Page 33 of Flash (Iron Thunder MC 2)
What was he really saying? My chest heaved with emotion. My eyes felt strained and tired. I wanted to crawl back into that king-sized bed in his bedroom and go to sleep again. My head hurt.
“Flash…seriously, I don’t have the time for this.”
I stood up, forgetting my food, leaving my coffee behind—I was about to walk away but he reached out and caught my hand.
“Did I say you could walk away?” he growled. That familiar thrill ran through me. I looked at him, waiting for his next command. “Sit down, woman.”
I did as I was told.
“This is not a joke. I’m not kidding around. I am offering you my protection. I want to be here to protect you if he finds you here. I want you to stop running.”
I let the words seep into me. I was finally starting to realize he was completely serious. This was not a sexual game. Flash was actually offering me something I didn’t know I deserved—support and protection.
“I want to be clear about something. You are not my prisoner. You are free to leave if you want after this discussion, but I want you to stay. I want you. But if you do decide to stay, I want complete honesty from you. I need to know the truth and I want the full picture.”
I kneaded my fingers together in my lap. I was beginning to feel panicked. I hadn’t discussed Billy with anyone since I’d left town. Nobody knew what actually happened between us or why I was on the run.
“Allegra. Can you do that?” Flash’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I gulped, but slowly, I nodded.
I wanted to be here too. That was the truth. I wanted him. Sophie’s words returned to me—there’s nobody as loyal and faithful as one of these guys when they officially claim you.
“I want to tell you everything,” I said.“I wanted to be a teacher,” I admitted to Flash.
He was watching me carefully as I spoke. There was so much to say, I didn’t even know where to begin. I smirked at him and flashed my eyes. “I guess I don’t look much like a teacher to you, right? Not after last night’s performance at the bar.”
He sighed, breathing in deeply.
“I’m really sorry about that. I don’t know what overtook me. I shouldn’t have acted like that…”
“Allegra, just tell me your story. Forget about what happened last night.” Flash spoke sternly and I nodded.
“Well, I was going to night school. I also had to take up a few extra jobs for money. I couldn’t go to regular school in the daytime because I was the only person earning any money in the household.”
I saw the way he clenched his jaws.
“And your household comprised of?”
I averted my eyes.
“My ex…Billy, and myself.”
He took a large sip of his coffee like he needed it. I could sense he didn’t like hearing about Billy. But I had to finish my story and Billy played a big role in it.
“He was a mechanic. When we met, he had a job at the local garage and I thought he was a good guy. With a steady job. Someone who would be able to…”
“Look after you?”
I looked down at my hands. I felt foolish. I was so naive. I made such bad choices. Why didn’t I see Billy for who he was? The signs were there from the beginning.
“What happened to his job?” Flash continued.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure. All I know is when we moved in together, he had a job and I thought it would be great, but he lost that job. Then he found another one and lost that too. In a span of just four months, Billy had worked his way through a dozen or so jobs. None of which he could keep for very long.”
My hands shook a little, my mind zooming back to those days when I’d be slaving away in the kitchen, preparing a decent meal for us and Billy would come home late. I would hope it was because he was caught up at work, but usually it was because he went to the local watering hole and got drunk with his friends.
“I didn’t know what was going on, why he couldn’t keep his jobs. There were some rumors floating around about how Billy was in trouble. That he’d gotten himself involved with the wrong crowd. I chose to ignore that talk as nothing but gossip. I didn’t want to believe it. I thought I was in love with him and thought he felt the same way about me too.”
I was trying hard to hold back the tears. Flash continued to stare at me. His eyes were little x-ray beams and I couldn’t meet them.
“And what about you? What kind of work did you do?”
