Chapter 8

"You okay?" I ask, eyes on Camilla as we step into the house.

After her aunt left the restaurant, we ate silently. She didn't eat much, but she at least had eaten something. I paid for dinner and brought her back to the house, neither of us saying a word.

This morning, I'd taken her to her apartment in my truck, knowing I couldn't put her ass on my bike with her going to work. I hate not being on my bike, but with the get-ups she wears to work, there was no way I was going to miss out on seeing it, though I would have preferred to have her ass pressed up against me while I tore down the road on my bike.

The whole day, while she worked, I'd seen to business, messaging with Fuse. I also spoke with Chains, Tyres, and Pitch Black. I might not have an officer ranking in the club, but I'm cool with that. I didn't want the headache, but that doesn't mean I don't have a job within the club. I handle shit that no one else wants to. Usually, if I'm not taking one of my brother's backs, I'm managing one of the businesses. Mostly, I work at the bar the club owns, and I keep everything in order. I like what I do and don't mind kicking in elsewhere, including knocking heads together when needed.

It's why I like being at the bar as much as I can. There, I can listen to people talk. No matter how many people know the bar is owned by the club, it doesn't stop the chattering. More times than I can count, I get intel just from listening to conversations while people drink. Most of the time, it's rumors, but even rumors are based on some form of truth.

Throughout the day, Fuse fed me information he'd been able to get after I texted him about the pictures. He easily was able to get into Helena's records when I told him my suspicions. He dug deep and found where she'd gotten the pictures and from who. All he told me was that she hired someone to take pictures of me with women. It didn't matter who. Then someone altered the sex images, putting the face of one of the older strays that's no longer at the clubhouse. The bitch is long gone.

Camilla's parents' will was the most interesting thing he'd sent me, mostly because he'd given me his blessing to be with his daughter. The guy was hands down one of the best people I have ever met. He took care of his family. His daughter had been his world, but his wife, fuck me, she'd been his universe. The two of them never traveled without the other. I never saw anything like what they shared until Chains and Tiny got together.

I remember, though. I remember him telling me that if I loved his daughter as I told him I did, I'd wait. I'd be patient. I'd do whatever it took to make her happy.

He would be disappointed if he knew that so many years have passed that I haven't done right by her. She was gone to me, and I let that happen. I didn't fight for her like I should've. That's on me, and I'll have to live with that. But my woman is back, I have the chance to do what I didn't back then, and I intend to do just that.

"Cams?" I call her name when she doesn't answer me.

"I'm fine, Lynch," she remarks, stopping at the kitchen island to lift first one foot, taking her heel off and repeating this motion with the other.

"You're not fine, baby, and we both know it," I tell her. Moving to stand at her back, my hands going to her waist, and my front pressing tight to her back, letting her feel the stiffening of my cock.

All day, I've wanted her. That want turned into a need that grew all damn day while I watched her move in those fuck me heels and that skirt she wore, shaping her ass perfectly and making it look that much better. In her office, I wanted to get her attention, see that fire in her eyes. I'd gone to my knees in front of her. I swear if I didn't stop myself, I'd have fucked her right then and there, but I'd have eaten that pussy of hers until she came on my tongue first.

Now, we're back home, a home that should have been ours all along and not just mine.

"You think you know everything, don't you." Camilla tenses in my arms but doesn't attempt to step away.

"Never claimed to know everything, Cams. When something or someone matters to me, though, I make sure I do my research and look into what's going on." I press a kiss to the side of her head and take a breath, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo. Gliding one hand up to cup a tit, the other trails down, bunching her skirt up. "When it comes to you, Cams, I've gone long enough without answers. I had to live without you. I fuckin' let you go when I didn't want to."

"I cheated on you," she blurts, her breath hitching.

"Yeah, but you thought you'd ended things with me. That I'd been the one to fuck you over." I don't like what happened, but it is what it is. There's no changing the past. No taking back the pain we inflicted on each other. "It's time to move forward, baby, and I'm not letting you go in order for us to go our separate ways. That shit's not happenin'. You're my wife, my woman, and it's time you become my ol' lady."

"But—"

"No buts, Camilla." Turning her in my arms, I curve a hand to her ass and reach up into her hair, gripping it tight with the other. "No fighting this," I tell her, holding her gaze, our noses nearly touching. "For once, just be, baby, and live without thinking, without fighting." I don't give her the chance to speak any further, I lean down claiming her mouth.

Moving her backward toward the couch, I don't bother thinking I'll manage to get her any farther than there without relieving some of the pressure building in me. And my guess, in her as well.

Hell, I don't think I could go without at least my mouth on her pussy. The last time, I hadn't taken the time to taste her like I should've. I fucked her and let her go. This time around, that ain't about to happen.

She's here with me. I'm not about to let her get away from me again. She's here to stay whether she wants to admit it or not.