Chapter 77
BLAIZE
Two weeks passed since the warehouse explosion, and Everly was taunting me.
The other territories were getting attacked, and I had angry men wanting answers I didn’t have.
She wanted to ruin my livelihood by taking my control and my power.
Everly was trying to recreate the night from five years ago.
Paranoia was something I was keen too since this shit started happening, but now it was electrified with the constant fear of losing Kadence.
She wasn’t as scared as I was, but I knew what Everly would do to make me hurt.
I couldn’t lose Kadence like I lost my wife.
If Kadence died because of my sins, I wouldn’t survive this time.
She saved the icy, dead organ in my heart and gave me a reason to live. Kadence Hayes made me feel alive.
I watched her sleep in my bed, her blue hair fanned out as she snuggled with my pillow.
This woman was everything I desired and everything I missed.
To think someone hurt her and made her think she wasn’t special…
Kadence deserved everything, and when this was over, I would give her the life her parents never did, and love her the way no one ever could.
“You’re staring,” Kadence mumbled, pulling the pillow into her more. “And you’re not even in bed with me.” To prove a point, she laid on her back, kicking the blanket off of her, revealing the gorgeous goddess she was. Kadence had me wrapped around her finger.
“You’re wicked, princess,” I chimed as I walked towards the bed. I crawled on top of her, taking her legs with me before crushing my lips to hers.
When I pulled away, she wrapped her arms around my neck and clung to me. “Stop stressing about everything, Blaize,” she whispered against my neck. “I don’t want you doing something that’ll get you killed.”
“I need to protect you.”
Kadence pulled back. “I am safe because I have you. It’s their plan. They want you distracted, vulnerable.”
“I love you,” I whispered. “So goddamn much.”
“I love you. I know you’re going to do something, but please be careful.”
“Always. What are you doing today?”
She smiled. “I’m meeting Fallon and Annika for lunch. It’s the first time seeing Fallon since everything happened.”
Several months had passed since Fallon was shot, and she was finally able to get back to normalcy.
She was healed weeks ago, but Fallon was terrified of leaving the clubhouse.
I never saw Fallon scared like that, even with her own history of domestic abuse, but the thought of being attacked and shot again paralyzed her.
Hawke wanted her to slowly ease into normalcy again, and having lunch with Kadence and Annika would be the jumpstart to it.
“Be safe, and make sure Fallon takes care of herself. You know she’s stubborn.”
Kadence arched her brow with a know-it-all smile plastered on her face. “Uh huh, all of you are stubborn.”
I kissed her cheek before crawling off of her. “Yeah, yeah. Get ready. I’m going to be here most of the day, and if anything changes, I’ll text you.”
“Date tonight?” she asked.
“I’ll text you. I will plan something special for us.”
“Good because I want you to stop being stressed out. You can relieve a little bit of that stress on me, mistress.”
I groaned. “You’ll pay for that, princess.”
Around lunchtime, I got a call from Damon.
He wanted me to meet him to talk more about everything.
I felt like we were walking in endless circles with no clues or hints.
Everly had access to everything, which compromised everyone.
I didn’t have the time or energy to deal with any more ruined shipments or angry territory leaders.
For five years, I built my empire. And I refused to let Everly take everything from me for a vendetta. Could I blame her for a vendetta when that was what I did? Except Elijah killed an innocent woman and child while I killed a monster. Yes I was angry, but Elijah was a stain on humanity.
Only a handful of people mourned his death, but it was more so the freedom they had then the person he was.
I ruled with an iron fist and made sure the territories listened to me; even the ones hours away from me knew what would happen if I found out they disobeyed my rules.
There was leniency to an extent, but if they tried to overstep, then they would be punished and taken care of.
When I arrived, Damon was on the phone with someone and had a stern look plastered on his face. “If you are joking, Jethro, I will personally shoot you myself.” He disconnected and hung up. “Jethro reported seeing Everly in his territory.”
“Did he stop her?”
“He’s working on it. Let’s go.”
If Jethro was lying or wasting my time, he would be in for a rude awakening. I didn’t have time to deal with him or his bullshit, but if he had Everly, he might move lower down on my shit list.