Verek (Savage Kings MC - South Carolina #3) - Lane Hart Page 0,76
truthfully.
Grabbing his shoes, Paul trudges up the dunes to the wooden walkway. Once he’s gone, I plop down on the beach towel, swiping the few tears from my cheek and try to call Verek. It goes right to his voicemail.
I wait for him to get back from his walk for what feels like forever, until the sun starts to set. Verek doesn’t come back or call. Lucas and Jake ask at least a dozen times if I want to head home, but each time I tell them just a few more minutes.
When my phone finally does ring, it’s Charlotte.
I’ve been avoiding her calls, texting her when she checked in each day because I didn’t want to cause any friction between her and Roman on their honeymoon. When she tells me that they’re home early, I pack up our beach picnic to head over.
Chapter Thirty-One
Tessa
* * *
“Why would you set Paul up for me to break his heart like that?” I yell at Charlotte as soon as she opens the door.
“Nice to see you too,” she remarks sarcastically, looking tan and happy.
“Why? Why did you do that to him? To me?” I ask. “Did you know he slept with other women? I know you’re the reason he called every day without fail too.”
“So what? He just needed a little push. You both needed to see if you could work things out and if not, finally move on with your lives. Did it work? You haven’t said much in your texts, and the prospects don’t know what the hell is going on.”
“How can I move on with my life when your husband sent Verek away for months?”
“Roman didn’t send Verek away,” Charlotte says. “Verek left on his own. Right, Roman?” she asks him over her shoulder.
“Something like that,” he remarks with a shrug of one meaty shoulder.
“Roman may not have escorted him out of the city limits, but he took his cut and told him to leave and not contact me!”
“Roman? Seriously?” Charlotte turns to ask her husband, crossing her arms angrily over her chest. “You said he left because he wanted to and that blowing off women was just his MO!”
“He disobeyed my orders, putting Tessa and the entire club in jeopardy!” Roman shouts back. “And you and I both agreed that Tessa was better off with Paul.”
“Guess what!” I yell at them. “It’s Tessa’s decision who she thinks she’ll be better off with!”
Charlotte turns back to me and drops her arms. “Sweetie, I’m so happy you’ve found your backbone again. But when you first got out of the facility, you couldn’t even decide what you wanted for breakfast. Remember?”
“I…that…food is one thing! Deciding my love life for me is something totally different. You both crossed a line!”
“Verek’s the reason you left the club that night!” Roman comes over and chimes in. “Why would you ever want to be with him after what you went through because he can’t keep his dick in his pants?”
“What?” I gasp in disbelief. “Is that really what you think of him?”
“Yes!”
“You’re wrong,” I tell him. “I’m the reason I left the club alone that night. I went out to call Paul because after ten minutes with Verek, I knew Paul wasn’t the one for me. He didn’t…excite me. Paul didn’t make my heart race. The crazy thing is that I think Verek may love me even though he’s not sure how to express it. I’m broken and may never be fixed, and still he’s been sweet and patient, understanding and supportive. And even if he doesn’t know how to love me yet, I love him.”
“Fuck,” Roman mutters.
“Fuck is right! Verek doesn’t think he deserves to be with me or that he’s capable of loving me. I wonder where he got that from?” I snap at him. “He’s spent the last few days bringing me out of my shell, showing me I’m still capable of being intimate with a man, all the while thinking he’s not capable of ever loving me the way Paul did!”
“You got intimate with Verek?” Charlotte whispers with her eyes wide in surprise. “Like all the way intimate?”
“Yes, I did! And maybe I would have months ago if someone hadn’t banished him from the island!”
“South Carolina isn’t an island,” Roman remarks.
“You know what I mean!” I yell so loudly my throat burns. “So, Roman, you’re going to find Verek and you’re going to tell him he’s good enough for me and that he has your approval for us to be together, because