“What?” I ask.
“I can’t believe you,” he murmurs, shaking his head and looking behind me at Decker. “We haven’t even been broken up a month and you’re already in love with someone else? Was our whole relationship just meaningless to you? I feel like I don’t even know you anymore.”
“Rhett—”
“Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t love me, Cara,” he demands, looking straight at me. He cups my chin with his fingers and leans in closer. I move away, because Decker is in my line of sight and I can see his eyes on us. I don’t want him to see Rhett touching me. “I bet you can’t.”
“Do we have to have this conversation right now?” I ask him, glancing toward the warehouse.
“Yes, we do. I do,” he replies, and I know he’s not going to let it go,
I don’t know how to explain this to him without hurting him, which is the last thing I want to do. But if I want to be with Decker peacefully, I need Rhett to understand we are over. I should’ve done it the last time we had this talk, but I was confused then. I shouldn’t have told him that what is meant to be will be. I need to tell him the truth: that we’re never getting back together.
Cue Taylor Swift.
“I’ll always love you,” I say, keeping my tone gentle. “But I’m not in love with you anymore, and I haven’t been for a long time. And you know this. You don’t love me like that either, Rhett. Like a friend, but not like a lover. You wouldn’t have cheated on me if you loved me like that. And I deserve that love. We know each other so well; we have so much history and so much love for each other. You are my first love, but we aren’t meant to be together. Not now. Not ever again.”
He squeezes my chin gently and then lets go, leaning back with a grimace. “If I don’t love you like that, then why does seeing you move on hurt so much?”
“Because we always thought we’d end up together?” I guess, resting my head on his shoulder. “I know that I always thought you’d be the only one for me. But things change, people change. We grew apart, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“When I was away, I knew I had fucked up and I wanted to make things right with you,” he admits quietly. “I guess I don’t know how you are letting us go so easily. Why aren’t you fighting?”
“Because I was fighting for months that we were together. I knew we lost the fight a long time ago. I was fighting, and it was draining, Rhett. I shouldn’t have to fight so hard to be with the man I’m meant to be with.”
He closes his eyes for a second before reopening them. “I will always love you.”
“And I you.”
But Rhett will always love the club more.
And I’ve found what I’ve always wanted in the form of a six-foot-four, green-eyed, smartass ex-cop.
“We’re ready,” Clover calls out. I walk away from Rhett and rejoin the group. I look at Decker but he avoids my eyes.
“We are being watched,” Clo says, taking my hand in hers.
True enough, there are two men now standing at the entrance, watching and waiting. Rhett looks down at me. “Stay here.”
I shake my head. “No, you aren’t going in alone. Imagine what he would do if there was no one to report back to the MC.”
“We’re all going in together,” Felix murmurs, sharing a look with his wife. “Please, Clo, do not go rogue on me right now.”
Clover pats her gun holster. “Don’t worry, husband. We’re all coming out of this alive.”
“I’m guessing you don’t want to wait in the car,” Decker says to me, softly, so no one else can hear. I want to talk to him about what just happened, but it’s going to have to wait.
“I think you know the answer to that,” I reply. “I’m just as capable, Decker.”
“I know, but to me, you are more valuable.”
Softening, I reach out to touch his arm. “Like Clo said, we’re all coming out of this alive.”
I look up to see Rhett watching us both, a look of sadness flashing in his eyes. He clears his throat and looks away. I don’t like seeing him look like that. It hurts me, too. But we don’t have time for this right now. We need to make sure we are all safe, and we need Rhett to fight Marko to do so.
“All right then, let’s do this.”
We all walk in together.
The two men escort us silently to where Marko is sitting in the middle of the warehouse, very dramatically, like a king on a throne, except he’s on an old, worn chair.
Very fitting.
The warehouse is big, an empty bar, his chair and a boxing ring in the corner.
Marko looks nothing like I had expected. He’s maybe in his midthirties, but handsome, with dark hair and dark eyes. He has a glint in his eyes, though, that lets me know he is not a good person. My gut instinct would be to stay away from him.
“Rhett,” Marko says, glancing around at all of us. His eyes land on me. “Cara, nice to see you in the flesh.”
“You mean when you aren’t sending your henchmen to try to kidnap me?” I reply, narrowing my eyes.
“Exactly,” he replies, unbothered by my attitude. “But that’s all in the past now, isn’t it? I struck a deal with the Wind Dragons and the Knights of Fury presidents. Rhett and I will fight, and then it’s settled. There will be no more war between us all.”
“Just like that it’s over?” Rhett asks, pulling off his black hoodie and throwing it on the floor. “That’s the deal, right?”
Marko nods and stands. “That’s the deal.”
What’s the catch?
Why does it feel like there’s something that we are missing here?
Marko points to the makeshift boxing ring in the corner of the open space. “I’m ready when you are.”
All of his men appear from the shadows. There has to be at least fifty of them. They are definitely going to try to use intimidation as a tactic, and with only five of us—I have to admit that it’s working on me, anyway.
We told the Wind Dragons and the Knights of Fury to be here as our backup, we were hoping that we wouldn’t need them and it wouldn’t turn into a huge brawl, but it looks like it’s going to be heading that way. But we’re going to have to manage and buy some time until they get here.
Decker puts his arm around me and gently pulls me behind him. We can’t trust these people, and we need to be careful with our actions.
“You need your whole gang here to watch you lose?” Rhett asks, and I roll my eyes at his trash talking. I don’t know if pushing Marko and all of his followers is the best thing right now. In fact, I know that it isn’t.