Shade(137)

“I got to know too much: that you’re bossy, you’re mean, and you have sex with too many women.”

“I’m no cowboy,” he mocked, her words ripping his insides to shreds.

“You’re no cowboy,” Lily agreed.

“It doesn’t matter what I am or not. I will be the one whose bed you will be in, who puts my ring on your finger, my baby in your belly, and you will let me, Lily,” he told her with finality.

“No.” Lily shook her head, denying his words.

“Yes, Lily, you will. You won’t be able to help yourself. I’ll make damn sure of that. Since I want to make sure there are no more secrets between us, I’m going to tell you that Penni is my sister. Actually, my half-sister, but she says that doesn’t count.”

As Lily sucked in a deep breath, Shade knew it cut deep, and he felt bad for that. He was already on the path he was determined to take, though. He was going to make her open her eyes and see him. He might not be what she wanted, but someday, hopefully she would see he was what she needed.

“Beth didn’t know, and Penni thought I asked her to transfer colleges because of Beth. She has no idea of my interest in you.” He gave that lie to protect Penni, not himself.
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With her finally getting over Beth’s betrayal, if she found out Penni had known, she would cut off all ties with her. Truthfully, Penni hadn’t known all the machinations he had committed, so technically, it was only a half-lie.

She refused to look at him after that confession.

“Lily, look at me.”

She turned her head to look at his grim face.

“I know that this is a lot for you to take in. You don’t do well with surprises; however, there is one last piece of business we need to take care of.

“You have pushed me all week. After I told you that you had earned a spanking, you deliberately tried to raise my temper. I don’t lose my temper, unlike you; instead, you have earned several more strokes. I will give you a chance to explain yourself, and you may be able to lessen your punishment if it’s good enough. Otherwise...” Shade shrugged.

“I will not take a punishment from you. I’m not one of your women who actually care to please you. You can go to Hell. I’m leaving. If you lay one hand on me, I’ll call the police.” Lily frantically looked around his room.

Shade saw where she was looking and got up from the chair, walking across the floor to the phone and picking it up. Walking back, he handed it to her before going to the drawer, opening it, and then handing her an envelope. Afterward, he resumed his seat.

“Before you make a call, you should open that envelope.”

Dread filled her eyes as she slowly tore the envelope open, pulling out the papers and then looking through them. They were ownership papers of The Last Riders’ land, the factory, and the house. It showed all the separate names of the corporation.

Her eyes lifted to his, not understanding.

“My name is John Hunter.”

Her eyes went back to the papers, going through them once again. Shade could tell from the horror on her face when she realized what the importance of the papers were. While the name of all the assets were divided equally among the members, the property everything was built on, including Beth’s and Razer’s new home, was owned by him.

Lily looked back up at him.

“When we all got out of the service, we wanted to start the business, but they had no capital. They had the ideas; I had the money. My money combined with what they had managed to save was invested in the business. The land, being in my name, was to ensure I wasn’t left without anything since I took the most risk,” he explained.

“Beth and Razer’s home ...”

“Is on my property,” Shade confirmed. The money hadn’t meant anything to him—he had told the brothers that—but they had insisted he take the property as collateral.

“Oh, God.”

“There’s no need to be upset. I have no intention of taking their home from them … if we come to an agreement,” he clarified.

“What do you want, Shade?” A lone tear slid down her cheek.

He could have used that as leverage months before, but he hadn’t. He could have found something when he had first met her to force her to his bed, but he hadn’t. He had waited until she had almost died and lost her forever before he had realized he needed her, and by that point he wanted her more than the air he breathed. The only thing keeping him from being a true psychopath was his love for her. Without her, the empty void, which was his soul, would consume him.

“You.”

Lily shook her head. “You can’t be serious. You have to know this just makes me dislike you even more.”