“He won’t give up on her, any more than I was willing to give up on you.”
“But you did give up on me, Jude. If it weren’t for the baby, I wouldn’t be here right now.”
“No, you wouldn’t. But I was coming for you, Morgan. I wanted you safe while we fought this war. But, baby, as soon as it was over, I would have been in Virginia, charming my way back into your heart and charming you right back into my bed.”
“And you think that would have worked?” I asked.
He gave me a smug grin. “I know it would. Because you love me.”
I sighed and smiled in his direction. “I do love you. I always have.”
Chapter Forty-Three
Jenna
Sitting on the end of the bed, my eyes switched between the clock on the wall and the door keeping me inside this room. I hated it here. I never should have come. I should have taken my chances outside the fence.
The seconds ticked away on the clock, and I listened for sounds in the hall. Only three more minutes until I could escape. Three more minutes until I could leave this room and move around the clubhouse while everyone was asleep.
I thought coming here would be a haven. A safe place to rest while I got my shit together. Then I saw him. The president. God, he was so sexy and brooding. He had book boyfriend written all over him, and I just figured if I could snatch him up, I wouldn’t need the others to protect me.
I closed my eyes. How did my life become this? When did I become this person? Was it genetic? Was I like them? I never thought I was. Before I came here, I was a nice person. I thought about others. Put their needs before my own.
I wanted to be selfish for once. I wanted to be the person who won. Just one freaking time, I wanted to have someone put me first.
Leo, Wilder, and Knox didn’t count. They weren’t really putting me first. They were doing it for him. They were his friends, not mine. They didn’t care what happened to me as long as their obligation was fulfilled.
I looked up at the clock again.
Three am.
I slid off the bed and quietly moved to the door, resting my ear against the wood. The clubhouse was quiet; there was no music playing, no laughter of the brothers teasing each other in jest.
God, what would it be like to have family who loved you? Family who protected you?
The cold knob twisted in my hand. The snick of the latch bolt retreating into the assembly echoed through the room, and I knew it was because everything was so quiet that my fear of being caught amplified the sound.
Early morning was the only time the clubhouse was silent. When everyone had passed out from drinking or fucking. I pulled the door toward me, expecting a prospect to jump into the doorway and yank it closed. Sealing me inside again.
I didn’t do what Chasm accused me of. Well, the shit that happened to Morgan anyway. Yes, I broke into the president’s room. I thought maybe, if he spent a little time with me, he’d see the real me.
But no one wanted the real me.
The real me was broken.
I stuck my head into the hall, looking in both directions, making sure no one lingered around. I cautiously stepped out of the room and carefully closed my door behind me.
I made my way down the stairs to the kitchen. A little three am snack and a glass of whiskey was just the thing I needed to keep me sane. I couldn’t stay in that room forever.
I paused at the door when I heard the voices. Angry muffled sounds I couldn’t decipher. I moved closer and pressed a hand against the door, pushing it open the slightest amount, hoping whoever was in the kitchen didn’t see me.
“Let go!”
“You’re coming with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. Jude will kill you when he finds out you touched me.”
“He’s a fucking pussy. He can’t even kill a stupid club whore who went after his woman.”