He sat beside her, looping an arm around her and pulling her against his side. She leaned against him and draped her arm across his stomach.
"Heavy night." He exhaled harshly while kissing her forehead.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Nah." He kissed her again and sighed. "I checked in with Brody when I left. He said your dad stayed away."
"Did you really think he'd come back after the truth came out there's a family on my mom's side that would do anything to know I existed?" She snuggled against him. "He wouldn't return even when I believed I was in danger."
Romeo pulled her in front of him and held her tight. "Dice loves you. He just has a hell of a way of showing you."
She snorted quietly. "Trust me. He doesn't. I think now that the truth is out, he'll ride off into the sunset because the dirty little secret he and mom had is out in the open. She can go back to the family that obviously was more important to her, and he can ride off the edge of a cliff."
"I don't think that'll happen."
"You'll see." She stroked his beard. "You know, all these years of watching my mom leave me alone, I believed she was running off to be other men. I thought that's what my mom and dad fought about. He was always begging her to stay, promising to live with her if she'd stay home. Mom always threw it in his face that she couldn't have the life she wanted because of me. Like having a daughter ruined her life. She should've given me up for adoption."
"Is that what you thought growing up?"
She shrugged. "I knew she always left to go see someone else. I assumed it was other men—that's why my dad would get so mad. Somehow, those men she was with were bad men and would hurt me. They had me scared to death until I hit fourteen years old and stopped believing them. I thought both of them were paranoid and unfaithful to each other. I never thought she'd have a family or a dad that took her away."
Romeo's chest hardened underneath her. "Dice wasn't lying about the dangers. There will be certain rules set up. I don't want you wandering around Spokane by yourself. Either I'll be with you, one of my brothers or a Killere member will escort you."
She sat up, staying in his arms. "Who is he?"
"Your grandfather?"
She nodded. Since learning she had a relative, a grandpa, she wanted to know if he was anything like her.
"I'm not going to give you his name, doll." Romeo kissed her forehead. "He sells and uses women, among other things. Even if he treated you like a princess, he'd end up hurting you in the long run. You don't want mixed up with someone like him."
She shivered, not liking the thought of having any DNA from someone evil. "Why would my mom still have a relationship with her dad if he's so bad?"
"I don't know. Maybe she's scared of what he'll do if she tries to leave the family."
"Hm." She exhaled out her mouth, letting her lips vibrate in frustration. "I don't even know who I am."
"Yeah, you do." He leaned his head back on the couch and pulled her onto his chest. "You're Timber Mitchell. You're strong, independent, and self-reliant. I know that without knowing what you've lived through, that's all that matters. That stubbornness that got you across the state, a new job, and finding me will see you through the rest of your life." He tilted her head. "By the way, if I ever find out you hitchhiked with a trucker again, I'll beat your ass."
She snuggled against him, smiling to herself. His possessiveness was new, but she kind of liked it. As long as he kept his demands reasonable.
Romeo yawned. She inhaled deeply, finding it impossible to believe they were sitting here, holding each other, and growing closer.
It was too good to be true. As much as she wanted to let her feelings toward Romeo consume her, she had a whole other life outside the door, ready to threaten her happiness. Again.
"You need to sleep," she said.
"So do you." He lifted her in his arms and strode up the stairs. "I'm not closing my eyes without you in my arms."
"You make my heart dance," she whispered, stripped bare of her insecurities and baggage. "Twirls that leave me breathless."
Romeo stopped outside the bedroom door in the hallway, "Can I ask you something?"
"Mm-hm." She would her arms around his neck, capturing his earlobe between her teeth. "Anything."
"Are you happy here?"
Her stomach fluttered. She grabbed his face, digging her fingers into his beard, and kissed him deeply.
Romeo fumbled with the doorknob, finally getting the door open. She pulled back once he stopped walking.
"You're everything I've ever wanted," she whispered.
He set her down on the bed, taking the spot beside her. "My brothers don't drive you crazy?"
She laughed softly, leaning against his arm. "Living here has shown me what I always imagined it would be like to have a real family. Brody's quiet like me. Turner thinks he's tough but is always the first to approach me if he thinks I'm upset. Caleb snores...big time."
Romeo chuckled.
She looped her arm around his arm. "I don't understand how people mix up Sander and Axel once you get to know them. They're completely different men. Axel is a jokester. Sander is more serious. They depend on each other more than the others, and I think they're the glue that keeps everyone coming back to the house to eat dinner together. They like routines, and everyone indulges them."
Romeo toed off his boots. "What about me? What do you know?"
"You grin to mask how you feel." She tilted her head and lowered her voice. "People are enamored with your looks. They don't see past the flash of the dimple. But I can tell you worry about your brothers constantly. When you're not at the Killere Clubhouse, you're rounding up your brothers, making sure they're not in trouble. You let them get away with everything because you fear losing them in your life—but you won't, Romeo. They love you."
Romeo stared at the floor. She pressed her cheek against his bicep.
"The world moves too fast for you," she whispered. "You want someone to hold on to, but you're afraid your lifestyle isn't fit to share with someone else."
"It's not fair to ask—"
"Yes, it is." She squeezed his arm. "If...she loves you, nothing would make her run away from what you offer her."
He glanced at her and raised his brow. "What if she's used to running?"
He was talking about her. She spent her whole life running. Once she wrapped her thoughts around the new information over having a grandfather who was alive and would want her if he knew she existed, she had no idea if she would run away from the danger or stay put and face whatever came her way.
"Love should keep her home," she whispered. "At least I'd like to think it does."
She hoped he was putting feelers out to see how she felt about him. They were growing closer every day, and despite him claiming her, she had no idea what tomorrow would bring.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Onyx whistled. Romeo let the door of the clubhouse swing shut and turned around without leaving.