Blood & Bones: Deacon (Blood Fury MC 4)

His father didn’t leave them a lot of dough but it was enough for them to get their licenses, pay for a couple months’ rent on their office lease and get a few other necessary things squared away so they could start out strong.

They hit the ground running and never looked back. Best decision ever. Besides getting Jury and Justice.

“So that’s how you ended up in Mansfield.”

“Yes. He began teaching while I opened my office, hoping I could attract clients. Luckily, this area isn’t saturated with civil law attorneys, so it wasn’t hard to grow my clientele.”

“And you got hitched.”

“Yes, even though I wasn’t in any rush to get married. I wanted to concentrate on my career, building my business, and putting away cash once I paid off my school loans. He kept bugging and eventually I relented since I figured we were already headed on the path to marriage. So, he was right, why wait? Anyway, my business exploded.”

“’Cause you kick ass in the courtroom, right?”

She shot him a grin. “I do, but like I told you previously, I’m even better at arbitration. And settling before having to go to trial saves my clients money. It’s a win-win for both of us.”

“You’re probably like a pit bull when you fight for your clients.”

“I can be, if necessary.”

He liked the idea of her being ferocious and not some spineless woman. It turned him the fuck on.

“Okay, so, he’s teachin’, you’re arguin’. Then what?” He wanted her to keep going and could see the pot and wine combo was doing their job of loosening her up.

“Let’s just say I began to make a lot more money than him rather quickly. Working at a college, he gets a set salary. Me? The more I work, the more I make.”

“The reason you come home late.”

“I’ve been trying to come home at a more reasonable hour, so I could enjoy the house I worked hard for and do something other than work all the time. At least until this bullshit went down with Billy.”

“Fucker fucked it up for you. You buy this house with hubby?” He wanted to hear more about the ex and not Warren.

“Hell no. We were living in an apartment right off campus and I hated it. I also hated throwing money away in rent every month, which he was fine with it. One of my clients is a real estate broker and happened to mention an open house she was holding. She gushed about the home and location, and what a good deal it was. So, I went and, of course, fell in love with this place immediately. When I told Allen about it, he said it was too much and we needed to wait.”

“And, unlike your marriage, you didn’t want to wait.”

She gave him a look which clearly said hell no.

The more he heard the more he liked. This woman was the fucking bomb. “So, you bought it.” Of course she did. Because she went after what she wanted. Like she had with him. She wanted his dick, she took it. She wasn’t playing.

No games, no bullshit.

“Yes. That bothered him. I made the down payment, paid the closing costs and all the mortgage payments. All he had to do was show up to the damn closing and sign his damn name.”

“Because you were married by then and a wife can’t do shit without her husband.” That had to piss her off and really make her regret saying I do.

“Yes. I should’ve drawn up a prenup. I didn’t. It didn’t even cross my mind before we got married. We didn’t own shit at the time. We were renting and we both had school loans...”

“And by the time you got this house, you were makin’ more than him.” He kept talking to keep her talking. It was like dangling the apple in front of the donkey... Wait. The carrot in front of the turtle...

Whatever.

“Yes.”

“Your career was blowin’ up.” Fuck yeah, because she was a badass. This woman could probably do anything she put her mind to. And, while it was kind of weird, it made him hard as fuck.

“Yes, in a good way. I thought we wanted the same things. We talked about it long before we were married. And not just in passing, but in deep conversations about what we wanted out of life and what we saw for our future. Our careers would come first before beginning a family.”

“Turned out he wanted kids and you didn’t.” That didn’t surprise him with her. She seemed driven to be successful. Conquer the world first, then think about settling down later.

“I wanted kids but not right away. He was on board with waiting. Or so I thought. I guess he lied.”

Fuck. “Jealous of your success.”

“Intimidated, more like it. For whatever reason. His mother had always been a housewife and his father,” she deepened her voice to sound like a man’s, “brought home the bacon. That old misogynistic bullshit. So, maybe what he thought he wanted, once he had it, he didn’t. He realized he was wrong. He actually wanted what he grew up with. He wanted to be the man of the house. The provider. He wanted for me to rely on him. It’s all bullshit. I never wanted that and was clear about it from the very beginning.”