“We need to talk, Marcum, honey,” Cherry says the minute I sit down.

“Don’t see why,” I grumble, annoyed that she’s here. I should have her locked up and monitored. After interrogating her some last night and talking with the men, I decided against it. I looked to Topper and Ride for guidance on this one, because I’m not sure I can be impartial. Our final decision was to let her believe we somewhat trust her, just to see what her next move is. My only request is we keep her from the kids, so I’m not sure how the fuck this is going to work full time. Hopefully Cherry will be gone soon.

I’m probably a stupid fuck, but she was a decent woman before. I don’t think she’s lying about the reasons she was helping Weasel, but something does feel different about Cherry.

Fuck. Maybe it’s because I’m not thinking with my dick.

“You’re angry with me,” she sighs. I look at her then, appraising her. Honestly, I haven’t paid her much attention. She hasn’t changed a lot. Her hair is shorter these days, her makeup a little heavier, but mostly the same Cherry she was before. The same one who told me she couldn’t live with me knowing I killed another woman so easily. The same woman who apparently never understood me from day one.

How could she, if she thought that I would let Jenna continue to draw air after knifing Max and the club in the back? She fucked with my son and got Tess shot. I almost lost them both because of her. Jenna knew what would happen; she wasn’t a fucking stranger to this club, to the rules we lived by. If I hadn’t retaliated, I wouldn’t be sitting here. Fuck, I wouldn’t be breathing. My world sniffs out weakness and if they find it, you’re fucked.

“You came back to help out an enemy of my club,” I start.

“I didn’t know he was an enemy, honey. When I was here, he was one of the crew.”

“Weasel was never one of the crew.”

“He helped you sometimes. You used his skills and he had club privileges,” she argues.

“I’d buy that from anyone else, but not you, Cherry. You lived behind my walls. Fuck woman, you slept in my bed. You knew how shit was done, and you still did it.”

“I thought I was helping out the club.”

“You want to help the club, you come to me,” I shrug, as one of the club girls puts a plate of food in front of me.

“We didn’t exactly leave things on good terms, Marcum, honey.”

“That’s a good reason for you to walk away and not get involved.”

“Marcum, I still feel loyalty to the club and to you. I can’t just turn that off. I don’t want you angry with me.”

I lean up on my elbows and look at her, really look at her. I didn’t love her, but I should feel something… and yet, I don’t.

That probably makes me a bastard, but it doesn’t change the truth.

“I’m not angry with you, Cherry. If I were, you wouldn’t be inside the walls of my club, sitting at my table.”

She smiles at my answer and something flashes in her eyes that I do not like. I don’t know what it is, but it’s different than any other emotion I remember from her and it sets off warning bells.

“I’m so glad, Marcum. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

“If I was angry, you wouldn’t be breathing right now. Then again, you know that. That’s why you left,” I remind her, driving my point home hard, because I’ve always been a firm believer in going with my gut. And, right now, my gut is telling me to keep an eye on Cherry.

Her face pales and it damn well should. My mood is soured, but luckily that’s the moment Toi comes down the stairs.

She’s walking a little tenderly and I can’t help the cocky grin that spreads on my face. I wasn’t easy with her, and I’ll probably continue to be that way. Toi’s like a drug that goes straight to my head.

She’s wearing worn jeans that I’ve seen several times before, and a black long sleeved shirt that is just as familiar… Yet it’s all different this time.

Because today she’s wearing my cut.

I’ve got one of her own being fixed. I’ve never claimed a woman in this way. Even when Cherry was my old lady, officially, I never gave her a cut. This is a big step for me and you can tell that by the silence filling the room. I fight the urge to look at Ghost. He’s the motherfucker I want to deliver my message to the most, but for the life of me I can’t pull my eyes away from Toi.

Her hair is down and she takes my fucking breath and locks it in my chest. She’s beautiful. I make a note to take her shopping for more clothes, and to fuck her soon. I don’t think I can wait much longer. She stands back from the table, blushing and looking very unsure.

I walk over to her, drawn to her like a fucking moth to a flame.

“You look good, Dragonfly,” I whisper in her ear, pulling her into my body. “I like your hair down.”

“I had a bruise on my neck,” she whispers back and I move my hand along the inside of her neck, lifting her hair. It’s the hickey I gave her earlier. I haven’t done that shit since I was a wet-behind-the-ears kid, trying to prove himself to the world. Toi makes me want to mark her entire fucking body, though. I grin down at her.

“I like it,” I tell her pulling her hair over her shoulder, revealing it a little better.

“You’re an ass,” she whispers, but she says it with an almost-smile on her lips. I pick her up, cradling her against my body. “Marcum!” she gasps. “I can walk!”

“You’ve been in a bad wreck. I want to carry you.”

“I’m fine,” she says.

“I should probably tell you now, I like carrying you. I’m liable to do it often,” I tell her, ignoring her protest. I walk her over to the table and sit down in the chair with her. The minute we sit down, the men start talking again. Toi tries to move off of my lap, but the chair beside me is where Cherry is sitting and Toi isn’t getting out of arm’s length from me. I keep her in my lap, not letting her go.

“I…”

“I want you here, Dragonfly.”

“But—”

“Hearing your voice makes me happy. If you’re not in my lap, I may not hear it, and I need to hear it, Toi. You stay in my lap.”

She sighs, but she doesn’t argue. I reach down and get a piece of bacon from my plate and hold it to her lips. She opens slowly and takes a bite, her eyes glued to mine. She chews slowly and I stab a piece of scrambled egg on my fork and hold it up next.

“Let me guess. You like feeding me too?”

“Got it in one, baby. Got it in one,” I answer with a grin, and that grin only gets bigger when she takes the egg between her lips and I hear a chair scrape against the floor. I look away to see Cherry giving Toi a look I do not like. I make a mental note about that, but then I see Ghost walking out of the room. I lean down and kiss Toi’s forehead. She has no idea what’s going on, I see it on her face, but that’s okay. Ghost and I do. It’s too late for him and he knows it.

Toi’s mine.