Chapter Sixteen
Itook in a deep breath as I pulled up to the estate and looked at what remained. Well, technically, it used to be the estate, and now it lay in rubble and ash. Conor, Teeghan, Killian and Sloane all stood at the side, looking over at the firemen putting the last of the fires out. I grabbed Bridget’s hand and led her over to the debris. Ace, Hawk and Bear were inspecting the rubble, probably to see if anything survived.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked them, but I already knew. It was the last ditch attempt by the Reyes to exert control. Now that Onyx was dead, there was no control to be had.
“Care package from Cesar Reyes,” Killian said. “I should have known better. He and I both know our shit, but this was next level.”
“The war is won,” Conor said. “But the loss is bigger than we could have ever imagined.”
I put my hand on his shoulder, as we all thought about Jye. He gave his life for us. He’d never be forgotten.
“We didn’t lose everyone,” I said. “Remember that.”
I looked over what was left of everything we had ever owned, a house that had sat here for centuries was now gone. My home was gone. I felt the bubble of emotion hit me hard in the chest, just as Ace came over to me.
“Not much left, my friend,” he said. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned by living like a nomad, you can always start fresh.”
“You guys are off?” I asked him.
He nodded. “We came here to help you. You don’t need us anymore. But it does look as if you need a little help with living arrangements. There’s a completely empty clubhouse in the woods, with your name on it.”
I smirked at him, as he pat me on the back and headed toward their bikes down by the side entrance.
“Here, this looks relatively unscathed,” Bear said as he threw something at me. I looked down at the velvet box which was charred a little but the ring nestled inside was perfectly fine. I smiled, knowing that was probably our mama looking down on us.
Conor, as if he knew, came over to me. “Where are they going?”
“They are leaving,” I told him. “Here.”
He took the box and smiled down at the perfect ring inside. “How the hell did this survive?”
“Fate, little brother,” I said. “Maybe now you’ll pull your finger out and ask her.”
He looked at me, a smirk playing at his lips as he pocketed the box. “Nah, tomorrow’s looking better.”
I chuckled at him, knowing he would say that, the little twerp, and joined the others. Bridget slid in under my arm and hugged my waist as Conor and Teeghan did the same.
“What do we do now?” Tee asked. She had grown accustomed to this estate as much as I had.
“We rebuild,” I said. “It’ll take a long time, but wouldn’t it be nice if we built a place we could all live instead of scattered all over the city?”
“Sounds like a fucking cult,” Killian offered.
I rolled my eyes and scuffed his hair. He chuckled, and I knew instantly that he thought the idea was good too.
“What about her?” Teeghan asked, looking over at Sloane bringing Jye’s daughter over to us. She was alone now. Conor had told me that she was orphaned and Jye’s parents couldn’t look after her anymore. He was going to bring her here and take time off once things settled down to make sure she had a good life.
A life that was now very much up in the air. My heart pulled for her, she was strong, taking everyday like any six year old would.
Ashling came over to me and looked up into my eyes. Those perfect, innocent little eyes and my heart just about shattered into pieces. It wasn’t rocket science.
“She’s one of us. We do our best to raise her just as Jye would have.”
I picked her up and she cuddled my neck, giving me a sweet peck on the cheek before she laid her head to the side.
“So are we going to sleep in a cave?” Teeghan asked. “Come on, guys, what the fuck are we going to do? Our apartments got torched too.”
“No,” I said. “Our MC pals left us a little gift in the woods. Let’s go check it out.”
As we headed to the clubhouse, I couldn’t help but notice just how different it looked without all the bikes outside. Teeghan and Bridget ran ahead, as we took our time heading inside. Teeghan came back out, her eyes wide.
“Guys, they’ve completely changed it for us. It looks like a fucking house inside.”
Confused as to when they would have had time to do that, I went up the stairs and peered inside. No bar, no booths, just a living area, dining table and kitchen. Down the hall, four bedrooms, all big in nature, and all fitted with brand new beds and furniture.
“There’s a note,” Bridget said, opening it and reading it.
“Who the fuck is Cooper?” Conor asked. We all laughed as we explored the clubhouse turned home. It was starting to feel like we didn’t need to look over our shoulder every morning, noon and night.
And that was definitely something we could get used to.