“I know what I want,” I said softly. I stepped forward and hooked my thumbs into his belt loops. Dante’s eyes widened.
“Yeah?” Dante set his hands at my hips almost tentatively. “What’s that?”
Anxiety bubbled in my chest, but I wasn’t going to let my fears stop me. Not anymore. “You,” I said. “Just you.”
Dante tugged me in a little closer, his fingers digging softly into my sides. He cupped one big hand around my jaw and tilted my face slowly up to his.
Then he kissed me. It was slow, and soft—different from the kisses we’d shared before. He took my lower lip in between his but didn’t deepen the kiss, just let it linger.
When he pulled away, his gaze was just as gentle. “Sorry for bursting in here like that. And for not listening to what you had to say.”
I huffed a laugh, still a little miffed about that. “Yeah, next time you should knock.”
Dante cringed. “I know. I really am sorry for acting like such an asshole. I was just so wrapped up in wanting to protect you, and to make up for my part in your getting hurt. But you’re right—it’s not my decision to make.”
“I… want you to protect me,” I admitted. Because I did—I felt so safe in his arms now that he was actually talking with me and listening to me. “I just don’t want you to bulldoze me.”
Dante looked down at me hopefully. “Really? So you’re okay with me helping with the security detail?”
“Now I am,” I said. Then, summoning up all of my courage, I continued, “But—is that all this is? Security detail between friends?”
“I hope not,” Dante said, low and a little nervous. “That’s not all I want. It’s not what I ever really wanted.”
I bit back a smile. The anxiety in my chest loosened a little more, into something that felt dangerously like hope. “Good. Me neither.”
Dante didn’t hold his smile back, and it lit up his whole face. His hand tightened at my hip. “Okay,” he said. “But we’ll still take things slow, yeah? Because until we catch those guys, your safety is my priority. I don’t want to let myself get too distracted again.”
The crazy thing was I couldn’t remember ever feeling safer than I did at that moment. Even knowing that Ryder and his buddies were in the territory looking for me, I knew Dante wouldn’t let them lay a hand on me again. I knew that he’d trust me to take care of myself, if it came down to it—but that it wouldn’t come down to it with Dante in control.
It was scary, diving into the unknown like this. But for Dante, I was ready to take the leap.
19
Dante
I took a long drink from my beer and tried to gather my thoughts. I was the one who had called the church meeting this evening, and Dad, Tru, Nix, Eli, and Star were all looking at me expectantly from where they were seated around our big communal table in the clubhouse common room. I was too antsy to sit, though, and instead I was pacing along my typical pacing path: a back and forth behind the table, just to get some energy out.
Nix blinked owlishly at me. “Are you gonna tell us what this is about, or not?”
Eli elbowed Nix. “Let the man have a drink, damn.”
Tru and Star shared a wordless conversation expressed mostly with their eyebrows.
We had a small, but cohesive enforcement team now. Promoting Star had improved the dynamics of the group massively: she was level-headed, smart, and a little more serious than Nix and Eli. As road captain, Nix was an excellent leader and always kept morale up, but he could be a little hotheaded, and Star didn’t hesitate to question his decisions when she needed to. Eli was a more recent addition to the enforcement team as well, and he was still learning the ropes. With Sergeant-at-Arms Tru training everyone, though, it’d only be a few months before the enforcement team was a well-oiled machine.
I really wished we had a little more time for that, but we had to deal with the problem at hand now. We had to take care of the bastards that had once called themselves Crew members before they came for Heath again. Because I was not going to let that happen. Not on my fucking turf.
“Baxter, Ryder, and Trip were on the community college campus,” I said.