“I’m fine.” She closed the safe room door behind her, looked to be sure the bookcase locked in place so it wasn’t visible, and then eyed Duke in his sexy jeans and no shirt. She ignored how her body felt about his large chest and cut abs disappearing into his jeans.
“I’m going to take a shower,” she told him as she settled her gun on her nightstand. “I’ll toss your shirt out the bathroom door. You can let yourself out.”
He took a step closer to her and said, “Beautiful, I—”
Gen held her hand up and interrupted him. “No, Duke. No nicknames, no sweet talking, no kisses, no touching. I give you your shirt; you leave. If you stay, that makes you a bully — here because you’re bigger and stronger than me and think I have no way to make you leave. I won’t call the cops on you, but there are other people I can call who will make you leave. If you keep pushing, I can easily afford to pay Aaron Drake for a bodyguard who’ll keep you away.”
“I want you in my life, Gen.”
“I thought I wanted you in mine, too, but I’ve remembered why that’s a bad idea. Trusting people only brings pain. Lesson learned. Fourth time’s the charm.”
She turned and went into the bathroom, pulled his shirt off, tossed it out, and locked herself in.
* * * *
Duke considered her words, and deliberated whether she’d really go to those extremes to keep him out of her life. Looking around at her house, the life she’d built herself, he had no doubt she’d follow through.
He found a notepad in her office and sat down with a pen.
Beautiful Gen,
I messed up, and it kills me to know I hurt you. I’m not giving up, but I’ll give you a little more space and hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.
Since you don’t want to talk to me, Brain will be calling you later today about finding us another retail space. Not another bar or bike shop, he’ll explain when he calls.
D
Chapter Twenty
Gen rolled her cellphone calls to her assistant and instructed him to get the information from Brain when he called, telling Thomas to say she wasn’t available but he could get started on a search and let Gen know what the MC needed when she became available.
She should have expected Brain to show up at her office to see her personally, when he couldn’t get through.
She hadn’t expected him to have Gonzo with him, since it seemed to have been Gonzo’s fault Duke had been put in the middle — Gonzo who’d made it so Duke felt he had no choice but to betray Gen’s trust.
Gen glanced at her laptop when they stepped into her office, and told them, “I have about twenty minutes before I need to pick up some clients. Make it fast.”
Gonzo closed the door and said, “My brothers won’t tell my story, and I’m not going to tell the whole thing, but you need to understand why Duke needed to make me feel our home was safe.”
He showed her a picture, and Gen saw a younger version of Gonzo, cleaned up and happy, almost like he had a twin out there somewhere, one who’d been raised good and clean. He was with a woman and two kids — a beautiful boy and girl, probably seven and four in the picture.
Gen looked up, not sure she wanted to hear the story, but not prepared to send him away, either.
“This picture was taken a week before my wife was diagnosed with cancer. Five months later, I buried her. A year and a half after she died, I thought I’d found the second love of my life. She was perfect for me, and great with my kids. I was a skip tracer, so I had guns around. She’d never been taught to handle them, so I took her to the range, showed her how. I kept them locked up so the kids wouldn’t have access to them, but thought she needed to know how to handle them, and how to use them if there was a problem and I wasn’t home.”
He shook his head. “Her family didn’t tell me about her mental problems. I knew nothing of them until I came home to find both of my kids dead, and barely got out alive myself.” He took his shirt off and Gen gasped at the scars on his chest and stomach.
“So please don’t hold it against Duke. The guys voted on my side because I freaked at the mere idea you’d be in the compound with a gun. It’s supposed to be my sanctuary, the one place on the planet I can feel safe.” He put his shirt back on. “He needed to make me feel safe, it’s what he does for us.”
Brain spoke up. “The club needed to know you weren’t armed without him talking to you. If he’d stopped you at your car, explained it to you, it wouldn’t have proven anything to the men.”
Gen looked at both of them a few minutes before asking, “You need another retail spot?”