Chapter 23
Adora
After breakfast, it’s just the three of us left — me, Ria, and Temperance. Mama’s gone, left a pitcher of homemade lemonade behind and said she had to go deal with some stupid shit Pops did.
Ria’s perched on a stool, eyes bright and unblinking. “Sooo…” she drawls. “You really okay being here? At the clubhouse?”
I give her a crooked smile. “Honestly? I haven’t had a second to process it.
” I twist the glass in my hands. “Last night I had a snake thrown at my face. This morning I woke up to Ghost looming in the doorway.” I take a breath, chest tight.
“It’s a lot. I don’t know what the hell it is, but it’s… something.”
Temperance sighs, arms crossed. “I tried telling Bones you could crash at mine. But apparently one of those cult psychos already scoped out my place once. They’re assuming the rest of the bastards know Ria’s been visiting.”
“Bones is making me stay here too. Until they deal with it,” she mutters, then softens. “But I would’ve stayed anyway.”
She glances at Ria. “We talked last night,” she says slowly. “Ria and I.” Her eyes flick back to mine, steady. “You’re gonna need backup now that Ghost is breathing down your neck again. And let’s face it. He’s…,” she purses her lips, “he’s something else.”
I snort. “You’re telling me. It’s been, what — two hours? And he’s already got my entire nervous system in knots.”
I slump in the chair, grip tightening around my glass.
“I wanted to unleash hell. Really let him have it. Throw so many things back in his face. Get so much stuff off my chest. And in my fantasies, I did all that. But the second I saw him, the second he spoke, it all got scrambled. Like my fucking brain just went into full system failure.” I grit my teeth.
“I asked for a divorce and all I managed was one fucking word. One. And then I spiraled into bullshit.”
“You weren’t ready,” Ria says gently. “It was too much, too fast.”
“I brought the papers,” she adds with a spark in her eyes. “So you can shove them in his face.”
“He asked for a delay,” I hiss, my tone overflowing with bitterness.
“Fuck that,” Temperance snaps, slapping her hand on the table. I jump. “It’s not his call. Not anymore. Tell him to sign or you’ll drag his ass to court and take half his shit.”
My brows shoot up.
“Oh my God,” Ria gasps, eyes wide. “You should do that anyway! He’s got money. I bet he’s not just loaded. He’s rich-rich! You could be rolling in it, babe! Millions!”
I laugh under my breath. “Your obsession with money is alarming, Ria.”
I glance down at my hands, voice quieter now. “I don’t want his money. Not more of it. I’ve got my bookstore. It’s mine. It’s enough. I just want… to be free of him.” I press my hand to my chest. “For good.”
Maybe once he signs those papers, I’ll be able to cut him completely out of my soul, too.
Temperance slams her hand again. “Woman, stop letting your stupid heart make goo-goo eyes at him!”
She waves a finger in my face. “You’ve got that sappy, dreamy look, Princess. It’s all over your fucking face. I can see what you’re feeling plain as day. Control it. Kill it. Now. Or he’ll smell it and chew you up.”
“I agree,” Ria says, nodding hard. “You can’t control your feelings, we get that, but you sure as hell can control your face.
Your voice. Your reactions. Polterbitch is sneaky.
He gets even a whiff that you’re faltering, he’ll crawl back under your skin, and wear you like a coat.
” She presses her lips together. “Serve him with the papers. His wants don’t matter anymore.
You need that divorce. You want it. That’s all that really matters. ”
I exhale slow, my brain spinning. She’s right. They’re both right.
Ria scans the kitchen. “Now, what do we need to make your stay here suck less? Ooor,” she drags the word, “you still have that lake cabin…”
“No,” I snap. Fast. Loud. Like I touched fire. “I’m not going there. No way. No fucking way.”
“Whoa. Okay, okay,” Ria raises both hands. “Settle. Just a suggestion.”
“You should burn it down,” Temperance mutters, sipping lemonade.
“That’s highly illegal,” I mumble, weakly. But the idea sends a jolt of pleasure through me. The fuck?
“Really?” Temperance raises a brow. “You’re surrounded by cold blooded killers and arson is where you draw the line?” She grins. “You’re so fucking cute.”
I laugh, but it dies quick. My chest tightens again.
“I don’t really have a problem with being here, at the clubhouse,” I admit. “At least I don’t think so. I know it’s the safest place right now. But the cabin? That one is soaked in memories.” I tap my fingers against the glass. “And somehow, it’s worse to have to remember the happy ones.”
My throat tightens. “I’m just a little scared to face the people that were here. When he— when Ghost did what he did. That’s where my uneasiness comes from. I think I’m just kind of ashamed.”
“Fuck them.” Ria’s voice slices the air, uncompromising. Her arms cross, her eyes blaze. “Who the hell are they to judge you?”
Her nose crinkles like the very thought disgusts her. “I’ll poison every last one of them if they so much as breathe sideways at you.”
“And I’ll shoot them,” Temperance chimes in, cool as ice, sliding her hand over mine. “Ghost is the one who should be ashamed, not you. You did nothing wrong. You just survived it. And you’re not alone, Adora. We’re here. You have people in your corner.”
Something in my chest loosens. A knot unties. I smile. “I’m so grateful for you guys.”
“Careful,” Temperance smirks. “You’re getting that sappy look again.”
Ria claps once. Loud. Businesslike. “Okay, back to the plan. What do you want? What do you need? Say the word and we’ll make it happen.”
I shrug. “I want Ghost to sign the divorce papers. And I don’t want him guarding me.
” I sigh, pressing the heel of my palm into my eye.
“I know I need protection. I’m not an idiot.
And honestly, with you two around, the clubhouse feels.
.. manageable. But I don’t want him playing bodyguard.
Not him. Anyone else.” I pause. “Actually, I’d prefer Domino. I like him. We could read together.”
Temperance nods, all steel and fire. “Then we go to Bones.”
I hesitate. “Will he even help? I thought about asking him too, but... Ghost isn’t just a brother in the club. He’s family.”
“He will,” she answers. “If you play the pitiful, betrayed woman card just right. Add some watery eyes for flair. And I’ll threaten him too. Just in case.”
That sounds suspicious. “Threaten him with what?”
Ria’s already snickering. Temperance rolls her eyes like I’m being ridiculous. “With sleeping on the couch, obviously.”
A voice breaks through from behind her, deep, amused. Unmistakable.
“Really, my fiery Temper?”
Temperance fucking squeaks. Squeaks! She spins around like she’s been caught red-handed.
Ria lets out a bark of laughter that echoes through the kitchen.
“You spying on us?” Temperance tries for outrage, but it falls flat with how red her ears are.
Bones smiles at her, slow, warm, and full of so much love it stings something raw in my chest. Once upon a time, I thought I had that. Clearly, I didn’t.
“I just came for coffee,” he says, casual as hell. “It’s not my fault you’re having top secret conversations in a public area.”
And then, because the universe clearly wants to torture me, he kisses her so deep I have to look away. It’s the kind of kiss that’s almost obscene.
“Jesus, get a room,” Ria groans. “Since you’re here and already eavesdropping, biker boy, care to weigh in? Will you help keep Phantom Fail away from Adora?”
Bones’ eyebrows shoot up at the nickname. He recovers quickly, eyes sliding to me. I shift under the weight of his stare.
“I’m sorry,” he says, voice quiet. “For not stepping in sooner. That day... he wasn’t right. At all. I’ve never seen him like that. I was afraid if I pushed too hard, he’d go over the edge faster and I wouldn’t be able to stop him.”
“It’s not on you,” I reply, voice barely there. “What he did, that’s on him.”
He nods, slowly. “If you want someone else guarding you, I can make that happen.”
My relief barely has time to settle before his next words stomp it into the ground.
“But you do know that won’t keep him away, right?”
A lump forms in my throat. “Probably not,” I whisper.
“Not probably,” he says. “Definitely.”
I tighten my grip on the glass in front of me. “He can do whatever else he wants. I just don’t want him to try and take advantage of the situation I’m in right now. I don’t want to put my safety in his hands.”
Bones stares for a second longer, like he’s got more to say. Thankfully, he just nods in agreement.
“Can you also make him sign the divorce papers?” Ria suddenly asks, way too hopeful.
He gives her a look like she just asked him to travel in time. “Divorce?”
Then he glances at me, and I nod, holding my breath.
He sighs and rubs a hand over his jaw. “I’m not a magician, Ria.”
Ria scoffs, looking put off. “What good are you for, then?”
Ghost
As I walk toward the meeting room, Pops’ words circle in my head like buzzards.
Forgiveness. Infinite paths. Hopeful fucking nonsense.
Maybe women can see a thousand roads forward, but what good is that if they can’t even look at you?
You need proximity for forgiveness. You need a heartbeat of mercy. Adora won’t even give me a breath.
I saw the way she looked at me this morning. Grief. Panic. Hurt. Hatred. No softness. No hope. Just a mess of raw nerves and everything I broke inside her.
But she needs protection right now. And unfortunately for both of us, there’s no one else I trust to do the job right. No one else I’d bet her life on. No one else who’d take a bullet to the skull without blinking if it meant she got to keep breathing.
That’s the fucked-up truth of it.