Staking Her Claim...: Book 1 in the Patricks' Brothers series Read Online Free PDF Page A

cross country, Alysia? Well, where the fuck was this asshole when you were getting shot? If he means that much to you, I would’ve thought he’d have at least made an appearance at your bedside once in the time you were laid up. Seeing as he didn’t maybe, it’s time to reassess your relationship, don’t you think?”
     
    Oh no, he did not just go there. Not only does Rob not have a clue about the nature of my relationship with Jonas, but who the hell does he think he is asking me shit like that when he was present during the whole getting a new hole blown in my body saga? It’s not as if he was the one who stepped in front of the bullet for me, so who is he to judge?
     
    Groans echo around the table followed by a ‘Fuck me drunk in a trunk’ from Harper.
    “What did you just say to me,” I ask, in a surprisingly calm and measured voice.
     
    “You fucking heard me. Where was this prick you were seeing when you were shot and recovering in the damn hospital? I’d think if he was any sort of man he’d have been by your side, Alysia. Shows what kind of taste you’ve got in men, and that it hasn’t gotten any better since the last dickhead. What was his name? Peter?”
     
    “Rob,” Jett pleads standing up. “You don’t wanna go there, Man, you really fucking don’t. You have no idea the shit storm you’re stirring up.”
     
    “Yeah, I really do, Jett. I wanna know what she’s thinking in that head of hers that makes her believe running off to the middle of nowhere, in the midst of a biker war is a good fucking idea. You have to be suffering from some kind of traumatic brain injury or just plain stupid to think that’ll end well, and I wanna know which one she is.”
     
    “Jesus, Rob, leave it the fuck alone. She knows what she’s doing and if there’s anyone I trust to make the right decision about her personal safety it’s, Aly,” Landen reasons. “Just quit while you’re ahead, Buddy because if you don’t she’s going to kick your ass and there will be nothing we can do to stop her.”
     
    I wish I could say his belief in me calms me down, but it doesn’t. So with no avenues left open to me I decide it’s in everyone’s best interests to shut this conversation down ASAP. In hindsight, I could have chosen a better way to do this, but what can I say? I’m a pissed off woman, so he gets what I think he deserves even if it is more to do with my anger than how much his words have upset me.
     
    Leaning on my hands which are braced palms down on the table in front of me, I speak quietly and clearly, but loudly enough to ensure he hears every word.
    “Peter is not a topic of conversation that is or ever will be up for discussion, Robert. Not with you, and not with anyone else. Jonas is also none of your fucking business, but I will say this; he is more of a man than you can ever hope to be. He doesn’t run from his problems, and he doesn’t desert the people who care about him never to be heard from again except for when they need something from them more than a decade and a half later. Jonas has never disrespected me the way you have, he wouldn’t even consider it. And more importantly, he isn’t a fucking douchebag that thinks he has any right to walk back into someone’s life after fifteen years and dictate what she should do in any situation. You had your chance to play a part in my life and you chose to leave, and never look back. There was a time I would have fought for the opportunity to have you in my life, I would have given my soul to see you happy and settled, but that shipped sailed in the night a long time ago with you on it. Now you’re back, and while these assholes might want you here, I don’t. I am not your emotional dumping ground anymore, and I never will be again.”
     
    Taking a deep breath through my nose, I look straight into his gorgeous blue eyes adding,
    “This is me stating my intentions, staking my claim on my life so to speak. If you continue to work