She scrunches up her face and pulls away from me. "No, I felt ashamed for years because I figured that's why Tyler-"

"Babe, he sounds like a sick fuck who preyed on an innocent girl."

She tips her head forward so that her hair covers most of her face. "I wasn't innocent."

My hand brushes over her leg to get her attention. I want her to look at me. "You were, what? Fourteen?" I'm sick thinking about it. She should have been sneaking around with boys her own age not being molded into what some twisted old fuck wanted her to be.

"I never said no,'" she whispers.

"Did you feel like you could?"

Finally, she looks up at me. "Not until I came here. The times I tried, didn't end well for me. I ran away once and being on the street was almost worse"

Christ, no wonder she's so twisted about us.

"Trinity, you know I'd never let that happen."

"But what if we-"

"No. No what if. I love you."

"Wyatt, please listen to me. I couldn't go back to all that hostility between us."

Because you love me too. Admit it.

"It would kill me and where would I-"

"Trinity, I'll leave first before I do that to you, okay?"

"No. You couldn't-"

"Yes, for you I would. But it's a non-issue."

"I'm afraid when you get to know the real me, you won't like her very much and realize this was a mistake."

A number of things come to mind. First-that's absurd. Second-I wonder the same thing about myself sometimes. Third-that's never going to happen. I start with number three. "I think I know you pretty well by now."

Her mouth curves up a bit. "Yeah. Probably better than anyone else ever has."

I like the sound of that. "And I love everything about you."

Now her face pulls into a sad smile. "I like everything about you, too. So much it scares me."

"So let's try not to worry about stuff that will never happen."

"I'll try."

I guess that's as good as I'm gonna get right now.

She takes a deep breath and looks in my eyes. "I've never told anyone the whole story."

"Thank you for trusting me." I hold open my arms and she snuggles up against me again.

"Do you remember the night we met?"

"Of course. It's still one of the best nights of my life, Trinity."

She pulls away and stares. "I trusted you. You made me feel safe and comfortable. Even though I was a little nutty that night."

Laughter rumbles out of me. "Yeah, you definitely took me down a peg or two."

"I think I was just freaked out by how much I liked you. The last time I trusted someone like that"

Yeah, she doesn't need to finish that sentence.

"Trin, about that night. I'm sorry I-"

"No. Don't ruin it. It's still one of the best nights of my life too."

Revealing my past to Wrath doesn't leave me feeling as vulnerable as I thought it would. If anything, I'm relieved to share it with him. Not once did he make me feel bad or ashamed. I fall asleep in his arms and don't wake until morning. Not one nightmare.

"Hey, babe," he greets me in the sexy, morning-rough voice I love so much.

"Were you watching me sleep?"

He runs his hand over his face and yawns. "Yeah, you're pretty."

It's simple but so amazing to hear.

His phone buzzes and he throws his arm out, slapping the nightstand until he finds it. He takes a second to check the screen and smirks. "Guys are on their way back."

My mouth turns up. I know how happy Hope will be to see Rock and I say so.

"Ummm, he said keep it under wraps. He wants to surprise her."

"That's mean. What if she wants to get all dolled up for him?"

Wrath shrugs. "Only one I'm worried about gettin' dolled up is you."

We tease each other like that for a few minutes. Then one hand cups my cheek and he stares into my eyes. "You okay, baby?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry I made you-"

"I feel better."

He nods once. "I have a confession to make."

Immediately I assume he's teasing me. "Oh, yeah?"

He runs his thumb over my bottom lip. "The reason I asked you to help me prepare for the fight? I just wanted a way to get close to you again. You blew me off after we-"

My hand reaches for his face. "Oh, Wyatt."

"You were a big help to me. Once I came up with the idea, I knew it was a good one."

I work to keep the smile off my face. "So why the confession?"

"I feel guilty you got behind on your book stuff because of me."

Sweet mercy. How is it this man who could kill someone with his bare hands if he wanted to, is also so fucking sweet? "Yeah, but you got me all my fancy new stuff. I'll be caught up in no time."

"I'm glad. Want you focusing on that. Gonna talk to Rock soon about you handing off your household chores to someone else."

Now wait just a minute. I bolt upright. "What?"

"I don't want my woman being the maid of the MC anymore."

"You said you-"

"That came out wrong. You're my girl. I want you lookin' after me and I want you concentrating on your art."

"Wrath. You know I like taking care of things around here, right? It gives me purpose. I can't explain it."

He looks away. "I get that. Just think about it, okay?"

Think nothing. Now that I'm aware this is in Wrath's head, it's only a matter of time before he takes it to Rock. I'm not sure how I feel about it, although I would like the extra time to make my business more solid.

"I'll think about it."

He leans down and plants a kiss on my forehead. "Thank you."

Trinity decided she wouldn't be able to keep a straight face around Hope, so she's in her room. Honestly, I think she couldn't wait to get her hands on her new computer equipment. When I left, she was so into setting things up, she barely glanced at me.

I'm not insulted. Seeing her happy, makes me happy.

Messin' with Hope is also making me happy. She's got no clue her man's coming home any minute now.

"What?" she asks me for probably the tenth time this morning.

"Nothing." I grin at her and she wrinkles her nose.

Her face goes through a complete change when we hear the guys coming up the driveway.

"You're evil! Why didn't you tell me?" she shouts, shooting off the couch.

"Go greet your man." That was pointless. She's already halfway to the door.

After a minute or two Rock carries Hope in. He barely glances at me long enough to nod and then takes her right upstairs.

Murphy drops his bags at the foot of the stairs. "Ain't gonna see them for the rest of the day," he says with a smirk.

"That fucker got her name tatted on him," Z informs me.

"Would you shut the fuck up about it," Murphy gripes.

I grin at both of them. "Calm down children. Maybe if you're good little boys, Daddy will get your names inked on him too."

Z throws himself down next to me. "Look who's chipper. Have fun while we were gone?"

Wrapping my arm around Z's neck I pull him in for a hug-choke and rough him up. "Yeah. Missed you, though, little brother."

He breaks out of the hold, laughing.

Murphy slaps my outstretched hand. "How's the leg, bro?"

"Gettin' there."

"You're back!" Trinity yells from the hallway, rushing out to greet Murphy and Z. She gives both of them a quick hug and the two fucks keep a respectful distance.

"I take it Rock's upstairs?" she asks.

None of us really need to answer that. Trin takes a seat in my lap, which makes me pretty fuckin' happy.

Z smirks at us and heads into the war room. "Got some shit to do, then I'm taking a shower and a nap. Any of you fucks wake me up, I'm kicking some ass."

Murphy laughs at him. "I'm gonna grab something to eat then do the same." He slaps my shoulder and heads into the kitchen. To my delight, Trinity stays put. In fact, she leans back against me.

"Thanks for letting me get some work done," she finally says.

"Sure, babe."

"Want to see what I was working on?"

I tip my head down to take her in. "If you want to show me."

A hint of a smile slips across her face. "I've got a few things to show you."

Now she really has my attention. Sliding out of my lap, she holds her hands out to me. I made it down here without the crutches, but I'm not sure about the walk back. I'm not about to tell her that though. She wraps her arm around my waist, and I lean on her more than I care to admit.

Restless, I leave Trin sleeping. Definitely proud of myself for wearing her out again. If only I could wear myself out.

I find Z, Dex and Murphy yapping in the living room.

"I thought a fucking bomb hit the house," Z finishes saying as I walk in.

"What are you talking about?"