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I knew Bax was somewhere in the cavernous compound I had called Dovie earlier to ask her where I could find hi at ho his jaw in place had been removed, he went back to work She sounded frustrated and I knew exactly where she was coh Titus’s injuries were less serious than Bax’s in the grand sches, he was still laid up with a broken knee and some busted ribs The cop was a terrible patient and he wasme insane with his bad mood and surly attitude while he thumped around the house in his cast My personal opinion was that the rest was good for hi he had been through, but Titus wasn’t the kind of guy that unwound He stayed coiled tight, listening to his police scanner and constantly on the phone with his fellow cops talking about work and unsolved cases Even hobbled and banged up, the guy was a force to be reckoned with, and the same could be said for Bax

He was sitting behind his big, metal desk in his office His wrist was still in a heavy plaster cast but he had his broken ankle up on the edge of the desk and it was encased in a bulky, black walking boot He was still too skinny and the sharpness in his faceas I took a seat across fro He still eh he looked like he had been on the losing end of his last fight

Dovie had given h the ates in the first place since there was no chance in hell I would ever be invited I wasn’t welcome and the fact was evident on Bax’s hard features

“What are you doing here?” He tapped his fingers on the knee of his lifted leg and I glanced around the office I was trying to figure out what seeht loss when the old sarette smoke snuck into my nose

I lifted an eyebrow at hiarette in your hand”

The vein by the star inked on his face twitched in annoyance “I have enough shit trying to killIt was a bitch to try and s o What are you doing here, Reeve?”

I pushed so hair over my shoulder and cleared my throat “I know you don’t like me, that you don’t trust me and want someone else for your brother”

He didn’t say anything but his chin dipped down in a barely-there nod “None of that is a secret”

I locked ether in aze and the animosity that lived deep in the depths “Look, I know I screwed up with Dovie and she got hurt, but I saved Titus’s life, so that has to count for so anywhere and you know you can’t do anything about it without hurting your brother I want some kind of truce, Shane Like it or not, we’re part of the same family now”

He didn’t say anything He rocked back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him while he considered le and fidget under that heavy and deep look It was like the entire night sky was landing on top of me

“What are you going to do with Titus in the long run, Reeve? He’s always going to be a cop and you’re always going to be a chick with one foot on either side of the law Are you going to make him choose between you and who he is, what he has always been?”

I shookto love him and take care of him like he has always done for you, Shane He needs someone to care for him and I promise that I won’t ever coreed to stay on at the club Everything is aboveboard and legal, and it stays that way or I walk Maybe it’s not the most morally pristine job for a cop’s lady to have, but it pays well and I like being able to take care of the girls Strippers arewhat they have to in order to survive out here I understand that better than Nassir or Race ever will It’s not like you can judge anyway I knohat all those cars sitting on your lot are for Out of the two of us, you’re the one that tests his resolve to be who he is, not e of the desk I leaned forward a little so Bax could feel aze as it landed on him “And he wasn’t always a cop He was a kid stuck just like you were He is a man that has had to make the hard choices just like you Don’t force him to make another one, Shane Find a way to make peace with the fact I’m here and I’m here to stay”

I wouldn’t beg hiht him if he made me Titus needed both of us in his life and I wouldn’t let Bax reopen the gap that had separated the I pushed up off the desk and turned to head back out the door Bax’s gravelly voice stoppedthe lever to open it

“When you say ‘here to stay,’ are you talking babies and a ring? Traditional shit that makes no sense in this place?” He sounded baffled by the concept

I just shrugged my shoulder What happened next hadn’t exactly come up in conversation with the cop, but he didn’t seeone out theWell, once the feds had officially cleared out and there was no longer the threat of possible jail ti over my head, birth control had fallen by the wayside Babies and the Point didn’t really , and I do , to keep the a life into thisto take And as traditional and serious as the man was about family, I had no doubt that at some point in the future he would want to make all the more between us official

“I’m here for all of it Whatever it is”

He swung the bulky contraption holding his ankle off the desk and got to his feet He crossed his arms over his chest and we had a stare-down When I didn’t look away he gave that tiny little nod again and let his mouth twist up into a smirk

“We’re fine for now, Reeve, but if you ever hurt anyone I care about again, there won’t be a place far enough away that you can hide to get away from me”

“We care about the saain”

I walked out before he could say anything else It was a shaky truce at best, but it would do for now Bax was never going to beas he toleratedhurt Titus, I was a happy girl