Page 55 of Venom's Sting
I take her hands in mine and glance up to catch her eyes. “I don’t blame you for that, sweetheart. That old man was living on borrowed time since the day he was born.” Giving her hands a squeeze, I tell her, “Maybe it’s time to work on forgiving yourself for not grieving too hard for the old buzzard.”
She glances down at our joined hands. “Thanks for being there when I needed you and for allowing me the opportunity toget to know you better. You really are one of the best men I’ve ever met.”
“If this MC were the boy scouts, I’d get a badge for that, right?” Her face lights up at my gentle jibe.
“Badge? You deserve a freaking medal.” Her expression turns from playful to serious.
“If you and I are going to see where this leads, I need you to know that I’m only interested in dating for marriage.”
My hand stills on her hip because she’s saying the things I want to hear. I try and stop the smile I feel snaking across my lips.
“Before you toss me out on my ear, let me explain. I really like you Ven. Just because I think our relationship has legs and might be going somewhere, doesn’t mean you have to feel trapped or agree. I know I’ve brought you nothing but trouble but if you decide to give me a chance, I’ll prove to you that I’m the right woman for you.”
Rather than comment on all that, I kiss her. And then I just don’t stop, ‘cause I’m crazy about her. Eventually, she pushes me away and points out, “A kiss is not an answer. Are you interested in something real with me, or am just another club girl to you? I know you said you love me earlier, but what you say when you have a hard-on, might not be what you think after sex.”
I look down to see she’s poking one lovely finger into my chest with each word in order to drive her point home with me.
I grab that pretty finger, bring it up to my lips and kiss it before explaining, “I’m definitely on the same page. I’m ready to settle down. I didn’t think I ever wanted to get married and starta family until I met you. Then my whole life changed. I wanted nothing more than the opportunity to help you find your mother and get to know you better. I’m so glad I did. You’re so fucking smart, brave, and beautiful. I’d have to be mentally deficient not to do everything humanly possible to sweep you off your feet.”
She pats my chest lovingly, “Consider me well and truly swept. You did a bang-up job on both of those things, babe. And somehow made me fall in love at the same time. I can’t imagine loving anyone else but you, Ven.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty amazing,” I tease her.
“Even though that’s true, if we get engaged, I’d prefer a long engagement period to give us a time to get to know each other better and to find a new place to live.” She glances around the room. “You can’t raise a family at the Savage Legion clubhouse, and I lost my apartment and my photography studio when it caught on fire.”
“About that,” I tell her grimly. “One of the things Edmund told us when we interrogated him was that Big Joe set fire to your photography studio.”
Instead of losing her mind, Amy’s eyes narrow. “Let me guess. He thought if he destroyed my livelihood that I would be too broke to keep the search alive for my mother, right?”
I nod, giving her hips a gentle squeeze. “Yeah, that’s how they thought it would go, but they totally underestimated you. When you lost your primary means of earning, you got creative.”
“About that. Have you ever heard the old saying that necessity is the mother of invention? I was good at thinking outside the box, because I had to be.”
“Well, I’ll see about finding us a place to live, but first I want to see if we can find you another photography studio,” I say as I meet her gaze.
“Really?” she looks so excited I can’t help but grin, but then her expression darkens, “I don’t know how I’d make the rent though.”
“Don’t worry about that, my club has property throughout town, I’m sure Siege could find you a unit that would work for you. Some are lying empty, so rent’s not gonna be a problem. With club businesses, usually a percentage of the earnings are given over in lieu of rent, but you can have a chat with him, and Dutch, who’s our treasurer and work something out.”
She’s silent, and for a moment I think maybe she’s gonna get angry and think I’m trying to control her life. But then she pulls me in for a kiss, saying, “What did I do to deserve you?”
“I’m thinking the same thing, darlin’,” I answer.
There’s an ominous thump coming from outside my suite and Amy just about jumps out of her skin. “Oh my god. Did Edmund, Big Joe, and Hal escape the locked room?”
I pull her back down into my arms. “I guess we need to talk about those idiots as well.”
“Did they really escape?”
“No, of course not. In fact they’re going right to the secure unit they escaped from two years ago. Well, Big Joe and Hal are.”
Amy relaxes on my lap. “What do you mean by secure unit? Like a psychiatric hospital or a jail of some sort.”
Frowning, I tell her, “Maybe a little from column A and a little from column B. They were both convicted of a crime spree that included knocking over some convenience stores, wounding several of the employees and even managed to steal a car.”
A confused expression settles on her lovely face. “To be honest, they don’t seem smart enough to do something like that all on their own.”
“Which is why their crime spree was short-lived and they wound up getting caught. The jury found them guilty on all charges. Unfortunately, their psychological exam showed they weren’t safe to be released in the community and they were also in need of intense psychological intervention to remain relatively stable. So they ended up in a psychiatric facility. Which was where they met their other brother.”