Page 43 of King
He sighed and dropped a small kiss on the top of my head, catching me off-guard with the sweet, gentle gesture, then he dropped his arms and stepped back again.
“I am sorry, Ella, please believe that. You’re right. I should have called you. I wish I had. I missed you, and I wanted to talk to you, but…fuck, it’s complicated,” he sighed again. After a moment’s hesitation, he continued, “There are gonna be times when I can’t explain everything to you because it’s club business, and we don’t discuss that outside of the patched club brothers, for your protection as well as ours. This is one of those times. I couldn’t reach out to you, but I should have had Cowboy orone of the others let you know that things were taking longer to resolve than I’d planned.” He cupped his hand under my chin, raising my head so that I had no choice but to look at him.
“I would have appreciated that, so I wasn’t left feeling like some random hookup you’d fucked and forgotten about.”
“Trust me, sugar, you are unforgettable. I’ll get better at making sure you know that.”
I shook my head, and he hurried on before I could say a word. “Look, I get it. I fucked up. If I’m honest, it probably won’t be the last time I fuck up, either, but I promise you this. I learn from my mistakes, and I won’t make the same one twice.”
“I learn from mine, too. I already made the mistake of letting a man treat me as an afterthought for years. I’m not doing that again.” I looked at him beseechingly, my anger from before being replaced by sadness as I tried to make him understand.
“I’m not sure what you want with me, but I don’t think I’m cut out for this. Despite what happened between us, I’m not into casual sex. I don’t expect a commitment from every man I date, but if I’m sleeping with him, I’d better be the only one he’s with. I have trust issues, so I don’t think I can be OK with secrets, or with half-naked women like Star around you all the time. We had a good time together, King. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“Dante,” he insisted, then heaved a sigh. “Look, I can’t claim to be perfect, but I’m not that piece of shit you were married to. I’ve never cheated on a woman in my life, even when my own piece of shit ex was stepping out on me. You don’t have to worry about Star or any other woman. Yes, there are things I can’t tell you about the club because they aren’t just my secrets. They involve my brothers, too. I will promise you that even if I can’t tell you exactly what I’m doing sometimes, I’ll make suresomeone is in contact with you, even if it can’t be me for some reason.”
“I can’t do this,” I told him again softly. I wanted so badly to believe him, but I knew I needed to stand my ground. “Goodbye, Dante.”
“Dammit, Ella, don’t do this. Let’s talk this out.”
He reached for my hand, but I pulled out of his grasp and opened the door. I walked out and started down the hall, pausing for the briefest of seconds when I heard something smash against the wall of the office.
“Fuck!” he yelled angrily, and the sound echoed through the hallway despite the music now being played in the main area of the bar. I took a deep breath and kept walking.
I was blinking away tears by the time I got to my SUV. I hit the button for my hands-free phone connection, commanding it to call Camille
“Hey, Ellie-belle, what’s shakin’?”
“I ran into King. So, the good news is that he says he really was busy, and he apologized for not contacting me. The bad news is that I just ended things with him anyway.”
Dead silence greeted my announcement, then she sucked in a breath. “Well, shit. Come on over, and I’ll break out the wine.”
I started to laugh, then my breath caught in my throat as the tears loomed again. I swallowed hard, willing myself not to cry. “I can’t have more than one glass. I need to drive home later.”
“All right, then I’ll break out the ice cream instead.”
“I’m on my way.”
