Chapter 47
A soft knock on the motel room door woke me, but I didn’t move. Savage stirred and got out of bed. The front door opened, letting in a slash of early morning light.
“Gimme a sec,” Savage whispered. “I’ll be right out.”
He shut the door.
I rolled over. “I’m awake.”
“Oh.” He went to grab his jeans which were resting on the chair in the corner. “That was Duke. Prez is at the diner and wants to talk. He has news.”
“Colt is in town?” Sleep began to clear from my brain and I sat up.
“Yeah. Last night, I mentioned he talked to the police chief, remember?”
“Oh,” I murmured. “Sorry. Last night is a blur.”
His jaw clenched. “A few others came with us, too. They were handling the authorities while we handled the other shit.”
“Do you think the news is about Dr. Winchester? Or about Calvin?”
“Not sure.”
Savage came to the bed and knelt down beside it and wrapped his arms around my belly before placing his head against my chest. My hands sank into his hair.
“I didn’t think about how this would affect you,” I whispered. I bent over and kissed his head.
“You don’t need to think about me.” His words were muffled against my body. “This is all my fucking fault.”
I grasped his hair and forced his head up, so he had to look at me. “No.”
His eyes were pained. “Yes. I’m supposed to protect you.”
My heart split in two. And tears gathered in my eyes. “You can’t protect me from all the evils of the world.”
“But that’s my job.”
I pressed my forehead to his. “I never thought I’d love someone so much that it hurts. I’m sorry, Savage. I’m so sorry you?—”
“What do you have to be sorry for?”
“For bringing all this to you. You didn’t sign up for any of this.”
“Baby, I thought I had a life before you. I thought it had meaning. But this . . .” He gently palmed my belly. “The three of you are everything.”
“Just . . . keep telling me that. I’ll need to hear it a lot. Okay?”
“Okay.” He reluctantly stood up. “We really do need to meet Prez.”
“I’ll be ready to go in five.” I climbed out of bed. “Savage?”
“Yeah, babe.”
I shot him a wobbly smile. “You’ve got the makings of a beard.”
“I’ll shave.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
Duke met us by the car and drove us to the diner. Several motorcycles took up spaces in the parking lot.
“You said a few others came with Colt. It’s more than a few,” I remarked in surprise.
He cupped my cheek. “You’re my Old Lady. And the club protects its own.”
Colt and the others were already in the back seating area. It was deserted except for the tables that had been pushed together to accommodate the group of bikers.
They quieted when they saw me enter with Savage. I didn’t know them well yet, but all of these men had come to my rescue.
Emotion choked me and I quickly battled it away, not wanting to break down in front of them. But all that went out the window when Colt rose from his chair, placed a hand on my shoulder and asked, “How are you doing, Evie?”
I burst into tears and turned to Savage for comfort. He quickly enveloped me within his arms. The big, silent biker—Torque—pulled out several napkins from the dispenser and offered them to Savage. Savage gave them to me, and I hastily wiped my eyes and blew my nose.
“I’m okay,” I mumbled.
“Yeah, you look like it,” Crow joked.
A startled laugh escaped my lips, and I gave him a watery smile. “I’m hungry.”
“Then let’s get you fed,” Savage said.
There were three empty chairs near Colt, which Savage, Duke and I took. Colt waited to speak until after the waitress had taken our order. Finally, Colt looked at me when he said, “We caught the man—Calvin—who kidnapped you for the Grand Patriarch. He was headed out of town, but we got him.”
“And the doctor?” Savage sneered.
“No leads yet,” Colt said. He looked at me. “Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”
“So, what happens now?” I inquired.
Colt’s eyes met mine. “Now you go home with Savage, have your babies and live your life, and you never worry about those people ever again.”
“They kidnapped me. That means I’ll have to testify, doesn’t it?” I asked, fear permeating my tongue. “The whole thing. The fire, the bodies?—”
“No,” Colt stated. “Listen to me. The Grand Patriarch and his wife are dead. The cult has no leader. Whatever they have going on with local law enforcement is too deep for us to get involved in, but it also means there won’t be an investigation. So, as far as the world knows, a little old house on the outskirts of town burned down and that’s that. No one is coming for you. After what we did, they wouldn’t dare. You’re free of that place, forever.”
I frowned and looked at the table.
“Babe . . .” Savage said. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing,” Savage insisted. “What is it?”
“What about Dr. Winchester? What’s going to happen to him when you find him?”
Colt clenched his hand that rested on the table. “You’re going to let us deal with it, and you’re going to do us all a favor and forget he ever existed. You’re never going to speak about him again, to anyone— ever . Do you understand?”
“Yes, but?—”
Savage held my hand and looked me in the eyes and said, “It’s over, babe. You’ve been through enough. You have to trust us, it’s really over. You’re safe.”
The food came out and the bikers dug into their meals. I pushed the potatoes around my plate, my appetite suddenly nonexistent.
I shoved back from the table. “I’m gonna step outside for a bit.”
I didn’t wait for anyone to respond, I just got up and left the diner. I was nervous about being alone, without the protective shadow of Savage, but the threat to my life was gone. It would take time to remember that, but hopefully, one day, I’d no longer feel like a trapped rodent, always waiting for someone to jump out and hurt me.
The front door to the diner opened and Savage stepped outside. It was cold and I hunched lower in the coat that Savage had brought for me. Savage didn’t appear at all put out by the weather. He wore a flannel with a long-sleeved white undershirt, and his hand was warm when it engulfed mine.
“Talk to me,” he said quietly.
“I feel too exposed out here to say what I really think.”
He tugged me toward the car, hit the clicker and let me climb in first. Savage quickly followed me into the back seat.
“Okay, it’s private now. What’s going on?”
“I want them both dead,” I seethed. “I need to know they’re dead.”
“What do you think we meant when we said you don’t have to worry anymore?” Savage asked softly.
I looked at him. “Really?”
He inclined his head. “I can’t tell you the details, but I promise you, I’m going to kill those motherfuckers myself.”
I reached over and grasped his hand, squeezing it tightly. I laid my head against his shoulder. “I’m so tired, Savage.”
“I know, baby.”
“I just want to go home.”
“Let’s get inside, finish our breakfast, and get home.”
I sighed. “Home. Yeah. I’m ready to go home.”
“Lay down,” Savage said, patting his thigh. “You look like you can barely stay awake.”
“I am tired,” I admitted. I stretched out and placed my head on Savage’s lap.
“I can turn off the radio,” Duke said.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I don’t mind.”
I closed my eyes, and Savage began running his fingers through my hair. With each mile, I relaxed more and more. Savage had disappeared for a couple of hours before we left town and taken care of Calvin, and now I was determined to leave the past behind me. The Grand Patriarch couldn’t hurt me anymore. The doctor couldn’t hurt me anymore.
No one can hurt me anymore.
Sleep washed over me, and I fell into unconsciousness.
It wasn’t until the car slowed to a stop that I came awake.
“When are you going to tell her?” Duke asked.
“Soon.”
I yawned. “Tell me what?”
“That we’re here,” Savage announced.
I sat up and wiped my eyes. We were at the back of the bakery. It was past business hours and closed for the night.
We climbed out of the car.
“Thanks for everything, brother,” Savage said.
“No thanks needed,” Duke said. His eyes slid to mine. “Glad you’re back with us, Evie.”
I hugged Duke. “Congratulations. I never got to say—I don’t even know her name.”
“Christ, I don’t know her name either,” Savage echoed.
Duke placed a hand on Savage’s shoulder and looked at the man he considered a brother. “We named her Cooper.”
“Fuck, man,” Savage rasped. “I’m honored.”
The two of them had a moment and then Duke slapped Savage on the back.
“How are you getting home?” I asked.
“A prospect is coming to get me. See you guys soon, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Savage murmured.
Duke walked through the alley toward the street.
I unlocked the bakery and disarmed the alarm. Savage set it again behind me as I trekked up the stairs. Despite the nap in the car, exhaustion weighed me down. I didn’t know how much of it was pregnancy and how much of it had been what I’d just lived through.
The apartment looked the same, but I was seeing it through a new lens. It was my haven.
“Good to be home, isn’t it?” Savage asked quietly from behind me.
“You read my mind.”
He shut the door and locked it. “You hungry? I can whip us up some eggs, or something.”
“You can whip up eggs?” I asked with a small smile.
“Eggs are easy, but I wouldn’t mind being taught a few things by you.”
“Yeah?” I smiled. “I could do that. You’ve taught me a few things already.”
“Oh yeah, like what?”
“How to love with my whole heart,” I said softly. “So, whatever it is you want to tell me, it won’t change anything for me.”
He looked at me and nodded slowly. “Let’s sit.”
We sat on the couch. He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers through mine. His gaze was intense when he said, “Acid died last night.”
I swallowed.
“His brain swelled too fast. They tried to relieve the pressure in emergency surgery, but . . .”
“I’m so sorry.”
“The funeral is tomorrow,” Savage explained. “They wanted to wait until we were all back before we . . . before we said goodbye to him.”
I was so broken, so traumatized—barely breathing after what I’d just lived through. And now we would have to deal with the truth—the horror—that Acid died so that Savage and I could have a life together.
His sacrifice couldn’t be in vain.
But I didn’t say anything of it to Savage. Instead, I took him into my arms and didn’t let go. Not even as early morning light winked through the blinds like proof that the world would keep turning and you’d find a way to go on despite grief closing in on you.