“You.”

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

“Lily, you don’t know what you want. You want a man who doesn’t exist. One who will never touch you, pretend you don’t have something seriously messed-up going on inside of your head, and be willing to put up with you constantly in some kind of trouble.”

“I am not,” Lily snapped.

Shade lifted his brow at her response and her inability to deny the truth of the other two statements.

“The man I want exists, and I know you’re not him.”

“I’m the only man for you.” Menace poured from him before he regained control, shrugging and nodding his head toward the phone. “Make your mind up.”

“Beth and Razer can build another house,” Lily argued.

“They certainly can, but it won’t be that house.”

“Razer and you are like brothers; you wouldn’t do that to him,” Lily tried to call his bluff.

“Yes, I would,” he stated matter-of-factly, letting her see the truth in his face.

“I can’t do this.” She pointed back and forth between them.

“I’m not going to rush you. We can go as slow as you want. I’m a patient man.” When you’re not trying to rip my balls off.

“I’m going to talk to Diamond.”

“I’ll take you to see her tomorrow after you get finished at the church.”

Those papers had been written by the best lawyer money could buy. There were no loopholes other than his death. Shade would have to be careful turning his back to her.

“If I can find a way, I will leave.”

“You can leave now, Lily. It’s your decision,” he reminded her. She might not like the consequences, but it was her choice to make, for better or worse.

“Okay.” Lily gave in, staring down at the papers in her hand.

“Good, now that it’s settled, we need to take care of your punishment for nearly ripping my balls off.”

“I became caught up in our lesson,” Lily defended her actions.

“You were pissed at me for something. Care to tell?” Shade waited to see if she would admit the truth.

Lily remained silent, however.

“All right.” Shade leaned forward. “Let’s begin with Jewell. She closed the door to my office when Cash called. Kaley broke the rules. I really didn’t give a fuck if she tried to join the club or not. She would never have gotten enough votes to, anyway, so it’s no loss.

“Now, let’s talk about your punishment. I’m going to be lenient this time”—he paused at Lily’s unladylike snort—“and give you your choice of punishment.”

“What are the choices?”

Shade had no doubt she wasn’t going to be happy with any of them.

“You can take the spanking you deserve, or you can sleep in the bed tonight, or you can give me one kiss. Take your pick.”

“You’re not serious?”

“Yes, I am being more than fair. It hurt like hell when you grabbed my nuts. None of your choices involve excruciating pain.”

“That strap looks like it’s going to hurt.”

“I plan for you to enjoy that.” Shade gave her a grin.

Lily shivered.

“Which one?” Shade prompted her. “Would you like me to pick for you?”

“No! I’ll sleep in the bed,” Lily said reluctantly.

“You sure?”

Lily nodded.

“Fine. You can get ready for bed.” Shade got up from the chair, turning the television on. Since he had gotten the results he wanted, he needed to let her deal with the aftermath.

Lily gathered her pajamas before going into the bathroom. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Shade stood, placing the papers back in the envelope then setting them on the nightstand. He went back to the chair to sit down, listening to the shower running and knowing she was spending the time trying to figure a way out. There wasn’t any; he’d had a long time to make his plans. Too long.

Finally, she opened the door, dressed in flannel pajamas which were ugly as shit, but Shade pretended not to take his attention away from the television as Lily climbed into the bed.

He gave her a moment to settle her nerves before turning the television off and going into the bathroom. Then he took a long shower, letting her have some time to herself before putting on a pair of shorts and returning to the bedroom.

He could tell she was only pretending to be asleep as he climbed in the bed then turned off the lights. She was hugging the side of the bed so tightly he was surprised she hadn’t fallen off, and the whole bed was practically shaking with her frightened tremors.

Shade made himself comfortable. He had lost track of when the last time he had slept more than a couple of hours had been.

Her tense body gradually relaxed, and her fingers holding the side of the bed loosened to curl under her cheek.

Shade forced his body to remain still long after Lily had managed to drift off. When he was sure she had finally gone into a deep sleep, he rolled closer to her, fitting her against him as his warmth seeped into her chilled body. All his years of experience had led to that one moment: holding Lily close in his bed.

He was an expert at moving his body a centimeter at a time, slowly moving his fingers to play with the wisps of her hair on the pillow. A small smile tugged at his lips.

Chapter 53

Shade followed Lily back to the club the next day after picking up her car from hers and Beth’s house. He had driven her to work at the church store that morning then picked her up to take her to Diamond’s house. He hadn’t gone inside, letting her find out for herself the contract was ironclad. When she had come back outside, she hadn’t said anything other than for him to take her to get her car, which Rider had gone to her college to pick up for her with his trailer.

As they drove, the sky darkened with storm clouds. Shade remembered Razer telling him Lily hated storms. The strong winds were buffeting her vehicle and his bike. He had almost asked her to wait until tomorrow to talk to Diamond, not wanting her out in the storm, but he didn’t want her to think he was hiding something, so he had hoped the storm wouldn’t hit until they were back at the club.

She pulled into The Last Riders’ parking lot, driving toward the back where he motioned for her to park before he turned his bike around. Then he headed back toward the front where he parked his motorcycle with the rest. Shade walked over to her car when she got out, carrying a car cover.

He pulled it over the vehicle as she asked, “Why cover my car?” while watching him curiously.

“Just being careful. If someone is looking to find out where you’re staying, they’ll either have to follow you or come onto the property to see if this is your car.”

“If they do?”

“Then we’ll see them.” Shade pointed to the cameras. “We placed a few in your home, too, so if they try to break in again, an alarm will go off at the sheriff’s office and here, also.

“Maybe they gave up and moved on.”

“Possibly, but I don’t believe so. Whoever’s been watching you has been doing so for a while.” Shade tried to ease her fears. “Don’t worry; we’ll find out who it is and deal with it.”