stayed, you wouldn’t be sitting here with me.”
She slumped a little in her chair, not meeting my gaze. Had it been too much? Would she second-guess being with me now? Wouldn’t matter. I wasn’t letting her go, especially when there was a possibility she could be pregnant. I’d lost my shot at a family before. Lyssa was my second chance at happiness.
“Tink, it was a long time ago. Before you were even born. Hell, I wasn’t even part of a club back then. It was my grief over Lo and our son that eventually led me to this way of life.”
“It’s a lot to take in,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“You wishing you’d picked another club to run to? Or maybe a different Reckless King?”
She finally looked at me. “No. I don’t have any regrets, Eric. I’m sorry for all the pain you suffered, and I know Charlotte leaving had to hurt too. But I’m a selfish bitch because if your wife hadn’t died, if Brick’s sister hadn’t left, you would have never touched me. I’d never wish for something horrible to happen to an innocent person, and yet… I’m glad you aren’t married.”
I reached out and took her hand. “Tink, I think you were put in my path for a reason. Just know, if I seem overly possessive or controlling, I’m not trying to dictate your every move. But I need to keep you safe, need to know you aren’t in danger. I’ve lost too much to let anyone take you from me.”
“I’m not going anywhere, Eric. You’re stuck with me.”
If she thought that was a threat, or supposed to make me reconsider a relationship with her, she had a lot to learn. I wanted to be stuck with her. Already my life seemed a little brighter. Not only would I have her in my bed every night, but we had a chance to start a family. There were a lot of rooms in this house, and I wanted to fill as many of them as we could. Since she had three siblings, I didn’t think she’d mind having a big family.
And if she didn’t want more than one or two kids, well… I’d just do my best to convince her we needed at least three. I’d be with her every step of the way. I didn’t plan on leaving her home with the kids all the time while I escaped to the clubhouse or elsewhere. No, I wanted to experience every second of fatherhood. Even at eighteen, when I’d been scared shitless, I’d still looked forward to holding my son, watching him grow up, and teaching him stuff. I had no idea whether or not things with Lo would have lasted, but nothing would have kept me from my kid.
Maybe I needed to thank Tony. Because of his relentless pursuit of Lyssa, she’d come running to me.
Best damn day of my life.
Chapter Four
Lyssa
Beast had dropped a lot on me. I hadn’t expected him to be a virgin, but knowing he’d been married, and had asked a second woman to be his had me wondering how I measured up. What had they been like? There weren’t any pictures in Beast’s home, not even the decorative kind. It was hard to imagine loving someone and not keeping their picture. Then again, it could be in his closet or desk. It wasn’t like I was going to go snooping.
At least he’d told me about them. He’d been honest, which said a lot. If no one here knew about his wife and child, then he could have easily kept it to himself and I’d have never found out. Not unless I had a reason to go digging into his background on the computer. I tried not to do that if I didn’t have to. Even if Wire and Lavender had taught me a lot, I knew I wasn’t anywhere near their level.
Beast’s home was incredibly clean, especially for a bachelor. I didn’t have anything to do and I was quickly getting bored. He’d cleared out two drawers in the dresser for me and I had my own closet. Although, until my stuff arrived, I didn’t have a lot to fill all that space. Using Beast’s credit card -- at his insistence -- I’d purchased a few things online. They hadn’t arrived yet, but were due sometime today. It would be nice to have a few extra outfits and another pair of shoes.
Bandit and Pirate scampered around my feet as