by Jenika Snow
What is it with my hair tonight?
Her grip on the liquor loosened and rolled toward the wall—which meant away from her. Peaches’s face landed right in front of hers, the other woman’s sneer meant only for Tatum.
“You stupid fucking bitch.” Peaches pulled hard on Tatum’s hair, and she cried out in pain. No doubt the little tart had pulled a good chunk out. Before she could brace herself, Peaches’s palm cracked across her cheek, sending Tatum’s head whipping in the opposite direction. The taste of blood filled her mouth, and flashes of light danced behind her now closed lids.
“If not for you and the little fucking affair you have with Leo, Slade would have no interest in you.” Peaches yanked Tatum’s head back and growled. “I am his girl, the one who has been by his side this whole time.” Spit flew out of her mouth and sprayed across Tatum’s cheek and neck. “But then your skanky ass had to come around and fuck everything up. Why either of them wants your fat ass is beyond me.”
Peaches started dragging her back, and it was then Tatum realized she was sick of this shit. She would not be a victim any longer.
Digging her heels in the ground, she twisted in Peaches’s grip, taking the other woman by surprise. That was the opening Tatum needed. Ripping her head out of her grasp Tatum pulled her own arm back then brought her fist to the side of Peaches’ face. Satisfaction filled her when Peaches screamed in pain and rage.
“You fucking whore.” She jumped toward Tatum, her fake, acrylic claws outstretched for Tatum’s face.
Grabbing Peaches’s head, Tatum wrestled with the female until they landed hard on the ground. First, Peaches had the upper hand, but then Tatum was able to roll her onto her back. Fingers curled into Peaches’s hair, Tatum turned her head and spat a mouthful of saliva and blood out.
“You are going to wish you never worked at The Lion, bitch.” Peaches’s hot-pink wig sat askew on her head, and Tatum could see the mussed strands of her blonde hair peeking out.
“Why are you doing this?” The throb in Tatum’s head intensified as she spoke. Peaches sneered at her again and struggled to break free. “Bet you’re wishing you weren’t such a skinny thing now, aren’t you?” Tatum really didn’t have time for this shit, but she couldn’t help Leo with this bitch attacking her. The sound of Leo and Slade behind her was loud, and her heart thundered. She had to get to him, had to stop it before things got any worse.
“Why not?” Those two words were spoken with so much hatred that Tatum knew she couldn’t work through this with Peaches. The woman had some fucked-up sight on what was going down. Whatever Slade promised her was obviously worth more than the lives of others around her.
Tatum’s inner thoughts cost her as Peaches threw her off and reached behind her back. Tatum wasn’t a fool. The flash of a gun pierced her vision right before she dove for Peaches. “No!” Tatum tackled the woman, but not before the sound of the gun going off splintered through the room. Searing pain lanced her side, but she couldn’t let the pain take control. Wrestling with Peaches for the gun proved harder than she thought with the burning agony in her side. The second shot rang out, and everything seemed to stop.
The two women looked at each other. Peaches’s eyes were as wide as Tatum’s, and that was when she finally let the pain and darkness take her away.
28
The scent of Tatum’s blood and her cry of pain had the animal inside Leo pushing his human side away. From the time he had entered the club and shifted, he had still been in control. Not any longer. He tore out of Slade’s grasp, his flesh tearing as the other lion’s teeth were wrenched from his body.
It was because of him that she got hurt. It was because of his irrational thinking, and his need to take Slade out, that his mate lay just feet from him, bleeding.
A mighty roar left him, his animal scenting Tatum was injured. It was like taking the backseat in a race, watching everything that happened head-on, but unable to do a damn thing about it. Claws swiped out, blood sprayed the walls, and flesh tore open. His pain and wounds had nothing on the carnage his lion inflicted.
Grunts, cries, and roars filled his ears, and he couldn’t tell if they came from Slade or a mixture of his animal taking control. After what only seemed like seconds, Slade’s mangled body lay at Leo’s feet. Taking huge, gulping breaths, he turned to where he scented Tatum. Her body lay crumpled on the ground, the pool of dark blood forming around her. Peaches lay just a few inches away, the hole in her belly gaping.
He rushed toward her, his muzzle nudging Tatum’s lifeless body. He could hear the sound of her heart beating—faint but there. The front doors opened again, and he crouched in front of his mate, the low, primal sound coming from deep within him.
His emotions were a jumbled mess inside him. All he could think about was protecting Tatum, his mate, his female. Hunched low, he braced to take down whoever came close to her.
Tryck, Whren, and Rocker stood in the entrance, their eyes taking in the scene. Blood filled the air, and he knew the humans who worked for him smelled it too.
“Fuck.” Tryck took a step forward, a low whistle coming from him. “Shit just got real.” He threw his hands up when Leo took a slow, deliberate step toward him. “Get control of yourself, boss.” He looked over Leo’s shoulder, his eyes widening fractionally before he looked back at him. “Boss, we need to get your girl looked at or she’ll bleed out, yeah?”
And just like that, Leo pushed his animal down and shifted back to his human form. He had been too wild, too primal to realize Tatum would die right in front of him if he didn’t get her help. Blood covered his body as he knelt down in front of her.
Some of it came from the various wounds on his body, but the majority was hers. Lifting her into his arms, he cradled her frail body and strode forward. It didn’t matter that he was naked. He didn’t give a fuck about anything aside from making sure his girl lived.
“Get Doc to the club,” he said over his shoulder. Doc, a smarter-than-fuck man who knew about Leo, was someone he could trust with the life of his mate. He didn’t need to tell his men to get the mess cleaned up. They knew the drill, knew that if this shit got out there would be trouble from both sides.
Once he got Tatum well and better, he would make sure she knew exactly how much he loved her. He would protect her, not like the shitty job he had done of late. She meant everything to him, and not just because biology told him she was meant to be his.
He loved everything about her. The way she went toe-to-toe with him without backing down showed the kind of strength she had within. He couldn’t have picked a better mate.
She would survive. He said it over and over again, not accepting anything less.
She. Was. His.
He took her hand in his, hating that it felt so cold and limp.
“Come on, baby. Don’t you fucking give up, not now.”
29
Searing pain the likes of which she had never experienced coursed through her, like a strong current intent on taking her down. When she peeled her eyes open, the bright light had her snapping them shut. A low groan left her, and someone grabbed her hand and gave it a tight squeeze.
Low, deep murmurs came from her right, but they were jumbled. Turning her head in that direction, she opened her eyes again and blinked, trying to get everything in focus. The large, dark shape in front of her was blurry. Tatum inhaled and smelled a rich and spicy scent, and she let out a sob.
Everything came rushing back to her. Her fear that Leo would die at Slade’s hand came back like a wound reopening, but as she felt him stroke the top of her hand and whisper things against her temple, she let that soul-crushing fear leave her.
Leo was okay, alive, and right beside her. Everything would be okay.
With that thought, she let herself drift off again.
The next time she woke, the pain felt more tolerable. Her vision cleared substantially, and as she pushed herself up and looked around, Tatum realized she was in Leo’s underground apartment. Her thro
at felt raw, and even breathing had her placing a hand on her neck, as if the act would somehow help her. A ticking clock broke up the silence.
As she shifted on the massive bed, a cry of pain left her. Clutching her side, she looked down, lifted up her shirt, and saw a white bandage wrapped around her middle. Red started to form on the gauze, and she gritted her teeth from the pain.
She had been shot. That realization had her remember the struggle with Peaches over the gun. The sound of that second shot had her pulse accelerating. Had Peaches been shot, or did the bullet go elsewhere? Was Peaches okay? Although the woman tried to kill her, Tatum didn’t even want to think if she had inadvertently killed someone.
Heavy, quick footsteps pounded down the stairs, and her eyes flew to the door that led up to Leo’s office. It opened, and the man she loved filled the space. He breathed hard, his eyes frantic as he stared at her. She tried to move and go to him, but a cry left her as her side protested at that idea.
Leo strode toward her before she even recovered. Wrapping his arms around her, he gently brought her head to his chest. His hands stroked over her back, and his whole body shook. At that moment, as her tears soaked his shirt, she realized her big, strong man cried as well. The words he whispered were fast and jumbled in her hair, but it didn’t matter. They were both alive.
After several long moments, he pulled away but kept his hands on her back. Red-rimmed eyes stared at her. His emotions were painted clear as day on his face, which only caused her tears to fall harder. His thumbs swept under her cheeks, collecting her tears and bringing them to his mouth.
“I…” His eyes closed, and he shook his head. That one word sounded pained. When he finally opened his eyes, which seemed to take forever, the blue of his irises seemed to glow with emotion. “I could have lost you, Tatum.” His hands cupped her cheeks, and he rested his forehead against hers. “I could have lost you, baby.” His voice was low and strained. They held each other’s stare, and she couldn’t contain it anymore. Bringing her lips to his, she kissed him with all the love she felt for him.
“I love you. I love you.” Their kiss turned desperate, and she spilled the words over and over again, letting Leo know exactly how much he meant to her.
“God, baby. I love you so much.”
All the air left the room, left her.
He loved her. She loved him. And they were both alive. What more could she ask for?
“How are you feeling?” The concern in his face and expression pulled at her heartstrings. “You’re in pain.” His eyes went up and down her body and stopped on the bandage slowly turning red. “Fuck.” He rushed away from her and into the bathroom. When he returned, he had clean bandages, ointment, and antiseptic. “Lie back.” He gently pushed her back and went about the task of removing the soiled wrap.
Tatum looked down at the angry wound. It had been stitched up, but when Leo dabbed the antiseptic on it, she winced and tensed. He mumbled an apology, lathered on some ointment, and wrapped her back up.
“You have to be careful, sweetheart.” The feel of his lips on her forehead had her smiling up at him. “Doc said the bullet made a clean pass through and should heal nicely.”
“Is…?” Tatum couldn’t even say the words. When she lifted her eyes to his, Tatum could see the confirmation on his face. Peaches was dead because of her. Leo lay down beside her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Tatum let the scent of him wash through her as she cried out. She had killed a person.
“It’s okay, love.” His hands stroked over her hair. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.”
“It’s not, Leo.” She cried harder, clutched his shirt, and wished things could be different.
“Baby.” He lifted her head with a finger under her chin. “You did what you had to do to survive. Peaches would have killed you.” His face hardened, and his eyes flashed. Right then, he looked like the animal he housed inside. “If I could take this away from you, I would in a heartbeat. I don’t want you feeling anything but happiness.” He pulled her head to his chest again.
The sound of his heart beating, steady and strong, had her wishing everything could be fine.
“I’m going to make sure that every day from now on puts a smile on your face.” And she believed him, because if Leo was anything, he was good on his word. “It’ll be hard, I won’t lie, but you have to know you did what you had to, baby. You fought and survived.”
Tatum knew he spoke the truth, but it didn’t make the pain less real. They lay together until her eyes grew heavy and the only thing she was aware of was Leo Castill—his smell, his warmth, and his very presence. They had each other now, and she hoped it was enough to get them through everything else.
Epilogue
Thirteen months later
“I’m fat.” Tatum looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. She wore a sports bra, the only thing that held up her huge breasts lately. Her big, round belly, with the skin stretched tight, looked ready to burst. Kiki chuckled behind her.
“Girl, you are positively glowing.” Kiki placed both hands on her shoulders, and the large engagement ring caught the light, nearly blinding Tatum.
In the past year, things had slowed down considerably. Kiki and Beau had worked out their problems, which had really just been Kiki being paranoid. Turns out Beau had been so secretive, because he planned on proposing to her.
When she grilled him that night she came home from the club, he had come clean. It hadn’t been the romantic proposal he had been diligently trying to surprise Kiki with, but it had been one that made her best friend happy nonetheless. For weeks, she had to hear the same story over and over again, but watching the way Kiki lit up every time she retold it was worth it in the end.
“I don’t think I can last much longer.” Tatum ran her hand over her belly. “It looks like my skin is going to tear right open.” Her skin that covered the large mound was shiny from the tautness of it. “Not to mention this.” Tatum turned to the side. Her ass had been big before, but the damn thing had inflated to ridiculous proportions.
“Girl, you look hot with your J-Lo booty.” Kiki swatted her ass, and Tatum pushed her away.
“You can say that, because you don’t have these.” She cupped her breasts, the weight substantial in her hands. “Or this.” She stuck her ass out again.
“What does Leo think?”
Tatum snorted and walked over to her bed. She picked up her shirt, pulled it over her head, and smoothed the stretched material over her stomach. “He’s a man, Kiki. He thinks the more, the better.” The stretchy pants she wore were the only thing her big stomach and ass could fit in anymore.
“You only have a few weeks left and little Charlie will be here.”
At the mention of her and Leo’s son’s name, Tatum couldn’t help but smile and place a hand on her belly.
“Listen, I gotta run, big wedding planning and all.” Kiki threw over her shoulder as she headed out. Tatum stood there in front of the mirror, just staring at her reflection.
After the fiasco with Slade and Peaches, it had taken Tatum a long time to come to grips with her life. She realized that what she had done had saved her life and Leo’s in the end, but the road had been bumpy for her to understand that. She had still killed someone, and that would always stay with her.
Leo had refused to let her continue to work at the club and instead helped her complete her degree. Now, she did the accounting for the club from home. Maybe she should have put up a bit more of a fight in regards to Leo acting all he-man and refusing to let her work at the club, but in reality, she preferred being at home, especially when little Charlie was born.
They moved in together three months later, got engaged, and she became pregnant a month after that. Their life had moved quickly, but it was going exactly how she wanted it to go. The diamond on her finger had her smiling.
Leo had wanted to get married as soon as she healed from the gunshot wound but settled until they had been together longer. Then she
found out she was pregnant, and she wanted to wait until the baby was born so she didn’t have a shotgun wedding. Tatum wanted to plan her wedding, instead of just throwing something together before she showed and couldn’t fit into her wedding dress.
After she healed, he had been so paranoid to let her out of his sight. It had taken a lot of reassuring that she didn’t plan on getting shot any time soon and that she still needed her space, but he had backed down, a little. Of course, three months really hadn’t been a long time, but she realized she was sick of going slow in her life. She wanted Leo, and he wanted her. After that, things just flowed.
In fact, after everything settled, Sugar had come to her and apologized for the way she treated her. Tatum had been a little taken aback by the sincerity in the other woman’s words and demeanor, but life was too short for her to hold a grudge. The women were far from best friends, but there was definitely respect between them, and that was good enough for Tatum.
Tatum hadn’t realized Leo was home until he pushed their bedroom door open and leaned against the frame. It hadn’t taken much convincing on her part that she didn’t want to live in his apartment below the club. The very next day, they had gone house hunting.
“Hey, baby.” His smile spread slowly across his face as he let his eyes linger up and down her body. Even with her being nine-months pregnant, he still had fire starting in her belly. “Did I tell you today that you look beautiful?” He sauntered in the room and moved behind her. Arms wrapped around her stomach, he laid a light kiss on the side of her neck.
“Yes, but I don’t see how you can think that when it looks like I’m a balloon ready to pop.” He had her turned around and kissed her senseless in the next second.
“I love that my son grows inside you. You’re providing for him and making him strong and healthy.” He placed his hand on her belly, and Charlie chose that moment to kick. Leo grinned broadly and beamed like a proud father.