“Unfortunately.”
“Anything come of that fun interaction?” Shake enquired.
“He’s got the girl. That’s a sure thing.”
“So, she’s still alive?”
My head bobbed, and the silence that followed from both of my brothers let me know we were all thinking the same thing.
Why?
A thought that had me fighting to keep walking instead of turning around and storming back in there to demand what the fuck a guy like him wanted with a teenage girl, though I could hazard a guess.
This bastard needed to die.
There would be no rotting in a jail cell for him.
Not on my fucking watch.
SHOTGUN
“He was just trying to scare me.”
“He was trying to scare me,” I corrected, strumming my fingers on the bar.
Avery rolled her eyes like it was no big deal, but the reality was—she was fucking lucky. Lucky she managed to keep her head straight, lucky Holly was in the right place, lucky Kid had been waiting with artillery no bastard wanted to mess with. But really, luck had nothing to do with it. This fucker had come for her.
No, not her.
Gage.
Would he have done something? Or was he just trying to scare her?
No, he was trying to fucking scare me. To let me know how close he could get to her, to my fucking son, and how easily he could take them from me. This was his warning. It might have even been more than that if Holly hadn’t appeared and stepped in to protect them. Which was the only reason I wasn’t kicking her the fuck out of my clubhouse right now, even though the hairs on my neck were still standing up in warning as I watched her cuddle close to Slate.
“I’m surprised she hasn’t dropped dead from your death glare,” Avery teased, following my gaze. It hadn’t taken the two of them long to crash together like a car accident. Holly being the sassy hot mess Slate often went for.
I bared my teeth, leaning into her as she sat up on the bar, her legs on either side of my body and her fingers in my hair. “She was in the right place today. That doesn’t change the fact that she’s put you in the wrong place before.” Silence greeted me, and I twisted my body, lifting my eyebrow. “Since when do you bite your tongue when you’ve got something to say?”
“I do pretty well at putting myself in the wrong place if you hadn’t already realized.”
“Don’t make excuses for her,” I argued. “She’s toxic.”
“She’s troubled.”
“Avery…” I growled, knowing she was only arguing because of loyalty. Not because she actually believed Holly had suddenly had a change of heart and gotten clean.
I had to keep my eyes on it.
There was something not right.
Something I wasn’t about to let touch Avery.
Sunday was the only night the club got to drink and spend time together because every other fucking night of the week, members and girls were rostered on rolling shifts at Empire or Dynasty. Sunday was the day we barbecued as a family and relaxed. Friends of the club often joined us. Other clubs too sometimes.
It was a time to hang out with the people we cared about. They deserved it. We deserved it.
Avery hadn’t moved from my side since we’d stepped back into the fucking clubhouse. Not to eat. Not to change Gage’s diaper. Not to help with dinner.
She stayed with me the whole time, and I didn’t give a fucking damn.
That SOS call today had fucked with my head. Not knowing what the fuck I was going to find when we showed up. Not knowing whether I was going to lose her.
Or Gage.
Or fucking both.
It was like feeling someone reach down my throat and take hold of my heart before trying to rip it clean from my body. The pain was nothing I’d ever experienced before. It was a different kind of heartache. A different kind of fear. The kind that let me know I would do fucking anything for them.
To protect them.
To keep them with me and in my life.
That ache in my chest I got when I thought about how I could ruin Gage, how I didn’t deserve to be his father, that was nothing compared to the pain I felt today when I imagined possibly losing him. It was a slap in the face. One that maybe I fucking needed.
The wave of hungry people moved past us, eager for food, though neither of us moved. Avery, because she was polite like that. Me, because there was something else about to go down, and I wasn’t about to let anything distract me.
“I keep thinking about Micah,” Avery whispered softly, dragging my attention back to her. I raised my brow and cocked my head at Avery, letting her know to continue.
She sighed. “How do these men get away with this stuff? They’re so rich. So powerful. So above the damn law. This guy, he took Emma, he took Gage’s mom from him, and he still gets to walk around like he’s fucking king. Like nothing can touch him.” Her voice caught, and I leaned in, grabbing her face and pressing my forehead to hers, but she didn’t stop, her hands twisted in my hair and curled into fists. “The guy who killed Micah, he gets to destroy my life, then sit in a cozy jail cell for the rest of his. Three meals a day. Someone to do his cooking, the cleaning—”
“Stop!” I growled, reaching for her wrist and removing the tight grip that had my scalp stinging. “Look at me.”
Her narrowed eyes were brimming with tears, the anger and injustice thick in them.
She talked a tall game, telling me she hadn’t been affected by what happened today, but it was beginning to sink in, and honestly, I’d been waiting for it.
“Money does not make them invincible. It makes them vulnerable,” I reassured her, making sure her eyes were connected with mine. I wanted her to hear this, and I needed her to see the promise in my eyes. “They will get theirs. Micah’s killer included.”
Her sparkling eyes opened wide. Her mouth fell open like she was about to ask what I mea—
“We’re ready,” Mix announced, flashing some papers casually as he walked past. Avery’s eyes moved between us then narrowed cautiously.
“Good,” I answered, not bothering to turn to my brother but keeping my eyes focused on the woman in front of me. After a few seconds of silence, I cracked a smile. “You’re not gonna ask?”
“Since when has it been my place to ask?”
“Since we started raising a fucking child together,” I rasped, taking her hips in my hands and lifting her from the bar onto the floor. There wasn’t a lot of height difference between us, so when I braced my hands on the bar behind her and pressed my hips forward, I couldn’t help but enjoy the way her breath hitched, and she reached for me. Leaning in, my mouth sided up to her ear while she clung to my leathers. “If you didn’t know already, I plan on making this something more soon. I’m just giving you time to get used to that idea. Time to really fall in fucking love with me before I put my patch on your sexy fucking ass.”
She shuddered, and I fucking grinned. I wasn’t sure if it was because my words scared her or because she fucking liked them. But I didn’t care.
I pressed my lips hard against hers, devouring her, delighting in the way she softened at my touch. Her hands moved up my chest, curling around my neck and tugging me in a little closer, pressing her body harder against mine. “Goddamn,” I cursed, pausing to take a breath and pressing my forehead to hers. “Better be careful, or I’m gonna throw you over my shoulder right now and carry you upstairs.”