CHAPTER TEN #2
I don’t move—I can’t. I’m frozen somewhere between shock and disbelief, but they move around me with practised precision.
Maddie and Lucy peel my bloodied clothes off. Darcie bags everything—the clothes, the broken knife handle, even my shoes. Orla and Maddie drag Liam’s body back into the recessed doorway he jumped out from. He disappears instantly from sight.
They cover him with a filthy blanket.
“Took it from a homeless bloke,” Maddie says with a shrug. “I gave him some cash. Relax.”
Fern helps me into clean clothes. Leggings, a hoodie, and fresh trainers—all soft, loose, untainted.
“Hands,” she orders.
I lift them. She pours bleach straight over my fingers, palms, wrists.
The sting hits instantly, and I gasp, but she doesn’t stop.
The rest of the bleach splashes across the ground, fizzing through the blood pooled on the concrete.
She follows it with bottled water, washing the last red streaks toward a drain.
It’s clinical.
Efficient.
Terrifying.
When she’s finished, she grabs my hand. “Now we drink.”
“Drink?” My voice sounds like it’s coming from somewhere far away.
She nods firmly. “Yes. CCTV. Witnesses. We need to be seen alive, well, and very far from here. Come on.”
Behind us, Maddie tosses the evidence bag into her car. “I told Stacks I was nipping out for snacks,” she says. “You never saw me tonight.”
I nod weakly and she speeds off, tyres screeching.
The others fall into step around us, boxing me in like bodyguards, guiding me back to the street and toward the nearest bar. As though we’re just a group of girls on a night out, not accomplices in the aftermath of a killing.
Fern squeezes my hand.
“Deep breaths, Eden,” she murmurs. “We’ve got you.”
KADE
I stare at my watch again. Useless. Time isn’t moving. Or maybe I’m just stuck.
Diesel pauses in my doorway. His gaze drops to the suitcase by my desk, and confusion creases his face. “Going away?”
I shake my head. My throat feels raw. “It’s Eden’s.”
He steps inside and quietly shuts the door behind him. “Eden’s leaving you?”
“We’re over.” The words scrape out of me. “I’m kicking her out.”
Diesel’s eyes widen. “What the fuck, Kade?”
“She’s been lying to me,” I bite out. “I had her followed.”
He groans, dragging a hand over his face. “You did what?”
“What was I supposed to do?” My voice cracks despite my effort to keep it steady. “She’s freezing me out. She cries during sex. She won’t let me touch her. She flinches when I kiss her. I had to know what was going on.”
Diesel studies me, dread settling in his features. “So she’s cheating?”
I look away, jaw tight. “I don’t know.”
“Then why the fuck are you kicking her out?”
I swallow. The words taste like acid. “She took the morning after pill.”
Diesel winces like I’ve punched him.
“So she was either covering up a mistake,” I continue, voice low, “or she doesn’t want kids with me like she said.”
“Kade… Pres, there could be a perfectly good explanation for that.”
“Like what?” I snap, finally meeting his eyes.
“Because trust me, brother, I’ve tried. I’ve tried to reason with myself over and over.
” My chest feels like it’s collapsing. “She disappears. Comes back acting weird. Won’t let me touch her.
Fakes her orgasm. Won’t look at me. She’s drowning in guilt. ” I shake my head. “I’m done.”
Through the office window, Diesel and I both see the clubhouse door open. The women walk in laughing, linked arms, normal. Like the world hasn’t been crumbling at my feet.
“Showtime,” I mutter.
Diesel steps out ahead of me. “Eden,” he says gently. “Pres needs to see you.”
“Can it wait?” Fern asks. “We were going to have another drink here.”
“Now,” I bark, stepping out of my office.
The entire room stills. Their expressions shift to confusion.
There’s a flicker of fear in Eden’s eye but she shuts it down quickly, squaring her shoulders like she’s ready for a fight.
Fern must feel the shift cos they exchange a look, and Diesel adds in, “It’s best if she comes now. ”
And in that moment, everyone seems to sense it. Something irreversible is coming. And none of us are ready.
The first thing I notice when Eden steps into my office is that she’s changed her outfit. The second is her smile. A real smile. The first one I’ve seen since her birthday.
For a split second, something inside me unclenches.
“You look happy,” I say.
Her gaze drops to the suitcase on the floor. And just like that, the smile dies.
“Oh,” she murmurs.
“Yeah, about that—” I stand and place the envelope of cash on the desk between us like it’s a barricade. “There’s enough there to get a hotel tonight. And a few months’ rent on a place.” I shrug, trying to sound indifferent, even though my throat burns. “Probably not around here, though.”
Her face crumples. The pain in her eyes is sharp enough to knock the wind out of me. Her mouth opens but she closes it again, swallowing whatever she was about to say.
“In case you’re not following,” I add, keeping voice flat, “we’re done.”
Her lips part. Her voice comes out so quiet I almost miss it. “My period is late.”
I stare at her. A pulse of rage explodes in my chest. “The lies just keep rolling off your tongue,” I snarl. “I saw the pill packet, Eden. I saw the fucking receipt!”
She flinches like I’ve hit her.
Outside the doorway, there’s a scuffle, Diesel has Fern pinned back with an arm across her middle. Fern’s eyes are wild, begging.
I ignore it. “You took the morning after pill,” I say, stepping closer, fists clenched. “Why? Was it mine? Did you change your mind on the baby thing?”
She shakes her head helplessly. “My period is late,” she whispers again, voice trembling. “Kade, I’m trying to tell you—”
“STOP SAYING THAT!” I roar, slamming both hands onto the desk hard enough to rattle the window. Eden jumps, covering her mouth as tears spill. “Why,” I hiss, “did you take that pill?”
Her expression twists with a mixture of heartache and confusion. And there’s something else. Something I can’t read, and it only fuels the fire consuming me.
“Kade…” she breathes, her voice cracking. “Please listen—”
“Did you cheat on me?” I shout, the words tearing out of me like shrapnel.
She shakes her head fast. “No—I—I… it wasn’t like that,”
“GET OUT.” My voice breaks on the last word. “Get your shit and get the fuck out!”
Her whole body trembles as she reaches for the suitcase handle. Her hand shakes so badly she has to grip it twice before it catches.
“What about Martha?” she whispers.
“She can stay. I’ll talk to her tomorrow and let her decide.” I look her dead in the eyes, even though it physically hurts to do it. “But if she stays, you’re not welcome here.”
“What about my job?” she whispers, brows pinched in confusion.
“Look for something else,” I say, forcing the words out. “If I were you, I’d get out of Nottingham.”
Her face goes slack with shock. The ache in my chest flares so sharply I have to rub at it. She looks so fucking small. So lost. For a second I want to pull her into my arms and undo all of this—but I don’t move.
Instead, I walk to the door, open it, and wait for her to leave.
“No.” Fern’s voice slices through the tension like a blade. She pushes forward, fury written all over her face. “You can’t do this.”
“I’m the President,” I growl. “I can do whatever the fuck I like. Diesel, get your ol’ lady out of my face. Now.”
Fern steps closer before Diesel can grab her. “You have no idea what she’s been through!”
“Do you, Fern?” I snarl, leaning into her space. “Because if you’re hiding something from me—or covering for her—I swear to God, you’ll be following her out of that gate.”
She barks out a bitter laugh. “Understood.”
Then she storms after Eden. “Wait up. I need to pack my stuff.”
“What?” Diesel snaps, grabbing her arm. “Fern, what?”
“I can’t stay here while he does this to Eden,” she says, voice shaking with fury and heartbreak. “I’m sorry.”
“Pres?” Diesel pleads, desperate.
I don’t meet his eyes. “I can’t stop her.”
Diesel turns to Fern, voice rising. “Tell him what you know! Tell me what you know. Fern, why are you keeping secrets?”
“Oh, give me a break,” she fires back. “How many times have you men told me to trust you? How many times have I heard ‘Be quiet, Fern––it’s club business?”
“That’s different,” I bark. “The club is about the brothers. Our business stays among us.”
“And the old lady business stays among us,” she spits. “That’s how it works.”
“It involves me!” I roar. “She’s my ol’ lady. I have a right to know what’s going on!”
The front door slams open. Jimmy strides in. His face is pale, his eyes scanning the room before locking onto me. Without a word, he shoulders past and walks straight into my office.
I frown at Diesel.
He gives the smallest shake of his head. He has no idea either.
“We’ll finish this later,” I snap at Fern and Diesel. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Then I follow Jimmy into my office, dread pooling in my gut.
Jimmy is drinking straight from the bottle, hand shaking so badly the whiskey sloshes over the rim. I’ve never seen him like this, wired and pale. He’s as jumpy as a cornered rat.
“We talked about you turning up here like this,” I warn, stepping inside. Diesel moves up beside me, silent and alert.
Jimmy barely hears me. He drags in a harsh breath and takes another long swig. “Something’s happened to Liam,” he mutters, voice cracking around the edges.
My brows pull together. “Liam?”
Jimmy looks up at me then and his eyes are wild. “He’s dead.”
The room seems to shrink. Diesel stiffens beside me, his hand drifting toward the gun tucked at his back.
I stare at Jimmy, waiting for the punchline, the explanation, anything.
But Jimmy just laughs once, a short, broken bark, and takes another shaky gulp of whiskey.
“He’s dead,” he repeats, quieter this time. “Slaughtered. Bled out like a fucking pig.”