Captive by Natasha Thomas

room.
     
    Arranging her so that she curled into me again I stroke down her arm, and murmur,
    “It’s alright Angel. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you, promise. You’ve just got to trust me for a minute. You think you can do that, sweetheart.”
     
    Seeing the tears in her eyes fucking hurts. It makes my chest tight, and mist fists clench. I want to destroy the fucks that have made her cry. The desire to beat the shit out of one of the men I’ve looked up to for years is startling, but not a shock. I’d do anything for the woman in my arms. Any-fucking-thing.
    “Yes. I trust you Max.” She shouldn’t, I don’t deserve her trust, but I can’t say that I’m not fucking ecstatic she does.
     
    Nodding at her I turn to the men crowding the other side of the room. Stances ready to throw down, expressions grim, anger emanating off them in waves is apparent, but no more so than the worry that’s so thick I could cut it with a knife. Clearing his throat Diesel asks,
    “Ade, you gotta tell us what’s wrong, why you called us down here babe. Looks like you’ve got yourself a man that could’ve taken care of shit, not that I mind in the least being here, but you’ve gotta let us in, let us fix whatever the problem is, yeah?”
     
    Diesel is the most reasonable of the bunch, I’m pretty sure that’s why Boss made him his VP. It’s always good to have a voice of reason over your shoulder when the shit hits the fan. Someone that will think shit out before acting, reign brothers in that’ve gone off the rails seeking retribution in anger. Shifting, but not out of discomfort, Adelyn shakes her head.
    “Um, well I, don’t think this is the best time to talk about it.” She sounds unsure, but I pick up on her meaning immediately. This has something to do with me, and I’ll be fucked if she’s going to cut me out of that discussion. She’ll have to come to terms with me being in her life sooner or later, so sooner it is.
     
    “I’m going to be straight with you Angel,” I say loud enough for the other men to hear. “We’ve got our shit to sort out, but that’s not going to change the fact that you’re mine. I’m not going to let you shut me out, and you’re going to come clean with why you called them down, and you didn’t just come to me first. I get that you’re still pissed, and you have every right to be, but that’s no reason not to come to me first. You could’ve saved them the trip if you did.”
     
    The tension radiating from her body has her muscle going tight. Her eyes are daring between the three men glaring at me, and finally come to rest on the side of my face boring deep holes into the side of my skull. It takes her less than a second to wiggle her way out of my arms, and be standing beside the chair. It takes her less than a minute to have crossed to the other side of the room from all of us effectively creating what’s akin to a Bermuda Triangle.
    “Fuck you asshole. Fuck you right to hell and back. You’ve got no right to tell me to come to you for help after what you did, and if you didn’t have your head so far up your ass you would have picked up on the fact I was trying to save it. But no, you have to go all macho saying crap like that, making it impossible not to bring you into it. So fuck you, and I hope your life insurance is paid up.”
     
    I’ve never seen anything like it. The fury she managed to hide. The fact she said she was trying to protect me has me uncomfortable as fuck, and I don’t mean emotionally. I’m turned on as hell at the feisty woman spitting fire in my direction, and as inappropriate as it is she has me hard as a rock.
    “Now’s the time to spill, Addie. More than happy to escort the bastard out, have a chat with him after you have, but it sounds like something he’s involved in, so why don’t we get it over and done with, yeah? It’s been a long ride, and I’d like a fucking nap, I’m getting old you know.”
     
    He’s trying to inject