Chapter Twenty Eight
"Hey," whispered Brody harshly. "Get up."
Timber moaned in protest, snuggling tighter against Romeo. She'd just shut her eyes after having fabulous sex. There was no way it was already time to get up and go to work.
"What the hell do you want?" Romeo's arm tightened around her.
"Timber's mom is at the door. She wants to talk to her."
She blinked awake and pulled the blanket up higher on her naked body. "My mom? Now?"
"Let her in and tell her to wait." Romeo groaned. "Damn..."
Brody left the room, shutting the door behind him. Timber sat up, moving to get out of bed. Romeo grabbed her wrist, stopping her from leaving the bed.
"I'll go talk to her. It's the middle of the fucking night. She can come back tomorrow."
She leaned over and kissed him. "It's okay. I'll deal with her. You can sleep."
He hooked her waist, rolling her across his body and flipping on top of her, pinning her to the bed. Her body melted into the mattress and the stress of her mom coming to the house fled.
Romeo pressed his erection against her pussy and kissed the side of her neck. Her eyes rolled as a wave of pleasure swept through her. She stretched, wiggling against the flutters he created inside her, wanting closer.
"You keep moving like that, and you're never getting out of this bed." Romeo growled in her ear.
She moaned in frustration. "I need to go see what mom wants."
Romeo lifted his head and gave her a peck on the lips before pushing off the bed. The loss of his body gave her a chill. She crawled out of bed and grabbed a hoody and pair of joggers from the dresser.
"She's probably looking for Dice like she always does," she said.
"Well, nobody knows where he's gone."
"That's typical." Her lip snarled before she could hide her reaction. "He wasn't around most of the time. Neither was my mom. The summer between sixth and seventh grade, I was left for three months. I might not know what parents are supposed to do, but I don't think it's abandoning their child for months."
Romeo pulled a T-shirt over his head and reached for this leather vest. "Who looked out for you?"
She stilled. "I did."
Romeo mouth thinned, and he shoved his feet into his boots. It wasn't something she shared with others. In fact, it was the first time she'd told another person.
"Stay up here." Romeo stormed for the door.
She grabbed his arm, but he walked out of the room as if he couldn't feel her restraining him. "Babe, I can handle her."
"But you don't have to handle her." He squeezed her hand. "You've got me now."
She studied him. He honestly believed it was up to him to handle all the drama her family brought to her.
"You want to handle my business?" she asked.
He caressed his thumb against her cheekbone. "What did you call me a second ago?"
"Babe."
The dimple on his cheek deepened. "I like that."
She rocked on her feet, swaying toward him when he continued his path to the living room. Hurrying behind him, she wanted to make sure that her mom wouldn't change his mind about how he was feeling toward her.
She wasn't going to let anyone or anything get between her and Romeo. Coming to Spokane, meeting Romeo, and moving in with him was the best thing that had ever happened to her.
In the living room, her mom stood from the chair. Timber slipped her fingers into Romeo's hand.
"Thank God, you're here." Her mom clasped her hands together against her chest. "Where's your dad?"
"I wouldn't know," she said, finding her voice.
She wouldn't stand there and let her mom hide the truth again. Dice was gone. For all she cared, her mom could go back to the mysterious grandfather and leave her alone.
"This isn't funny, Timber. I need to find Dice." Her mom glanced at Romeo. "I went to the clubhouse, but they won't tell me where he is hiding."
"That's because it's none of your business." Romeo's thumb caressed Timber's hand. "Now, it's late. Your daughter has to work tomorrow, and I want to go to bed."
He moved over to open the door. Timber let go of his hand and crossed her arms.
"I've protected you all your life," whispered her mom. "I promise not to tell my father about you. I've done the best I could to keep you a secret and out of his business."
"I'm just your dirty little secret because a man who would harm his own granddaughter is more important to you than I am." Her jaw tightened, warning her to shut up, but she couldn't stop. "You go back to your family and don't even care if it puts my life in danger."
"It's not like that." Her mother shook her head. "I can't leave him. He's getting older. He could change."
"Does he know where you go when you leave him? Does my grandfather know you still lead my dad around like a puppy because you're too scared to live your life on your own? Aren't you tired of lying all the time?" Feeling stronger, Timber squared her shoulders. "You've never wanted me, so why don't you go back to your father and forget you have a daughter. Why doesn't everyone just go away and leave me alone?"
She whirled around and ran up the stairs. Rushing past Brody in the hallway, she stepped inside the room and slammed the door—too late realizing she probably woke up the other Muel brothers.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Sitting on the couch, Romeo grabbed Timber's wrist and pulled her between his legs. She held up the empty bowl she was carrying to the kitchen and fell onto his thigh.
"Look at this, doll." Romeo pointed toward the television. "He's going. Going."
She looked at the football game. Sports had never interested her. She couldn't even tell you what two teams were playing, except one team had a green uniform, and the other wore white.
"Damn right. Got him on the forty-yard line. Second down." Brody grabbed the bowl out of her hand. "Hey, what happened to the popcorn?"
"I'll make more." She kissed Romeo's cheek. "I need up."
"Sit."
She laughed. "If you want snacks, I need to be in the kitchen."
"Wait until the commercial." His attention went back to the game.
She sat quietly, listening to the two brothers chatter back and forth about their predictions on who would win. When the commercial came on, Romeo let go of her. She hopped up and hurried into the kitchen.
She put another bag of popcorn in the microwave and pushed start. While she waited, she wiped down the counter. She'd made everyone hotdogs after finding it was a game day regular when they could manage to get off at the same time.
Today, only Brody and Romeo were home, and it was her day off.
"Games back on," shouted Romeo. "Doll?"
"Coming," she yelled, shutting the microwave off and starting a new bag.
Bouncing the bag from hand to hand, trying to cool it off enough to open without getting burned with steam, she peeked into the living room. Romeo's attention was already back on the game in front of him.