Chapter 25
TWENTY-FIVE
SILAS
“I’d turn around, get back in your truck, and go back to where you came from unless you want to find yourself buried on this property.” I growled it, jutting my chin toward the hunk of metal sitting alongside the road.
My insides a riot of rage and bad fucking memories.
It was the same fucking truck.
It would have brought me to my knees if I hadn’t been driven by hate.
Hate for the man responsible for everything.
None of this would have happened if it weren’t for him. Not the tragedy nor the spiral.
He laughed a callous sound, sneer ripping between me and Brody. “Came here for what’s owed to me.”
I tried to stop myself, but there was nothing I could do but let my attention skate over my shoulder, praying Elena would do what I told her and take Kai back inside.
Terrified she wouldn’t since I saw the look on her face.
The way she’d gone cold, color draining from her face like the last drops of blood from a body.
Her own traumas had begun right here with this piece of shit, too.
Surprise nearly reared me back when I saw Brinley holding Kai, and she was dragging Elena along behind her with her other hand.
Hustling them away and out of sight.
I couldn’t even grasp the feeling that rose up in me then.
Complex and complete.
Chest tightening and stomach swimming.
She was protecting them.
I turned back to the scum standing at the edge of my property, hands curled into fists to stop myself from reaching out and choking the life out of him.
That one memory spinning through my brain on a circuit was his only saving grace.
It’s your heart. It’s your heart.
But I wasn’t feeling so graceful right then. The sight of him enough to stamp out that last bit of humanity.
Knew Brody had none of it. Not with the way every muscle in his body was strung like a bow.
An arrow set on a course to impale.
He was barely old enough to remember, and it was this shitbag who’d robbed him of the opportunity for those memories.
I cocked my head. “And what is it you think is owed to you?”
“The kid or money. You know the score. You don’t get what you don’t pay for.”
I scoffed. “Fucking rich from the likes of you.”
He let his gaze roam the front of the property, over the row of bikes and the gathering of my men. I nearly came out of my fucking skin with him even possessing that bare knowledge, but I forced myself to toss out a stance of not giving a fuck.
He turned his scorn back on me. “Looks to me like you turned out like your pop, after all.”
My spirit howled, but I kept up that quickly disintegrating cool. “Nah, doubt something so insignificant could make much of an impact.”
“Huh. Funny since you’re making an awful big stir about this.”
“Not about you. It’s about that kid. He’s what matters. And I’m going to tell you once more, and after that, there will be no further warnings.”
I took one menacing step toward him.
My entire crew did the same, edging closer, making sure he knew the threat of death was looming.
“You’re going to turn around, drive back to California, and forget that any of us exist. You will haul your pathetic ass out of my town, and you won’t look back.
You’re owed nothing but a death sentence, so count yourself lucky that I’m allowing you to walk away.
Next time, I won’t be feeling so benevolent. You got me?”
He smirked a mouthful of rotten teeth. “Wonder what your momma would have to say about that.”
I nearly cracked. Ended him right there on the street. That was just as a random car drove by, slowing to gawk.
Trevan took me by the elbow to stop me, same as Dice did to Brody, that cool we’d barely been fronting dissipating to sweltering mist.
“I think it’s time you get on your way,” Trevan issued in his genial but lethal way, his attention pinned on PJ when he said it. “No need for things to get messy, but I promise you, they’re about to.”
Air puffed out of PJ, affront and the pathetic stench of a man who only had concern about himself.
He looked back at me. “This is far from over. One way or another, I’m going to make you pay.”
My mind spun through our altercation the night I’d flown in my truck to the hospital where Kai had been. In Northern California, in the city about two hours outside of Moonlit Ridge.
The way he’d demanded that I was going to pay for Kai. That nothing came for free.
“I owe you nothing.” It was a snarl. “Now get the fuck out of here before you no longer have the ability to walk.”
He took a step back, smirking harder. “You’re gonna regret disrespecting your daddy that way.”
“Un-fucking-likely,” I spat.
We all stood ground until he tucked tail to his truck. The sound of it roaring when he turned over the ignition nearly leveled me with the memories.
One of those sensory things that you could never purge from your mind.
None of us moved an inch until he turned a U in the road and the echo of it disappeared in the distance.
“Colby, Dice, trail his ass out of town and make sure he’s gone,” I commanded.
“On it, Prez.”
Colby clapped Dice on the back and the two of them went running for their bikes, while the rest of the group dismantled.
All except for Phoenix, Trevan, Brody, and myself.
“You okay?” I finally asked my brother.
Brody shook, the normal easy arrogance he wore crushed by grief. “Don’t know why you leave him standing.”
I didn’t fucking know, either.
“What do you think his game is?” Trevan asked.
“Same as it always is. An easy dollar. And Kai isn’t up for fucking sale. Bastard isn’t getting anything else out of me.”
He’d already stolen enough.
My frayed nerves zapped, not fucking sure where I was supposed to go from here. The last thing I wanted was Kai raised in this life. He deserved so much better. Deserved so much better than me bringing him out of abuse and right into something just as wicked.
The same as Brody and Elena.
Every choice I made only dragged them deeper into the foulness of my life.
I felt lost.
So fucking lost.
I scrubbed both palms over my face, struggling to keep my shit together.
Mind spiraling through so many things.
This bullshit and the task at hand.
Brinley.
Fucking Brinley who was wrecking my head.
Running with Elena and Kai.
Protecting them the same way as she’d been so protective of my little sister last night.
I whipped my attention to Trevan. “Check with Colby and Dice and make sure he gets out of town.” Then I looked between all three men. “He comes back, and he doesn’t leave.”
They knew exactly what I meant.
“You sure?” Trevan pressed.
Phoenix stirred, the Madman placated by the news.
I looked at Brody. Searching for what he felt. For what he needed. This wasn’t only about me.
His throat bobbed heavily, eyes wild, before he gave me a tight nod.
I looked back at Trevan. “Yeah, we’re sure.”
“All right, then.”
“I’m going to go check on Elena and Kai,” I told them.
Trevan inclined his head. “You want the gates locked up?”
“No. We need to appear like everything is normal. If Kent is watching, we need him to think nothing is amiss, and we’re business as usual.”
We couldn’t afford for it to look like we were gearing up or hunkering down. Couldn’t afford for PJ to cost us this gig.
We needed to continue on like it was another normal criminal day.
“Crows ride tonight at ten. Through town. We go to Keg & Creek.” It was a local dive I was looking into purchasing. One that held so much consequence for me I couldn’t stop myself from going back there right after I came back here.
The original owner long gone.
Its sordid history erased as if it’d never happened.
“If we’re hiding out in these walls, it’s going to raise red flags. Let everyone know.”
Trevan dipped his head in assent.
Then I was moving.
Storming around the shop in the direction Brinley had taken them. Toward the little footpath I somehow knew she’d followed.
Like I could scent her.
That almond and apple scent mixed with terror and care.
I dipped under the shade of the trees, my heart that had been pounding hard now careening.
My gaze snagged on the same peep-toe shoes she loved to tempt me with that had been kicked off and left on the path. I ducked down and picked them up, my pace increasing as I moved through the stir of energy toward the house.
It was denser the closer I got. A whir of it that spun around the walls.
I clumped up the stairs, wondering what the fuck I thought I was doing, so fucking drawn I couldn’t think straight.
I tossed open the door to the flurry of activity going on inside.
“I said I’m fine.” At Brinley’s wheezed words coming from the kitchen, my screaming heart jumped to my throat. I flew through the archway.
She was in a chair turned out from the dining table, holding a bloodied damp rag to her foot.
Fury splintered.
“Are you hurt?” I demanded.
“She cut her foot up real good,” Meems confirmed, her gaze slanting to me.
Tortured and pained.
Full of an apology.
I gritted my teeth, trying to feel none of it, my attention slanting to Elena who was on her knees in front of Brinley. Her hands flitted all over like she wanted to do something but had no idea what.
“I’m worried she needs stitches.” I could hear the tears in Elena’s voice.
“I’m fine,” Brinley huffed again, then she pinned those fiery eyes on me. “Is he gone?”
That was her concern.
“Yeah, he’s gone, and he’s not coming back.”
I dropped my focus to Elena, offering it like a promise.
She nodded at me, the normal sass and irritation she watched me with replaced with trust and pain.
Like she got my reasoning for keeping her sheltered, but there was still no erasing the pain of it.
“Where’s Kai?” I gritted.
“Sleeping in his playpen. He didn’t even wake up.” Elena’s laugh was soggy.
My nod was sharp.
Eyes dragging back to Brinley who peeled back the rag to get a look at her foot.
More blood gushed, and she winced, quick to cover it up.
“Fuck,” I grumbled, and I was scooching Elena aside and sweeping Brinley from the chair, one arm under her legs and the other behind her upper back.
“What the heck, Silas?” she gasped as the rag splatted to the ground.
I didn’t answer.
I just carried her up the stairs and into the bathroom in my room, likely leaving a trail of blood behind us.
It wouldn’t be the first time I’d done it.
I didn’t stop until I had her settled on the counter before I knelt in front of her so I could inspect her foot. One hand on the outside of her calf as I carefully studied her sole.
She winced, though she didn’t make a sound as I gently prodded the flesh.
“It’s not that deep,” I rumbled, though it was a hundred percent in relief. “Don’t think stitches are going to be required.”
“See, I told everyone it was fine.” She huffed it, though her hands were clinging to the edge of the counter.
Not close to fine and it didn’t have anything to do with her injury.
I met her gaze.
Was trapped by it, really.
“You protected them.” Could barely get the words out around the dryness of my mouth, and they still sounded like praise.
“I…” Her tongue stroked over her lips. “I can’t bear the thought of someone getting to them. I don’t even know them and…”
She trailed off. Unable to vocalize this thing that neither of us could understand.
“He’s gone?” she finally asked again, though quieter, like it was a secret she was asking me to trust her with.
“He’s gone.”
“He wants to take him back?” She gulped around the fear. Like it was hers as much as it was mine.
Disquiet rolled with the hate. “He just wants money.”
Her brow pinched. “Did you give it to him?”
I stared up at her from where I was knelt on a single knee, still clinging to the side of her calf. “He’s never taking anything from me again.”
Understanding passed between us. Fierce and vehement.
Mutual respect and something deeper.
I could barely move as I forced myself to stand and go to the cabinet where I pulled out the first aid kit and a fresh washcloth, my guts a tangle as I warmed it under water then knelt back in front of her.
Tenderly lifting her foot so I could clean it.
Those eyes were on me the whole time.
Sifting and penetrating and cutting me through.
Her skin so fucking soft and her spirit so fucking right.
Bright and blinding and a little dark. I wanted to explore every facet. See what made her glow and discover what had caused the hardened places.
I dabbed ointment on the cut then fully wrapped her foot so it would be secure.
I looked up at her.
Found the awed, confused expression on her gorgeous face.
And there was nothing I could do but turn my head and press my lips just to the inside of her knee and whisper, “Thank you.”
The roar of motorcycles filled the heavy summer night. Humidity clinging to the air and sweat drenching my skin.
Me at the helm as we rode into town, my crew in formation behind me.
Trevan and Phoenix were a fraction back and side by side. The others gathered at the rear.
The showing heavy and malicious.
People parted, eyes swinging our way as we passed through Crimson Creek. The diner and bakery and the eclectic shops, though most of them were closed for the night.
I’d left twenty men to guard the compound, but it wasn’t enough to quell the anxiety that prickled through my senses.
The feeling that something was off.
Not quite right.
We made the left at Cutter Lane and wound down to the area by the river and pulled into the dirt lot in front of Keg & Creek, a wood-paneled building that looked like it hailed from the 1890s.
I gritted my teeth at the sight. Memories assailing.
I forced it all down, knowing vengeance was soon at hand, and we rolled inside like we owned it. Wearing our cuts, voices boisterous and loud, drinks flowing, my men carousing.
But the whole time I itched.
Unsettled.
Antsy.
And that feeling never settled until I stood in my room five hours later, staring down at her sleeping in the middle of my bed.
Wild brunette curls strewn around her.
No peace until I peeled off my tee and jeans and crawled into my bed next to her, wrapped her in my arms, and pulled her back to my chest.