Two years later, Athena had been born. Our precious little baby girl. Her pregnancy had been easy.
We’d settled in England. Ashley wanted us to have a fresh start, and I’d already been in the process of buying us a house. Emily and her men visited us regularly, and we went to Crude Hill a couple of times a year.
I never thought I’d fall in love or feel this way about anyone, but Ashley was different.
She was all mine, and I was hers.
I continued to run my empire. Building it from strength to strength. I didn’t need any of the other businesses, and I worked alongside law enforcement whenever they needed me. Going fully legal hadn’t come without risks. I had enemies, and I made sure my wife and children were protected at all costs. The Monsters back in Crude Hill were also protected. Their lives were not up for questioning within relation to me or what I do.
Life was a balancing act, but Ashley was worth it.
Some people believed I’d become a pussy with a wife.
I hadn’t.
I was far deadlier than ever before, and there were at least three people who were now dead who could have told everyone. During the first year, my wife received death threats, and one day, I came home to find someone in our house. I’d killed them without Ashley ever finding out, and I’d buried what was left of the body.
Each time people thought to take me on, they were fools to try.
My professional life had taken a turn, but that didn’t mean the beast lurking beneath me was gone.
Only Ashley and my babies got to see a good man. Everyone else got to see the real me, the man they all deserved to see.
Once I was in position, I removed Ashley’s blindfold. She blinked against the full beam of light. We were out on the ocean. There were several clear days scheduled. I wanted my wife, naked, waiting for me, and with no chance of kids asking what their daddy was doing to their mommy.
A few mornings that had happened, and a couple of nights. I’d been so fucking close, and my kids were cock blockers, but I loved them.
“Hello, Mrs. Valentine.” I pressed a kiss to her neck.
She tilted her head back and moaned. “Yes.”
“I want you to get completely naked and spread those legs for me. I’m totally taking you right here, right now.”
“Anyone could see,” she said.
I growled against her flesh. “Haven’t I proven to you that no one but me will see you? No one will look at you or know. They will have to answer to me.”
She groaned as I cupped her pussy. She was already so wet. “I love you, Earl.”
“I love you too.”
By the end of this anniversary, I intended to knock her up. It was time she had another kid. Each baby we had bound her more firmly to me.
I was an obsessive guy, and when I knew what I wanted, I went for it. Ashley was mine, and no one else was ever going to know what fucking treasure they all gave up.
Mine.
The End
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BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
SMOKEY
Sam Crescent
Copyright © 2021
Sample Chapter
Ava Sinclaire stared into her shot glass. Tequila wasn’t her drink of choice but tonight she was celebrating. The divorce had finally come through. She was a free agent from that lying, cheating scumbag.
“You okay there, sweetheart?” the bartender, Ryan, asked. He’d told her his name the moment she sat at the bar.
“I’m perfectly fine.”
“I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“I’m kind of new.” She offered him a smile. Totally new. Three months new. After moving to Fort Clover, Ava had set up her bakery in town and was doing quite well. Her first official day of opening turned a small crowd, which she loved. Everyone in town was so nice to her. They all wanted to know more about her, but the moment she told them all she was in the process of getting a divorce, everyone seemed to accept that.
“You sticking around?”
“Yep. Have you heard of the baker called Ava’s? It’s mine.”
“No shit. I had one of the nicest cream pies from there just last week. You made them?”
“Yep, that was me.”
“Wow, shit. You do good. I hear you only work three days a week, though, right?”
“Yes, right.”
Someone hollered his name, and within seconds, she was alone again.
Yep, she had her bakery three days a week. Her parents had left her a small fortune that Derek had tried to get from her, but thanks to the prenup her lawyer demanded he sign, she’d been saved from handing over half of her parents’ money.
She rarely used it, or at least had rarely used it until she moved towns and bought herself a small house. It was on the edge of town. Just a small place. Two bedrooms, a nice garden. A space for her to enjoy and relax. After all the drama her ex had put her through, she wanted it.
At thirty years old, she knew it was lame to just want peace and quiet, but she was done with men. Done with all the drama they seemed to entail.
Ryan came back, filled her glass with more tequila, and she thanked him. She didn’t even know if Fort Clover had a cab company. She was way past her limit.
When the bar suddenly went silent, she frowned and turned around to see what the problem was. In the doorway stood not one, but six, or maybe it was three, or perhaps twelve angry-looking bikers. She must be seeing something, or the tequila had gone straight to her head.
The realtor had warned her there was a local motorcycle club hanging around. There had been one close by in the last town she lived in, and that hadn’t been much of a problem.
Spinning back to the bar, she stared down at her shot, wondering why the hell she was even celebrating anyway. Yes, she was finally rid of Derek, but why celebrate that? He’d been wrong for her from the start.
Before he’d entered her life, she had friends, a great job, fun. Her ex had turned her into a woman who slowly stopped seeing friends, stopped going out, and just lived for his approval, only to never get it. He’d chipped away at her armor until she walked in on him fucking his secretary, right in their bedroom. The moment she saw him, it was like a switch had gone off inside her head, and she’d flipped right back to who she was. Only now, she was all alone and ten years older. No kids. No marriage. Fuck all but a nice house, her bakery, and her parents’ money still safely belonging to her.