Craving Rose (The Aces' Sons 5)

“I want to adopt Kara,” she said as she pulled away. There was fear in her eyes, but her chin was tilted in the stubborn way I’d always associate with Rose. “We can wait until we’re married, if you want. But I want that piece of paper.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “But gettin’ married is separate, baby. That’s about me and you.”

“You don’t want to marry me?” she asked, stiffening.

I chuckled. “Could you let your man do the askin’?” I asked in exasperation.

“Oh,” she said sheepishly. “Yeah, I can do that.”

“Appreciate it.”

“I’m happy,” she said.

“Me, too.”

We sat outside until it got so cold that Rose started shivering.

“Come on,” I murmured. “Lets go to bed.”

I watched as Rose put out the fire, then followed her inside, losing my balance a little because I was staring at her ass and my cane got caught up on the track of the slider.

“Are you okay?” she asked, looking at me over her shoulder.

When someone knocked on the front door, her face paled. She put on a good show, but I knew it was going to be a while before she felt safe again.

“I’ll get it,” I said, resting my hand at the base of her spine as I moved around her.

My eyes widened when I opened the door to find Grease standing on the other side.

“Got a few minutes?” he asked.

“Sure, man,” I said, swinging the door wide. “Come on in.”

“Hey, Dad,” Rose said in surprise and she moved to give Grease a hug. “What are you doing out this late?”

“No rest for the wicked,” he replied with a smile. He shot me a look over her shoulder.

“Baby,” I said as she stepped back from the hug. “Give me and your dad a minute?”

She looked between us, then nodded slowly. “Okay. I’m going to take a quick shower.”

It was really fucking inconvenient that I immediately pictured her in the shower, considering her dad was standing less than five feet away.

As soon as Rose was gone and we heard the bathroom door close behind her, Grease spoke.

“Got him,” he said.

I nodded as I walked toward the bed. My leg was throbbing like a motherfucker and I needed to get off of it.

“Feel free to sit,” I said, waving my hand toward the foot of the bed.

“I’m not sittin’ on your fuckin’ bed,” Grease said, his tone a mixture of amusement and disgust. He walked over to the wall and leaned against it, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Rose didn’t want me usin’ the stairs,” I explained lamely.

He looked toward the tiny flight of stairs and grinned.

“Where’d you find him?” I said, bringing the conversation back around.

“He was holed up in Corvallis,” Grease said, the smile disappearing. “Stayin’ at a nasty ass motel that rented by the month.”

“Fuckin’ moron,” I huffed. Corvallis was only a couple hours away. Copper hadn’t even tried to run.

“Man just about shit his pants when Tommy found him,” Grease said, keeping his voice low. “Didn’t take much to get him talkin’.”

“Ain’t surprised.”

Grease nodded. “From what I could gather,” he said, glancing toward the stairs before continuing, “he set you up so he could save you.”

“Come again?” I said, tilting my head to the side. I couldn’t have heard him right.

“Yeah,” Grease said with a bark of laughter. “Hired a coupla meth heads to take you, figurin’ no one would miss ’em when he took ’em out.”

“Copper was never there,” I said flatly.

“He set up the house, found the men,” Grease continued. “Had ’em snatch you. Planned on showin ’up to save the day after they’d worked you over.”

I just stared at him.

“Stupid motherfucker got arrested,” he said, scoffing. “Drunk and disorderly. By the time he got out and went back to the house, cleaners had already been through—no sign of you.”

“Jesus Christ. End game?”

“Thought he’d be forgiven,” Grease said flatly. “With a hero’s welcome.”

“And Rose?” I asked.

“Lost his mind when he found out she was there. Wasn’t part of the deal.”

“Can’t trust a meth head,” I said flatly.

“No shit.”

“All a’this,” I said, thumping my chest lightly, “because he wanted his patch back?”

“Hell of a way to get it,” Grease mumbled. “Pay you back for beatin’ his ass and come out smellin’ like daisies.”

I shook my head, staring blankly at the wall. We’d been through hell because some dumb fuck couldn’t take his punishment like a man and move the fuck on.

“You took care of it?” I finally asked.

“It’s done.”

We both looked toward the hall as the shower shut off. A couple minutes later, the bathroom door opened.

“I better get goin’,” Grease said.

I got to my feet and accepted the handshake and back thumping hug he offered.

“Almost forgot,” he said as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small envelope, handing it to me. “Glad you’re on the mend.”

“Thanks,” I said, holding eye contact.