he’d taken my shoes off. I’m still in the T-shirt dress I’d worn yesterday while at school.
Lifting my head, I scan Whip’s sleeping features. The last time we were together, I barely got to touch him and being this close to him does something to me. If it weren’t for one of my legs thrown over Whip’s thigh, I would clench them to relieve some of the tension pooling between my thighs.
Damn, if only I could rub against him and find the relief I need so desperately right now. Doesn’t help that I can feel his hardness. A hardness, I might add, that has nothing separating it from me being able to touch him if I wanted to.
And that thought is very tempting. I enjoyed having him in my mouth last weekend when I’d sucked his cock in the shower.
Doing my best to keep from waking Whip, I slowly attempt to shift out of his loose hold of me. Only to have my attempt foiled when he tightens his arms and rolls us until he’s hovering over me.
“Morning, Pumpkin,” he rasps sleepily.
Um. . . oh . . . my . . . God! That voice first thing in the morning.
Holy mother of all quivering orgasms.
Okay, so I know I’m a total dork and read a lot of romance books, but never in my life did I think a man, a hot guy like Whip, could not only look so good as well as sound sexy as hell first thing in the morning.
It takes everything in me to be able to form words, and they’re definitely not the ones I need to use when it comes to him. I need to keep my heart locked away to protect it, but it nearly breaks down the weak wall that’s trying to surround it.
“Hi,” I whisper weakly.
Whip’s head comes down to mine and presses his forehead against mine. His legs are between mine, and I don’t miss the way my dress is still up around my waist, my cheeky panties exposed. I also don’t miss the fact his cock is pressing into my apex, and he rocks himself.