“Alright. I’ll reach out to Romeo. Get this murder charge gone, and then we can figure out the LA shit.”
“I’ll send Drago over to you,” Enzo confirms.
Perfect. That’s exactly what I need. A petrifying Russian mobster who moonlights as a lawyer. If nothing else, he’ll scare the officers into a deal just by walking into the room. And Reese? He won’t stand a chance against Drago. Will probably piss himself on first sight.
The call ends, and I sit there for a beat. Then I’m out of the truck and moving. Not walking. Nearly running. Across the yard, past the barn, over to the pen where Lola and Wyatt are waiting.
I can’t go to jail. I fucking won’t. Because I’ve got these two right here.
I stop as I approach them. Wyatt grins up at me with dirt on his face. Lola smiles, reading my expression the way she’s already learned to, checking for damage, looking for the thing I’m not saying.
And a thought lands in my head that stops me cold. If shit goes south—and by the tone in Enzo’s voice, it may well do—Lola has no protection. Not legally. Not in any way that matters.
She’s not a Sterling.
As it stands, if something happens to me, the ranch goes to Beau. And Beau has no reason to keep her safe here. None of my brothers do, really. Not in the way the law demands. Not in the way that would force their hand if I wasn’t around to force it myself.
If it were Ace taking control, I’d trust him to do the right thing.
But if she were my wife?
She’d have an interest in the ranch. She’d carry my name. And in this town, the Sterling name is a shield that no one dares test.
My brothers would have an obligation. Not just a moral one. A legal, binding, unbreakable one.
Fuck.
I wasn’t joking this morning. I need her to be my wife.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
LOLA
Song- Drag Path,Twenty One Pilots
After we drop Wyatt off at school, Hunter takes me for breakfast. I can’t stop thinking about the smile on Wyatt’s face when he asked me to walk him into class, and I said yes. He held my hand the whole way there, almost bouncing with excitement to introduce me to his teacher. And Hunter was like a proud parent the entire time. Just watching us, taking it in. But I could feel the happiness radiating off of him.
And when Wyatt wrapped his little arms around me to give me a hug goodbye, I nearly cried. It felt like acceptance. Which means everything to me.
I want to be with his dad, but I also want his son to want me in their family too. It’s not just as simple as Hunter and me. That little boy’s needs come first. I know that. And I want that too. I know what it feels like to be a kid who doesn’t get put firstby their parents. And as much as it sucks, I kinda see why my parents struggled. They had their empire and tried to raise me.
I might not be his biological mom. It’s a shame she never managed to see Wyatt grow up or be the mom he needed. But I want to be able to give him the love he deserves, however that might be. I’m not going to miss out on loving Hunter and Wyatt.
We walk into the diner, our fingers interlocked, and it feels like it’s stuck in time. Red booths. Neon buzzing in the window. Coffee that’s been sitting on the burner too long. The kind of place that says we have pie and any flavor we have will be the best damn pie in the world.
Hunter is stretched out across from me like he owns the booth, the diner, the entire state. Which, at this point, wouldn’t even surprise me. The waitress caught a blush while taking his order. He didn’t notice. I did.
Everyone seems to notice Hunter Sterling. And he only seems to have his eyes focused on one person… me.
Now he’s sitting opposite me, one arm slung over the backrest, just watching me. Like I’m the most interesting thing he’s seen all day. Like the rest of the diner doesn’t exist.
His chocolate milkshake sits untouched.
My strawberry one is clutched between my palms. Whipped cream piled high. A cherry perched on top.
Hunter’s gaze drops to the cherry. Then lifts back to me. And my stomach flips, because even when he’s sitting perfectly still, Hunter Sterling looks like a man about to do something irreversible.
The man is far too dangerous and sexy for his own good.