At the sound of Harper’s frantic voice, Titan inched his face closer, his growl progressively getting louder. “Call off the dog, Harper.”
“Just so you know, if I wasn’t worried about Kellan’s safety, I wouldn’t call him off,” she snipped with her hands on her hips. “Calmati.”
Titan stopped his growling, jumped off the couch, and moved to stand in front of Harper. “Let him up and tell me what the hell is going on.”
I released Kellan and took two steps back. Glaring at her, I insisted, “Not until you tell me why this little fucker is on my couch in his boxers!”
Realization dawned on her. “Fuck you, Carbon!” she yelled and stomped up the stairs.
“Carbon, man, it’s not what it looks like. I was sitting behind some bushes when she took the dog out. He fucking pissed on my leg and then tried to rip my throat out. I explained who I was and what I was doing here. She offered to wash and dry my jeans for me. She’s been upstairs the whole time while I was down here watching television,” Kellan rushed to explain.
I stepped back. “Shit!” I pinched the bridge of my nose and took in a deep breath. “Sorry, man. I’ve got a lot going on, and I snapped when I saw you in here like that. I need to go talk to her, and I’ll see if your pants are dry.”
“Not a problem. Shit happens,” he shrugged like he hadn’t just been seconds away from having his neck snapped by the Blackwings’ Enforcer.
I found Harper on the floor of my bedroom, curled into a tight ball, quietly crying. I scooped her up, and my gut sank when I felt her body stiffen in my arms. “Baby, I’m sorry. I overreacted. It had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me. I’m already concerned about your safety. Then, I found another man in my house in his underwear and you were nowhere around. I thought something happened to you.”
“If you thought he was capable of hurting me, why would you send him over to watch me?” she asked, without raising her head.
“I don’t think he’s capable of hurting you. He’s a good kid, and I trust him. I just reacted. Like I said, this is on me. It’s something I thought I had worked through, but it looks like there is still some work to do.”
“Is this about your family?”
I tightened my arms around her. “Yeah, baby, it is. I love you, Harper. It would kill me if something happened to you.”
“Did you apologize to Kellan?”
“I did.”
“Okay.” She raised her head and gave me a small smile before she started to wiggle out of my arms. “I need to go see if his jeans are dry.”
“That’s it?” I asked.
“I have a fucked up past, too. I get it. So, yeah, that’s it.”
***
After sending Kellan on his way, Harper and I spent several hours in bed making up. We would have likely spent all day in bed if we hadn’t been interrupted by someone knocking on the front door. “Fuck, I forgot to tell you Judge was coming by to install some security cameras this afternoon. I’m guessing that’s him at the door,” I said while quickly getting dressed.
“Damn it, Chase. I need to take a shower. I have sex hair and probably smell like a brothel!” She jumped out of bed and scurried to the bathroom.
“Take your time; we’ll be downstairs.”
I opened the door to find Judge standing there with a knowing smirk on his face. “Took you long enough.”
“Sorry, brother. Come on in.”
“That better be my little sister cousin you’ve got up there, or I’m going to have to beat your ass in your own living room,” he said, completely serious.
I stood there, speechless, shocked by his knowledge of my relationship with Harper.
“Don’t look at me like that. Did you forget that we have the same training? I’ve seen the way you two are around each other. Plus, I spotted you at her office last week. Then, Ruben tells me you bought a dog from him the same day I installed a system at her house. If you two thought you were being covert, you were very, very wrong.”
“Well shit. We did think that, but it doesn’t matter now. We told the club last night,” I said.
Judge held out his hand. “Congratulations. Not that you need it, but you have my blessing. Just know that no one will be able to find your body if you hurt her.”
“Well aware, man. I would expect nothing less.”