Her sexual confidence, and the way she makes no apologies for her appetite, is one of the things I love most about her.
She pulls back as Emmett emerges from the house with a bucket of beers. There is no love lost between me and him, but I set my personal feelings aside and nod affably as he offers me a beer.
“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Sean says, his eyes downcast as Emmett passes beers around. Galen declines, unsurprisingly, but Lo accepts one, and I subtly shake my head at Theo when I see his lips parting to say something.
Lo needs this, and we’re not her dad. If she wants a fucking beer, she can have one.
“Me either,” Lo adds. “I hope they throw Beth and those other bitches in a cell and they never see the light of day again.” The girls were already arrested and charged with assault, which will now automatically get upgraded to a murder charge. They will get what’s coming to them, and I hope it’s the maximum sentence.
“You can fucking bank on it, Lo,” Sean says, his eyes full of hatred. “They will pay for what they did to my girlfriend.” He chokes on a sob at the end, and tears pool in his eyes. I bleed for the guy. If this was Harlow, I would lose my fucking mind. Scorch the Earth and burn all the motherfuckers responsible.
Tense silence filters through the air until Lo extracts her cell. “Sar wouldn’t want us moping.” She looks at Sean. “She would kick our asses if she saw us right now.” Sean nods, and there’s a hint of a smile on his mouth. Lo glances at Theo. “There’s a loudspeaker in Sar’s room. Would you grab it?”
“I’ll get it,” Sean says, standing. “And you’re right. Sar would hate this. Let’s get fucking drunk and dance and remember how fucking amazing she was, because she was a girl in a million.” He hangs his head as emotion threads through his words, and I share a look with the guys.
I know we are all thinking the same thing and feeling guilty for our selfish thoughts.
Sean comes back with the speaker, and Lo hooks up her cell, playing one of her and Sariah’s playlists, and we hang back, swapping stories about Sariah over a few beers.
Day turns to night, and Lorna joins us when the rest of the oldies have gone home. Lo sings along to Sariah’s favorite songs, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. Theo takes my place when I need to go inside for a piss, and I seize the opportunity to grab some water, handing the bottle and a few pain pills to Galen. He’s quiet, not complaining, but the sweat beads on his brow attest to his pain. His ribs were already fucked before they took another battering, so it’s obvious he’s hurting.
I’m just about to suggest we head home when my cell vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and read the text message from one of the junior chapter members.
“We’ve got to go,” I say, repocketing my phone.
“What is it?” Lo asks as Theo gently lifts her off his lap.
I lower my voice so none of the others hear. “Taylor’s been found. The guys are holding her for us.”
For the first time all day, the veil of sadness lifts from Lo. Her jaw tenses as her eyes glimmer with determination. “Let’s do this.” She grabs Theo’s hands. “It’s time to take that bitch down.”
CHAPTER 3
HARLOW
WE PULL UP to an enclosed property in Prestwick, and Saint kills the lights as we approach the high iron gate. Putting the engine in park, he extracts his cell and taps out a message.
“Why aren’t we going to the warehouse at Landing’s Lane?” I ask, because I was told it was their main interrogation place, and I presumed that was where we were headed.
“It’s too open after the fight,” Saint shares as the gates creak open. He puts the car into gear, and we move forward. “That place is retired now.”
I don’t say another word as we drive over the bumpy road toward the large brick warehouse in the near distance. I know The Sainthood has a number of secret warehouses scattered about and that all the locations are a heavily guarded secret.
Saint drives his Land Rover around the back of the structure, parking it to the right of the door. Theo helps me out of the car, pressing a kiss to my temple when he puts my feet on the ground. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him to me, needing his familiar smell and the feel of his toned body against mine, to ground me.
Today has been one of the worst days of my life, and it’s not over yet. The few beers I inhaled back at Sariah’s house have taken the edge off my heightened emotions, but I’m still tense, still feeling out of sorts, grappling with the multitude of emotions flooding my system as I struggle to deal with the loss of my best friend. I’m trying to numb myself to feeling, but it’s not as easy as it used to be, because I’m no longer desensitized.
Opening my heart to the guys has lowered my resistance, and I’m feeling far too much. I can’t function like this, and I desperately need to lose myself in my guys to remember who I am. To remind myself why life has to go on even though I will never forget the bubbly blonde who brightened up my world in so many ways.
Sar would hate to see me like this, and I owe it to her to live my best life, but it’s all too raw.
I guess this is what true grieving feels like. I’ve never let myself go there before, and a pang of guilt surges through me as the thought lands in my mind. I’m feeling more today than I did the day of my dad’s funeral, and it makes me feel like I let him down. Like I should have let it in more, because Dad meant the world to me, and it feels wrong now that I was so closed off to my emotions that day.
Theo hugs me to him, and I cling to his warmth and his comfort like he’s my favorite blanket. “You’re going to be okay, beautiful,” he whispers, threading his fingers in my hair. “We will be with you every step of the way.”
“I hate feeling like this,” I whisper, conscious the other guys have stalled by the door, waiting for us. “It feels like I’m losing myself.”
He places his mouth on mine, kissing me sweetly before pulling back and clasping both sides of my face. “We will never let that happen. We’ll never let you forget.” He kisses me again. “I love you, Lo.” He presses his forehead to mine. “And I’m never letting you go. Never.”
“I love you too,” I murmur, gripping his toned waist. “I love all of you,” I admit out loud for the first time.
“Have you told them?” he asks, easing his head back from mine.
“Not yet, but I will.” My own sense of mortality is screaming at me. I came so fucking close to death, and I’m not out of the woods yet. If my time should come, I want to leave this world with no regrets and I want my guys to know how much they mean to me.
I shuck out of Theo’s embrace, pushing those sentiments aside for the time being. We are here to teach this bitch a lesson, and it can’t wait.
Saint nods as I approach with Theo at my side, and I return the gesture. The guys have scarcely taken their eyes off me all day. I see the concern in their eyes, and it warms all the frozen parts of me, but I need to remind them—and me—that I’m not some broken shell of a girl.
I’m Harlow fucking Westbrook.
Survivor.
Queen.
Some two-bit ho isn’t getting the better of me.