I thought things were going well. And then she started talking to Ma. Her little boy is in the back, so I’m not going to question her on the drive back to my house, but as soon as we get alone, I wanna know what’s gotten into her head.

She looks so beautiful, leaning her head against the car door, sleeping. So peaceful. Peaceful is the right word. She’s got faint wrinkles around her eyes, and I know it’s from her stressing out. She’s a type A personality without a doubt. I am too, but I don’t let it run me into the ground like she does.

But then again, I didn’t have the shitty luck she’s been having. It’s hard to believe a man would cheat on her. If I had to guess why, my guess would be money. His business had just failed. That, and she was making more than him. Maybe he felt emasculated. I don’t know, and I don’t really give a shit why. He was a fucking idiot for cheating on her. And for leaving her.

I turn the wheel up the drive and park in the garage as usual. It feels different though. I take a peek over my shoulder, and her little boy is passed out just like her. I don’t want to wake either of them, so I silently slip out of my seat and gently close the door. I go around to Jax’s door and carefully pull him out, letting his head rest on my shoulder. It’s odd carrying a sleeping child. He’s light and limp. Probably drooling on my shirt. I stifle my chuckle and carry him into the house.

I have a guest room upstairs that’ll be perfect for him. It’s right next door to my room, so I’m sure we’ll hear him if he wakes up. I lay him down nice and gentle, and hold my breath while he readjusts and snuggles into the mattress. I really don’t need this kid waking up and freaking out.

I turn around, and Becca nearly scares the shit out of me. My heart tries to jump up my fucking throat, and my blood shoots up with adrenaline. She’s standing there, rubbing her eyes in the doorway. I’m happy she has them closed too, because my first instinct was to reach for my gun. I tuck it back into the holster and casually walk toward her like she didn’t almost give me a heart attack.

“Bedtime, doll.” I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her out of the room, but she resists me. I look down at her wide, frightened eyes with a confused look.

“I don’t want to leave him alone.” Oh, fuck that. She’s sleeping with me. He sleeps alone at her place; he’ll be fine here.

“He’s already passed out, doll.” I tug on her waist again. She takes a look at him and then back to me before pulling away from me. She strolls over to him, and I wait in the doorway. I hold back on everything until I know for sure what she’s doing.

She leans over him and pets his hair before giving him a small kiss on the forehead. “Good night, my baby boy; I love you.” I just barely hear her.

She rises slowly, not taking her eyes off of him before coming back to my side. “Good girl.”

As soon as we get to the bedroom, she looks around like she’s lost. Like she’s a nervous virgin. I like that she’s a bit frightened. I like that I can take her control away. She’ll learn to love it. I’ll show her how good it can be when someone else is in charge.

I stroll to my dresser and grab a white tee shirt for her to wear for the night. I should go downstairs and grab all her shit. But I don’t feel like it, and she’ll look good in my shirt anyway. It’s that, or she can go naked. I’m fine either way. When I look up to toss her the shirt, she’s standing by the nightstand, digging through her purse.

“Whatcha looking for, doll?” I ask, walking up behind her.

“My pills.” Her answer makes my body go cold. I don’t like that she takes medication. I understand she’s wound tight and going through some shit, but I don’t like it. She grabs a bottle and pops the lid.

“Which one is that?” It wasn’t my business before, but now she’s in my care, so I want to know everything.

“Codeine,” she says while palming a single pill.

Shit, I feel like an asshole for thinking like that. Like she shouldn’t be taking medicine. Given what she’s been through, it’s amazing she’s doing everything that she is.

“I’ll get you a glass of water, babe.” I jog down the stairs so I can get back to her quickly. Guilt weighs down on my shoulders. She wouldn’t be in pain if it wasn’t for me.

When I get back to her she’s sitting on the bed, looking down at her bare feet and wearing the shirt I gave her. She has a sad look on her face. I can’t even begin to guess what’s causing it. There’s so much shit she has to deal with.

She takes the glass with a grateful smile and quickly swallows the pain meds.

I sit on the bed next to her and take a deep breath. I’ve been holding off on talking. It’s what we do in the family. You don’t talk about shit. It’s done and over with, and you move on. And we sure as shit don’t discuss any business in front of women. But this is different. She’s involved. She’s hurt. I need to understand what’s going on in her head in order to help her.

“Tell me what hurts, doll?” I start with an easy question.

She gives me a weak smile and says, “I’m f-” She stops her word and bites her bottom lip while smiling.

“You think that’s funny?” I shake my head. It’s a little funny that she always says she’s fine, but not really. 'Cause she’s not fine.

“I’m alright, Dom.” I turn my body toward her and run my finger over the small bruise showing through her makeup.

“Take all this off so I can look at you.” I know she’s roughed up. And that there’s more to her injuries than just the physical component. I’m gonna start with the bruises, then work my way to everything else.

She stares back at me for a minute with a blank look, like the one she gave me earlier and for a second I think I’m gonna have to remind her that she needs to listen to me. She swallows and gets up, heading for the open bathroom door to my en suite. I follow a few steps behind her. I’ll set her up with the steam room as soon as I get a good look at her. It’ll help her muscles. I should know. I’ve gotten the shit kicked out of me a few times, and the steam always helps relieve the soreness.

I hear her gasp when she turns on the light, and that makes me smile. My place is pretty fucking sweet. I didn’t hold back on the upgrades. Her bare feet make a soft padding noise as she walks across the travertine floor to the floating marble vanity. The sink itself is carved out of the marble, and I can tell she’s impressed. She turns to take in the rest of the room. The river rock shower takes up the back half of the room, with glass doors that separate it from the rest of the bathroom. There’s a comfortable bench inside where she can lounge while the steam goes to work on her body. In the center of the room is a rustic bowl soaking tub also made of stone. She walks slowly to it and runs her hand along the dark grey edge.

“You wanna soak a bit, doll?” She startles when my low voice seems to echo off the walls of the large bathroom. She looks at me with wide eyes, and then stares at the tiled floor. “I thought you might wanna lie down in the steam room, but a soak in the tub would be nice, too.” I still have some of that sea salt for healing. Not the shit that stings, but the good stuff. I take a step toward her, and she takes a step back.

“What’s gotten into you, doll?” She’s wearing that same guarded expression from dinner. I don’t fucking like it.

“How…” She struggles to ask whatever’s on her mind. Whatever her question is, it can’t be good. There’s a reason we don’t like the women asking questions. We don’t want them involved in this shit, it makes them targets. There’s usually an understanding about this. Women stay out of it.

But that’s not how shit worked out for her. She can’t just go along with things and leave the business to the men.

“Ask it, doll; whatever you want to know. I’ll tell you right now.” That’s partially a lie. I know it, but I don’t want to tell her there’s shit I’m not going to answer. I’ll let her ask whatever’s on her mind. Hopefully it’s nothing too specific. Something I can talk around.

“How many people have you killed?” she asks in a voice so low, it takes me a moment to actually understand her question.

Red fucking flags shoot up in my head. Cops ask questions like that. I run a hand through my hair and watch as her knuckles turn white gripping the edge of the tub. I need to get her ass in the tub first. It’s not like she’s a cop. She’s not. Tony would’ve figured that out if she was. And she’s not wearing a wire. Even if she was, I’ve got the blocker set up in every room of the house. No way a rat is getting shit out of me in my own home.

I take a step toward the tub, and she reacts with fear. Taking a sharp inhale, and another step away from me. She’s scared to ask me questions, and I don’t like that. I don’t know how Pops does it. I don’t know why Ma doesn’t ask, and never has. But it sure as shit isn’t because of fear.

I push the stopper down and lean over and turn the faucet on, letting the water warm before dipping my fingers into it. I turn the heat up a bit and walk to the shelves for the salt. It’s pink. Maybe she’ll like that. I scoop out a bit and drop it right below the running water and dip my fingers back in. That should be good for her. Maybe it’ll help her relax some.

“Get in, babe. Relax a bit, and then we’ll talk.” I sit my ass on the edge of the tub and grip her hips, pulling her in between my legs. Her lips part, and her small hands brace herself on my chest. I pull her closer and gently kiss under her ear, on that tender spot below her neck and it works like a charm. She relaxes slightly, leaning into me. A soft sigh leaves her as I leave another open-mouth kiss on the crook of her neck.

I love that sound, the little moan of satisfaction. I want to push for more; I want to run my hands from her thighs up to her ass, and squeeze. My dick hardens thinking about fucking her against the tub. The tub is solid and I could pound into her and force her to take the intensity of each thrust. But there’s no doubt it’d leave bruises. And she’s so hurt already.

I pull away from her, remembering her current state and place a soft kiss against her lips. I take her hand in mine and gently unravel the bandages. She did a shit job of putting them on. I should’ve done it earlier. My thumb brushes lightly over the raw skin on her wrists. She struggled against them. The abrasions from the rope piss me off. A deep hurt settles in my chest, and it takes everything in me to keep my face from showing my anger.

They hurt her to get to me. They tried to kill her. And they wanted me to see.

As adrenaline pumps through my blood and my heartbeat picks up, her small hands land on my shoulders and rub soothing circles. A satisfied groan rumbles through me. My hands find the small of her back, and I rest my forehead against her chest. She’s so warm and comforting. It takes a moment to notice that her arms have wrapped around me, and her head is resting on top of mine.

I tilt my head up and catch her bottom lip between my teeth. I pull back slightly at her whimper before letting her go. Her half-hooded eyes stare back with a spark of lust.

My doll fucking loves it rough. Her thighs clench in between my legs. I want to fuck into that hot, tight cunt so fucking much. My dick roars back to life as her eyes stare into mine, waiting for me to take her. “You want me to fuck you, doll?” Her fingers touch her lips and her eyes stare at mine as she slowly nods her head once.

I want it too, but not right now. I need to get her to tell me what’s going on in her head. I need answers. And so does she.

“Be a good girl and strip.” I watch her body as she pulls the shirt above her head and lets it fall onto the floor. Her breasts are full and lush, and I lean forward and take a nipple into my mouth. Teasing me, teasing her. She gasps as I bite down and pull back. She has one hand on my head, and one on her other breast. Her fingers pinch and pull her hardened nipple while her other hand tries to push me closer to her. Naughty girl.

I let her nipple go and love how her mouth forms a perfect “O” and her eyes close in pleasure. “Bad girl. You don’t direct this show, doll.” I set a bad example the last time we fucked by letting her lead like that. But damn, it turned me on. My dick jumps, remembering how fucking good it was. My breathing is picking up, and my fingers are itching to play with her body. My eyes trail down her skin, and then I see the bruises.

“You need a salt soak.” I have to keep my mind focused. Her ass isn’t topping from the bottom anymore. She just wants to fuck me. Other than that, she’s scared of me. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But for some reason, I don’t like it.

“Are you a fucking sadist?” She takes a step back and gives me a bewildered look. Well, she’s obviously not that scared. I guess when her sweet cunt’s begging for my attention she’s not so afraid.

I smirk at her and push off the edge of the tub, putting my body right in front of hers. I let my lips barely brush up against hers and respond, “It’s not gonna hurt.” My hands grab her ass and I squeeze her cheeks before lifting her up. She wraps her legs around my body and lets her heat rub against the bulging erection covered by my sweats. “I promise I’ll make it good for you.” I rock my dick against her heat and smile when that small moan parts her lips again. I turn with her in my arms and slowly put her in the water. She tries to hold onto me for a moment, and her legs tighten around me as her ass hits the warm water.

“Be a good girl for me, doll. I don’t want to have to spank that ass tonight.” Her eyes shoot to mine and search my face, trying to figure out if that’s an empty threat. She’s such a kinky bitch.

She slowly unwraps her legs and hesitantly sinks her hand into the water. As soon as one leg’s submerged, she drops her weight and relaxes, a look of pure bliss on her face. The steam from the bath rises around her. The salts leave a thin layer of translucent white on the surface of the water. Her breasts barely peek out just enough to tease me. Her nipples are hard, and they’re begging me to suck them. But not right now. I have to keep reminding myself.

She leans her head back against the tub and looks at the open door to the bathroom, a slightly worried look on her face.

“What’s distracting you, babe?” I sit on the edge of the tub, wiping the water from my arms onto my sweats. She tilts her head and narrows her eyes, wondering how I knew her mind had gone somewhere else. “You’re very easy to read.”

“Jax.” Her answer spreads warmth through my chest.

“What about your little man?” A gentle smile plays at her lips for a moment before she sighs.

“I just want to check on him.” She swallows and brings her hands out of the water to pull her hair from her shoulders and off of her face.

“I’ll go.” I start to get up. That’s an easy thing to check. Just make sure the little dude’s still knocked out. She sits straight up and grabs my hand with hers, stopping me.

I look back at her, wondering what the fuck that’s about. She swallows thickly and looks between me and the door. “It’s a new place, and he doesn’t know you.” She gives me an answer to my unspoken question.

“He’ll be asleep.” I hope he’s fucking asleep. “Do kids get up throughout the night?” I thought that was like a baby, baby thing.

She shakes her head and answers, “No, not usually.” Her eyes are still wide and they’re pleading with me, but I’m not sure what it is that she wants. It’s fucking hard figuring out this broad.

“Alright then, I’ll be back in a sec.” I pull my hand away and she lets me, settling back against the tub. “If he’s up, I’ll bring him in the bedroom for you.”

She seems to relax a bit and says, “Thank you.” But that look is still in her eyes. I don’t like it. I’m not going to bed until I figure out what the fuck’s going on with her.