My eyes pop open as Cidney takes a step backward, her arms falling from my shoulders to her sides. Her eyes widen as she presses her lips together. She’s obviously not thrilled that Posey is asking me that.
“Posey,” Dakota warns.
Posey doesn’t listen to them, though. She shakes her head from side to side, her hair flying wildly around her shoulders, before she continues. I’m a bit taken aback by her enthusiasm.
“I’m not going to keep quiet. This whole thing is bullshit. You’re ours,” she states and then stomps her foot slightly like a little kid. I want to be theirs. More than she could ever know, I want to be theirs, and I wish things had worked out that way.
“She’s not ours, but she should be,” Dakota mutters.
I open my mouth in an attempt to end this conversation because I can tell that it’s going to get a little dicey, especially with all of the big personalities in the room. And there are personalities in abundance.
Posey clears her throat, and I snap my lips closed, watching her and then listening to her as she begins to speak. Her eyes search mine, and I don’t know what I expect, but it’s not what she says next.
“Ivy always makes sure that there is an out for his clients, usually the club, in every contract he writes. Not often does he back himself into a corner. I asked him last night if there was wiggle room.”
Before I can even open my mouth to say anything, Cidney hisses. My attention shifts to her. Her gaze flicks from Posey to me, then back to Posey.
“He does, but I wouldn’t even know how that would go. And what the collateral would be.”
She’s right. Shaking my head, I clear my throat and plaster on my fake customer-service smile. I don’t use that voicebecause they would totally make that. Instead, I hold up my hands.
“I don’t need an out. I’m going through with this,” I state. “But what am I going to do with all of this?” I ask, waving my hands around at the shop.
Nobody answers me immediately. I’m not sure if they should, but with how wide their eyes are and how they watch me, I can tell they aren’t buying my smile. They aren’t buying my insistence that this is what I want. I blame Gunnar for that, but I also blame myself.
VIKING
I watch her for a long moment. She’s standing in the middle of the bakery, her girls surrounding her. I can tell, even from here, that she’s upset. That bakery is her home. The large windows in front are perfect for my viewing pleasure from a distance.
Wood surrounds those windows that are painted dark green. Pink-orange awnings span the entire shop. The door is a dark-brown wood with a shining gold handle. It’s so fucking girlie and so Lainey-Rose.
I don’t want to see this place closed, and I don’t want to watch her walk away. But she made her choice, and I made mine. Which is bullshit, because I made the wrong fucking one.
My phone buzzes in my back pocket, and as much as I would like to continue watching her, I need to take it. Tugging it out of my pocket, I slide my thumb across the screen without even looking at the caller ID.
“Viking,” I grunt.
“I don’t like anything about this situation.”
What I don’t like is that I have not the first fucking clue who is on the other end of this phone call. I begin to shift the deviceaway from my ear so I can look at the number when the voice continues to speak.
“It’s Paul. I sat quietly at that meeting, but make no mistake, I’m going to be running the family soon enough. Lainey will be at my side.”
“You’re calling me because?” I ask.
I bite the inside of my cheek as I try to figure out how I’m going to approach this. I want to tell him to fuck right off. In fact, my brain screams at me to do that. I want to tell him that I just fucked his fiancée several times. I tasted her, felt her, and made her scream my name.
But I don’t say any of that.
I don’t say a fucking word. I’m not an idiot, and I’m not looking for a fight. Plus, I’d like to continue fucking Lainey for a few more weeks. If he knew I was doing that, he definitely would take her away from us sooner rather than later.
I need this month.
And then I might need another one.
If I’m being totally fucking honest.
“I saw the way you looked at Lainey. She’s not yours.”