Chapter Thirty-Three
Katey
S niper got shot and it was all my fault. That thought roared through my veins as I pulled a t-shirt out of my bag, tore it into two pieces and tightened it around his arm. He was mostly right, it was a little deeper than he thought, but it wouldn’t leave any significant damage once it was fixed up. His arm was flung around me while I walked us back to his bike. “Shit, I’m sorry,” I whispered as I shoved one bag into the side storage area and put the backpack on.
“Stop apologizing,” he said through clenched teeth. “I’m fine.”
“You’re shot,” I snapped and checked his wound again. “Can you even maneuver this thing?” I motioned to the motorcycle, angry and annoyed and filled with guilt.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“You said that already.” I handed him the helmet and he shook his head. “Put it on.” His green gaze pierced my determined armor.
“Fine.” The ride back to Steel City was too short for me to get my emotions under control. Ethan shot him, goddammit. I should’ve known better than to trust him and the minute I walked past Sniper I should have shot him. I planned to but Ethan drew his weapon faster.
Only because I didn’t want Sniper to do anything to stop me.
I knew if he had an inkling of what I was thinking, he would’ve intervened in some way and this was my battle. Not his. Guilt pressed down on my chest so heavy I was sure it would suffocate me. Blood dripped through the makeshift bandage onto my forearm, a clear reminder of how much my presence in his life had made things worse. For him and his club. I should have felt a sense of relief now that Ethan was dead, but that relief never came. I knew I wasn’t free yet, not while the men he worked for were still alive.
As we pulled into the Steel Demons clubhouse, I put together a plan of action that started with the wound on Sniper’s arm. The bullet had sliced through the skin, as far as I could tell it had missed the tendons and only grazed the muscles, which meant he should be just fine.
The motorcycle came to a stop and the next few minutes passed in a blur. “What the fuck were you thinking?” Diesel shouted seconds after the front door smacked open and what felt like one hundred bikers tumbled out.
“I found her,” he answered, a hint of amusement mixed in with his anguish.
“You could have also found her with one of us with you, asshole.” Rebel gently moved me out of the way and hooked Sniper’s arm over his shoulder to help him inside. “You got her, and you got a bullet for being a dumbass.”
None of them had said it yet but I knew they were all thinking it. This was my fault, plain and simple. If I hadn’t run or if I hadn’t showed up here at all, Falcon and Sniper would be fine.
Gio’s shadow loomed over me, but I didn’t look up. He handed me the medical bag they kept at the clubhouse, “Here.”
“Thank you.” I accepted the bag and opened it up, putting all of my focus on the steps I needed to take because it was easier than focusing on anything else. Stop the bleeding. Clean the wound and find any debris. I went through each step methodically, mostly shutting out the conversations that went on around me. Rinse and disinfect . There wasn’t any debris, but I wanted to make sure to get the dirt and grime from the parking lot out of the wound.
“This is exactly why you don’t go off on your own.”
“It’s just a graze,” he said, the uptick in his voice said he was smiling. “My woman saved me.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as I finished disinfecting the wound and preparing my own suturing station. It didn’t take long, but while I laid out everything I ran through what he’d just said. My woman , he didn’t mean it, he was still riding that adrenaline high from a life or death situation. I stared at the wound, watching it get smaller with every stitch until it was just a thin red line across his arm. “You’re all good.” I said after I put on a bandage and stepped back.
“Katey.”
I looked up and our gazes collided in that moment. It was long and tense and filled with unmet potential. “I’ll, uh, write out the instructions for aftercare,” I stammered and turned away, taking the familiar route to my room. Former room.
A massive figure stepped in front of me, hefty black motorcycle boots filled up my field of vision. I looked up and then up a little bit more until I put a face to the boots. Diesel. His expression was implacable, but I detected anger and frustration, possibly a deep desire to see the back of me. “Katey wait.”
I held up my hands because I knew what this was about. I expected this conversation the minute Sniper said he wanted to bring me back here. I wasn’t wanted here. “Don’t worry, I’m not planning to stay long. I wasn’t going to come back here at all but then, well you know what. Anyway I need to get cleaned up and then I’ll be on my way.”
“Stop.” His voice was deep and ferociously firm. “You don’t have to go anywhere,” he said and gripped both of my shoulders with his oversized hands.
“I do,” I insisted.
“You don’t. You saved two of my men and in my book that makes you family, whether you like it or not, and we protect family at all costs.”
Tears stung my eyes, and I shook my head. “I’m not. I mean thank you for that, but it’s not true. I’ve brought nothing but trouble and danger since I got here.”
His lips tugged up to one side. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed but our existence is pretty much trouble and danger. It’s our comfort zone.”
I gave a weak smile. “Still.”
“I’m serious.” He took another step forward and wrapped his arms around me, squeezing tight.
Don’t cry, I warned myself as the first tear fell. And then the second and the third until a waterfall unlocked and washed down my face. A sob escaped as more bodies surrounded me and wrapped me in warmth and affection. Gratitude.
Sobs shook my body but these men, so big and strong, they held me tight. They were my strength and, in that embrace, I felt something that felt a hell of a lot like home.