Chapter 30
THIRTY
LAURA
My eyes were slammed shut, my fingers gripping Killian’s, and then the gun went off.
I expected a bullet to burrow into my skull.
But there was a scream, and it didn’t belong to me.
My eyes popped open, and my father was gasping for air while staring at his chest and the red spot that was covering his white dress shirt. He’d been shot.
Then the sound of the gun falling to the floor echoed, along with the arrival of several motorcycles. The man who’d had me at gunpoint had dropped his firearm, and turned to look through the doors he’d just come through.
“Holloway, the back!” Killian’s father yelled, while waving his arm and frantically eying the doors at my back.
“Dad. Fuck!” Killian roared, darting forward only to drop down when a warning shot came from around the corner, where his dad had disappeared.
The shot missed Killian, but not my father. A second wound opened in his stomach, making him drop to his knees.
My eyes drifted from my father to the woman standing in the back corner who had fired the first shot.
“Mom?”
Her face was stricken; her hands shaking.
“I knew he was evil,” she cried, falling to the floor, “but to have his own daughter killed.” She choked on a sob, and I moved.
Killian was on his feet, moving with me.
My knees landed in front of my mother’s, my father was bleeding out behind me, and I couldn’t muster a single tear for him.
“I followed him. I wanted to tip you off, which is why I called. I knew there was something going on after that biker showed me those photos all those years ago. I kept ignoring it but something told me this meeting was going to be an illegal one. I followed him so I had my own proof that he was still doing this shit.”
Her eyes were wild.
I rocked her in my arms as she cried.
“Thank you, Mom. You saved my life.”
She sobbed harder, clutching my arms. “He was going to kill you, Laura. How was I married to that?”
Finally, a tear did slip free, but it was for her.
I ached for her, that she had married and put up with such a monster for so long.
We rocked back and forth, until Killian and Jameson appeared in front of us and helped us up.
“Giles is going to take you to the club.”
I nodded deftly.
Then as Killian was about to turn, I gripped his hand. “Your dad?”
Killian searched my face, his jaw clenching.
“I’ll find him.”
I had no other choice but to believe him.
My mom sipped her tea while she relaxed on the couch. She was in loose-fitting sweats, a baggy shirt, and a pair of socks that belonged to me.
“What’s going to happen? Will I go to jail?” Her blue eyes slid over the rim of her mug.
I shook my head.
“The Stone Riders will take care of it.”
She nodded then sipped again before offering me a smile.
“You’re one of them now, aren’t you?”
Warm honey melted in my chest. “I am.”
“You never really seemed to belong in our world, sweetheart. You’ve been going against the grain since you were a young girl. It always broke my heart because I worried about you. I had no idea where to put you.”
I let the silence grow as she continued to sip.
“Then you moved to DC, and you didn’t have any roots, and I settled, thinking perhaps you’d just fly and only ever have wings. But I can see it now. You have roots here; this is it for you.”
Just then the front door opened, and Killian walked in.
He slipped out of his boots and cut, then wandered over to where we sat.
“Hello Mrs. Witt, can I make up the guest room for you?”
I blushed at his polite attitude toward her. I had no idea he had it in him.
“It’s just Lacy, and yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you.”
Killian placed a kiss on the top of my head and then moved toward the hall closet where we had clean sheets. He’d moved a new bed into the room as well.
She smirked at me from over her mug again, and you’d think she hadn’t just killed her husband in cold blood a few hours earlier. Somehow, it made me glad.
I wanted my mom to be free, even if it meant she had to do the unimaginable to get there.
My mom stayed for three days before departing for Richland.
Killian was the sweetest I’d ever seen him be while she was with us. He was polite, kind, and extremely chivalrous. But I also saw worry hanging over him.
We still hadn’t found Jefferson.
To distract him, I decided to show him something.
“Where are we going?”
I pulled his hand until he was following behind me.
“Just a few more steps.”
We cleared the main floor of the club and were headed down the hallway.
Then I was pushing open the office door.
“Open them.”
Killian did as I said, slowly taking in the room until his gaze landed on the far wall.
“Are those?” he started, and I walked closer with him.
“Your drawings.” I’d framed as many as I could find. It included some rummaging through his room in the club and a few of his old boxes. Now at least ten pieces of his art graced the walls, and a new desk sat perched on the opposite side of mine.
“I also added a framed photo of us.” I touched the four by six image of us together. It was the day he’d gotten back and I had run at him wearing his property patch. Someone had taken a photo of when he scooped me up into his arms. The smile he gave while stroking the glass of the photo undid me.
His eyes bounced up, landing back on the walls. “What is this, Daisy?”
I turned toward him and placed my hands on his chest.
“Where we belong.” I smiled. “I help run things from here, but it’s your club, so I wanted you to have your own desk, your own space.
I wanted you to know you’re not alone. I’m in this with you.
I’m here. Standing next to you or waiting at home while you deal with things in the club that I can’t witness.
Whatever and wherever this club takes you, I’m in it with you.
I’ll hold things down while you’re gone and help carry them while you’re here. ”
His eyes glittered as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear.
Then, so soft it nearly broke me, he whispered, “you belong and forever will be in here.” He moved my hand over his heart. “No matter where we go or what we do. You’re it for me, Laura Witt. One day that will change to Laura Quinn, and then we’re going to have kids.”
“Yeah?” A tear slid down my cheek.
His lips lightly brushed against mine. “Yeah.”
I sank into the feeling of hope, and I chose to cling to it.
“Tell me why you erase them instead of drawing.”
His soft chuckle reverberated through my chest.
Eyeing one of his pieces of art that resembled a daisy, he let out a sigh.
“You can’t fuck up something you erase, you can only fuck up something you create. I learned how to perfect the skill of avoidance.”
I swatted his chest playfully because that’s exactly what he’d done with us.
“Why didn’t you come to me after you told me to come back?”
We settled in one of the chairs, Killian pulled me into his lap.
“Similar reason. I hadn’t started anything with you officially, no matter how badly I wanted you.
Didn’t want to create something and fuck it up.
Simon wanted me to focus on taking the club over, and had explained I needed to make sure I was without distraction.
You became a piece of paper covered in graphite in my mind.
I’d slowly erase pieces of you as I could, until I was able to see the entire picture. ”
I thought that over. “You were afraid.”
He hummed, kissing my back where that tattoo rested, under my shirt.
“I was fucking terrified, Daisy. Nearly lost you too…but once it was time to step into this role, I was sure I could just toss you out of my mind. Not peel back any layers at all and discover what could have been. But then you got drunk that night in my truck, and you revealed your cards when you asked to touch me. I realized it was what I’d been waiting for. ”
“For me to jump you?” I scoffed, shaking my head. Streaks of light poured in through the glass, making the plants and the glowing lights I had strewn up on my side of the room glow.
Killian stroked a hand up my back. “For you to claim me.”
I bent in for a kiss, but our mouths were hungry and our hands desperate.
Before long, Killian had slammed the office door shut and bent me over his desk.
With the sounds of our unraveling, I smiled, clenching the edge.
I was going to enjoy my life with Killian Quinn.
Every single day I’d push to remind him and myself of exactly where we belonged.