Cole: The Wounded Sons, Leah Sharelle [the reading list .TXT] 📗

I gave Grill a chin lift. “Yeah mate, I want her. I want her more than my next breath, but we seem to find ourselves backed into a corner.”

“How so?” Gabe asked, taking a swig of beer.

And here we go.

“When Mum hired her a year ago as her personal assistant, Dad warned me off. Told me she was off limits. I listened and never gave it another thought until the day we brought Signal back.” I left out the fact that I knew she watched me every time I was at the compound, that intel was not a need to know to anyone but Oaklee and me.

Glancing at my mates one by one, I knew I had their attention and no judgement, just interest … until they hear the next part.

“I got properly pissed that night, lost all senses, and ended up in bed with Oaklee,” I admitted, readying myself for the onslaught of questions.

“And you are just telling us now?” Kodah exploded. “What the fuck, Ghost, you keeping shit from the team? What’s the matter, are you ashamed of her? Is she even legal?”

Throwing my beer stubby on the sand, I got to my feet, enraged at my mate for the first time since he joined the Sons.

“What is your fucking problem, Ziggerman? You lookin’ to piss me off, or is that the whiskey talkin’?”

“I ain’t the one hiding a woman from his mates, Ghost,” he spat back at me, his eyes darkening with guilt briefly before he pushed it aside to glare at me.

“Is that right, mate, you sure about that?”

Kodah jumped to his feet, knocking the esky over in the process, his fist balled at his sides. “Don’t think for a second I won’t punch you in your moody face, arsehole.”

“All right, settle the fuck down now,” Gabe bellowed, coming to stand between Kodah and me. “Private Ziggerman, remember who and what you are,” Gabe growled his large body tense. “And you,” turning to look at me, Gabe narrowed his eyes at me, “2nd lieutenant, if you have something to accuse Kodah of, come out and say it, don’t fucking hide behind that all-seeing gift of yours. Deke’s death has hit the team hard; we don’t need to be at each other’s throats. Shit at home can trickle onto the battlefield, so let’s work this crap out now and get it sorted. Understand?”

Losing some of the anger, I nodded reluctantly. “ Copy that, Cap,” I mumbled, feeling stupid for jumping down Kodah’s throat but still pissed at him.

“Sorry, Tank,” Kodah grunted, leaning down to right the esky and taking a seat again. His expression still guarded, but some of the heat had left his eyes.

“Cole, let’s start with you,” Gabe suggested, “explain about Oaklee.”

“In a nutshell, I got so drunk I forgot about our night together, woke up the next morning alone, but with the sense that my dick had had a good night. Oaklee left to take a shower in Mum’s suite, and when she returned to my room, completely unaware of my alcohol amnesia, I had already left for the kitchen. She came in and expected me to acknowledge her, but when I didn’t, she assumed I regretted sleeping with her.”

“And did you?” Rafe enquired quietly.

“Fuck no! Well, had I remembered it, I wouldn’t have, that much I know. For the next few days, bits and pieces came back to me, and I didn’t know if they were real or if they had been the best porn dream of my life. Anyway, long story short, it finally dawned on me, and the promise I’d made to Dad.” Hanging my head, I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration; sick to my stomach, I was going behind my father’s back, but my need for Oaklee was too strong.

“So what, you are going to hide your relationship?” Bastian asked me, not smiling now; instead, he looked worried.

“Not for long, but yes, we are under the radar until we have spent some time together. Other than Dad, there are other … extenuating circumstances. Ones that I believe are good enough reasons for doing what we are doing.”

What the fuck did I just say?

“What the fuck are you on about, Ghost?” Bastian shouted, voicing exactly what I was thinking.

Groaning, I mentally calculated how far into the water I would have to wade to drown myself. Sharing personal details really did suck donkey dick, which is why I never fucking did it.

“Jesus Christ, where is an insurgent when I need one,” I muttered, dragging a hand down my face. “Right. Here it is. Oaklee is a recovered anorexic, she is in a good place health-wise, but she still has moments when she can be triggered. She says she has it in hand, but I fucked up when I didn’t remember what we did, and by ignoring her, I basically made her feel like shit. I just want her to feel safe with me, comfortable. Dad’s reasoning for warning me off her is unknown to both Oaklee and me, so until I talk with him, we are doing us as quietly as possible. Copy that?” Eyeballing each man to make sure they understood what I was asking of them.

Ammo was the first man to speak up. “We copy, mate, but this is a dangerous game you are taking on. I can’t think of one time in memory you have ever gone against Creed, you need to be sure this relationship is worth the risk.”

“Ammo is right, Ghost,” Gabe joined in, “I can think of another couple that did the same thing, and it nearly blew up in their faces.”

Gabe was referring to Zander and Shiloh, but to me, that was a completely different situation to mine and Oaklee’s.

“That was different Gabe, Shiloh built all that shit up in her head. She was concerned about her place in the Club as the VP at the time. And they hid it for years, this won’t be like that. Dad has a