Free Monroe, Marla - The Edge of Night [The Protectors 3](Siren Publishing Classic) by Marla Monroe Page B

wouldn’t be the last time either. Instead, she concentrated on sticking close to him.
    “How are you doing down there?” he asked just before they got to the pool tables.
    “Fine.”
    She didn’t elaborate, as they were stopping in front of a table with two men and three women. She had a feeling they were the top dogs in the bunch—gang, whatever.
    “Rock, good to see you.” He bumped fists with a massive-looking man who had to weigh over three hundred pounds.
    “Ace, how you doing, man? Heard you were in a bad wreck last summer.” Morgan turned toward the other man at the table.
    He was thin and lanky, with long, stringy blond hair. He smiled, and she noticed two teeth missing, wonderful.
    “Doing okay. Got a couple of plates and screws in my body now, but nothing’s changed,” the man he’d called Ace said.
    “Who’s the bitch?” the one named Rock asked.
    “Mandy, meet Rock and Ace.” He put his arm around her and hugged her tight to him. “She’s mine. All mine.”
    “You know we don’t do exclusives, Morgan. What gives?” Ace asked.
    Morgan didn’t let go of her but wrapped his hands around her and placed one of them on her belly. “She’s pregnant.”
    No one said anything for a few minutes. Then Ace started laughing. A beat later, Rock joined in. Amanda didn’t dare say anything, but she wondered what was so funny. She didn’t have long to wait to find out.
    “Morgan, man. You’re supposed to wear a raincoat, man. Didn’t you learn anything in the army?” Rock asked.
    “Sometimes the gear springs a leak.” He shrugged.
    Ace shook his head. “Man, how you handling it after losing your wife and kid?”
    Everyone grew quiet. Amanda didn’t blink and didn’t look up at Morgan, afraid it would show that she didn’t know about there being a child. All he’d told her was that he was a widower.
    “I don’t dwell on it,” Morgan said quietly.
    Rock must have realized that it was still awkward because he changed the subject, sort of.
    “So, Mandy, where did you meet up with Morgan here?”
    “Truck stop.” She didn’t elaborate. Morgan could if he wanted to.
    “Tyler around?” Morgan asked.
    “Over in the corner with Bubblicious. You remember her, don’t you?” Ace asked.
    Morgan squeezed her arm slightly. She could tell he was fighting something. She didn’t have to be told twice that Bubblicious was someone he and Tyler had shared in the past. No doubt he was disappointed that there would be no sharing around her. Because she wouldn’t allow it. If he were going to fuck her, he wasn’t dipping his dick in anyone else at the same time. She’d tell him that, too. Hopefully she wouldn’t have to, though.
    Morgan steered her toward the back of the bar and a corner behind the pool tables. There in a booth sat the man she remembered from the truck stop with his arm around a buxom blonde bimbo who was almost sitting in his lap.
    “Hey Morgan. ’Bout time you showed up,” he said. Then he noticed Amanda, and his eyebrows rose.
    Morgan shook his head slightly, and Tyler shoved the bleached blonde off his lap.
    “How about getting us another round of beers?” he asked.
    “Yeah, sure. How long you need me to be gone?” she asked in a bored voice.
    Tyler looked at Morgan. Morgan smiled at her. “Give us about twenty minutes.”
    She shrugged and sauntered off, waving at everyone behind her with an ass that didn’t stop shaking.
    “Have a seat,” Tyler said, pulling his legs in so there would be room beneath the table.
    “Quick and dirty, Tyler,” Morgan said.
    “Is there any other way?”
    He leaned forward as they scooted into the booth across from him. Morgan pushed her in first so she was against the wall.
    “This is Amanda, to be known as Mandy here. She’s pregnant, and her ex-boyfriend is trying to make her have an abortion. She’s on the run, and I’m helping her. She’s my woman while we’re here,” he explained quickly.
    “No problem. I’m in. Want me