Leona.
I had to get to Leona.
I shot up and burst through the crowd around Leona.
Barracuda had his shirt off and was holding it to Leona’s chest. The shirt was soaked with blood, and his knuckles were white from gripping the shirt so tightly.
Mace threw open the first aid kit, but I didn’t know why.
Leona’s eyes were open and lifeless. Barracuda was putting pressure on a bullet wound, but there were at least four other ones on her body oozing blood.
I dropped next to her and put a hand to her cheek. “You can’t leave me, Leona. I need to keep you around, remember? We were gonna each have a biker dude.” Tears clouded my vision, and a sob escaped my lips. “You can’t leave me,” I wailed.
Sirens sounded in the distance, and arms circled around my waist. Playboy’s familiar touch was there. His touch was the only thing grounding me to the Earth.
Leona laid lifeless in the gravel as the ambulance pulled up and two paramedics jumped out.
Barracuda lifted her limp body into his arms and carried her to the back of the ambulance.
He jumped into the ambulance with her and laid her on the stretcher. A paramedic hopped in back with her and the other rushed back to the driver’s seat.
They took off in a whirl of sirens and dust.
Playboy pressed a kiss to the side of my head. “It’s okay, Raelyn.”
A blood curdling scream ripped from my lips, and I fell to the ground.
Leona was gone.
*
Chapter Twenty-One
Raelyn
The new normal…
“I brought you purple flowers.”
The wind whipped around me.
“You love purple.” I dropped to my knees and closed my eyes. “I bet you would have had purple flowers at your wedding and made me wear an obnoxious violet dress.”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t tell me I would have worn whatever she told me to.
“You weren’t supposed to leave me, Leona. You and I were supposed to live my new normal together.”
One month ago, Leona had died in the parking lot of the Royal Bastards’ clubhouse.
The doctor had said she was gone before Barracuda had loaded her into the ambulance. Five gunshots to the chest would do that to a person.
I opened my eyes and wiped the tears from my cheeks.
“Barracuda still isn’t back. Monk has been acting as president.” I sighed. “So many things changed, but I guess that makes things the new normal right?”
Every week, I had been coming to the cemetery to tell Leona what was happening. She was dead, but she was still my best friend. I told the wind my thoughts and let them ride on the breeze up to her.
Playboy told me when Barracuda found out Leona had died, he went crazy at the hospital. He smashed a window in the waiting area and took off on foot. He made it back to the clubhouse, packed a bag, and took off.
No one had heard from him since.
I sighed and glanced over my shoulder. Playboy stood there like he always did. He waited for me. No matter how long it took, he waited.
“I love him, Leona,” I whispered. “He’s helping me heal. He’s so much more than I thought he was. He makes me happy when all I want to do is cry.” The days had passed slowly, but each day, I cried a little less and I loved Playboy a little more.
“I wish you were here to see it, but I know you’re watching.” I looked back at the large stone with Leona’s name scrawled on it. “I better go, Leona. I’ll always miss you.” I touched the stone and closed my eyes. “Keep an eye on Barracuda. I think he needs it more than I do.”
I stood up and brushed off my knees. I walked back to Playboy and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.
He reached out when I was close and wrapped me in my arms. “Good talk?” he asked.
I tipped my head back and smiled. “Yeah. She was always a good listener.”
“Ready to go?”
I nodded. “As long as you’re with me.”
This was my new normal.
It was a heartbreaking ride. I had lost one of the most important people in my life, but the roller coaster kept going. And as long as Playboy was right next to me, I knew we would make it.
Life was about the ups and the downs and who stuck by you through it all.
Playboy and I were stuck with each other, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.
*