Chapter 13 Vin #2
I crossed the room in strides that felt both endless and not nearly fast enough.
When I finally reached her, my hands closed around her with a grip I never wanted to break.
She crashed into me, and it was like I was whole again.
Relief flooded my veins, mixing with love and the kind of shared pain that carved deep into your bones.
We clung to each other, her head buried against my chest, my face pressed into her hair.
I breathed her in—a scent that spelled home and stirred ghosts.
For a heartbeat, or maybe an eternity, we just held on, the world be damned.
I held her face gently in my hands. "Thought I lost you," I murmured, the confession tearing from some raw place inside me.
"Never," she whispered back, her words a vow etched in fire. “Live hard, die free, baby.”
And in that embrace, I knew. I'd walk through hellfire and back for this woman, and nothing—no bullet, no blade—could keep me from her side.
Time stopped, or maybe it was just my heart, skipping beats as it caught up to the chaos. The world shrunk down to the space where our bodies met. I wasn't Vin Reed, the outlaw, the man with a bounty on his soul—I was just Vin, and she was Raven, and nothing else mattered.
"God, I've missed you," I breathed into her hair, the scent of her stirring memories keeping me riding through the darkest nights.
Her arms tightened around me, her strength defying the delicate frame I encased in my own.
I felt her tears against my cheek and wiped them away, much like my mother had wiped mine away.
"Missed you more," she countered, a tremor in her voice that spoke to the depths we'd plumbed apart.
The truth of it all—our bond, our battles, the love and the agony of our separation—seeped into every touch, every breath shared in the scant inches between us.
It was a connection that didn't give a damn about rules or dangers; it was raw, it was real, and it was ours, forged in the fires that had sought to consume us both.
But even the most powerful moments can't hold back reality for long. The distant shouts, the crackling radios searching for signs of life—they snapped me back, and the weight of what still lay ahead settled in my mind.
"Raven, listen to me," I said, pulling back just enough to search her eyes. "I ain't lettin' anything happen to you. Not now, not ever. You hear?"
Determination flared in her gaze, her nod firm. "I know. And I'm with you, Vin. To the end."
"Then let's make sure this ain't it," I replied, my promise etched in the lines of my face, the grip of my hands. “Fuck, I can’t believe I’m holding you.
“Vin,” Moab called. “We need to get the fuck outta here. Now.”
There was no room for doubt, no second-guessing. The path forward was tangled with gunfire and bloodshed, but I'd walk it a thousand times over if it meant keeping her safe. Because some things are worth fighting for, worth dying for, and the woman in my arms? She topped that list.
The dust had barely settled when I turned to my crew, their faces smeared with the residue of a fight hard-won.
I clapped Canon on the shoulder, his sniper's eye having saved our asses more times than I could count tonight.
Moab cracked his knuckles, a grin splitting his beard—he was born for this shit.
And Shivs? Cool as the steel he wielded, surveying the aftermath with eyes that missed nothing.
"Listen up," I said, voice low and steady as the throb of our idling bikes. "We came, we saw, we kicked some serious ass. But don't go getting cocky; this party's just gettin' started."
They nodded, the silent language of warriors who'd danced with death and come out grinning. We were bruised, not broken. Hungry for more.
"Stansfield thinks he’s untouchable, hiding behind his money and power," I continued Raven by my side, her presence like a live wire against my arm. "But he ain’t faced the RBMC in full swing. We’re gonna show him what happens when he fucks with one of our own."
Canon spat on the ground, the dark stain a testament to our shared disdain. "Let's burn his empire down, Vin."
"Damn right," I replied, the corner of my mouth ticking up in a feral smile. "We ride back to the club, come up with a plan, and then tear through his defenses like a fucking hurricane. No mercy, no prisoners. We end his reign of corruption."
Shivs stepped forward, his voice a blade. "For Raven. For us. For every soul he's trampled on his way to the top."
"Live hard, die free," Moab rumbled. The words were a vow, echoing off the walls, a promise etched into our very bones.
A fire blazed behind Raven's eyes, fierce and unyielding, and at that moment, I knew we were unstoppable. Stansfield’s days were numbered, and hell itself wouldn't be able to save him.
She climbed on the seat behind me, and for the first time in four years, we were speeding down a dark road together again.
She moved her arms around me and held tight.
Dead or alive sitting in front of her, I was the luckiest bastard on the planet.