Epilogue
TRIGGER
I’ve been through hell. I’ve seen men shot in the head, gutted like animals. I’ve buried brothers, fought battles we barely walked away from. I’ve lost count of the bodies, the blood, the shit I’ve done to survive.
None of it prepared me for her.
Aerianna is asleep beside me, her body curled against mine, her breathing soft and even. My arm is slung over her waist, holding her close, like if I let go, she might disappear.
She won’t. Not now.
She walked away from her old life for me. For us. And fuck, if that doesn’t do something to my chest, squeezing it so tight it almost hurts.
I’ve never had this before. Never wanted it. Never thought I deserved it. But she’s here. In my bed. In my life. With my cut, and soon my ink will be on her delicate skin.
I’ll burn the whole fucking world to the ground to keep her.
I press a slow kiss to her shoulder, inhaling the lingering scent of sex and whiskey on her skin. My fingers skim down her bare spine, memorizing every dip and curve.
She murmurs something in her sleep, pressing closer, and I swear to God, I don’t know how the hell I ever lived without this woman.
I close my eyes, letting the moment settle deep in my bones, when Aerianna’s voice cuts through the quiet.
“Do you regret it?” she asks quietly.
I go still.
Does she think I regret this? That I don’t want this?
I grip her jaw, forcing her to look at me. “Listen to me and listen good.” My voice is raw, stripped down to the bones. “You are the best damn thing to ever happen to me. To this club. You’re not just mine, Aerianna. You’re ours. You belong here. With me. With us . ”
A single breath shudders out of her, her eyes shining.
We crash together, tangled in sheets and heat, my mouth claiming every inch of her like a man starving. When I finally slide inside her and feel her grip around my shaft, it’s not just fucking. It’s more.
She’s all in, and so am I.
Hours later, Aerianna is curled into my side, her head resting on my chest, her breathing slow and even. My fingers trace absent patterns along her bare back, my mind nowhere near sleep.
For the first time in years, I feel whole.
The knock on my door shatters the moment. I already know who it is before I answer. My muscles tense instantly.
Aerianna stirs beside me, groggy. “What?”
“Stay here.” My voice is low, firm.
I slip out of bed, yanking on my jeans, my body already bracing for whatever bullshit is about to come through that door.
Another knock, harder this time.
I swing it open to find Tiny standing there, his face grim, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles are white.
I know that look. It’s the look a man gets when he’s about to burn the whole fucking world down.
“Get dressed,” he grits out. “We got a problem.”
My gut tightens. “What the fuck happened?”
Tiny exhales sharply, shaking his head. “It’s Syvannah.”
Aerianna is out of bed in an instant, already pulling on her clothes. “What about her?” she demands.
Tiny hesitates for half a second. Just enough for my stomach to fucking drop. Then he says the one thing that makes my blood turn to ice. “She’s back.”
Aerianna stills beside me.
I narrow my eyes. “Back from where?”
Tiny’s jaw clenches. His voice is rough, edged with fury. “From him.”
The entire fucking world shifts beneath my feet. I don’t need to ask who. There’s only one bastard it could be.
Lattimer.
I grab my cut off the chair and yank it on, my mind already spiraling with a thousand different ways to make that motherfucker pay.
“When?” I demand.
Tiny’s eyes darken. “Twenty minutes ago. She just showed up outside the gates. She looks bad, man.” His throat works like he’s swallowing down rage. “She won’t talk. Won’t tell me what happened. But I know.” He shakes his head, his massive hands flexing. “I know.”
Aerianna steps forward, eyes sharp with something lethal. “Where is she?”
“In the common room. Capone’s with her.” Tiny scrubs a hand down his face. “But it’s bad, brother. Real bad.”
I don’t waste another second. I storm out of my room, Aerianna and Tiny flanking me as we head toward the common room. The moment I step inside, everything stops.
Syvannah is there. Her arms are wrapped around herself, her skin pale, bloody, and bruised. Shadows cling to her like a second skin, darkening the hollows beneath her eyes. Eyes that look empty. Like something vital has been carved out of her and left to rot. The kind of hollow that only comes from monsters.
I clench my fists so tight my nails bite into my palms. She looks up, and the moment her gaze meets Tiny’s, something inside her breaks. A fractured sound slips past her lips, and she stumbles toward him. Tiny catches her before she collapses, his massive arms the only thing keeping her upright.
“Jesus, Vannah,” he rasps, his voice raw. “What the fuck did he do to you?”
She doesn’t answer. Doesn’t move. She buries her face against his chest, her entire body trembling like a live wire. Tiny holds her tighter, one of his hands cradling the back of her head, but his eyes find mine over her shoulder, burning with barely contained rage.
I know that look. I’ve seen it in the mirror too many times to count.
Aerianna steps forward, her voice careful, controlled. “Syvannah.” She keeps her distance, like she knows crowding her will make it worse. “You’re safe now.”
Syvannah flinches at the word safe. Her breathing stutters, hitching like she can’t get enough air.
Tiny shifts his grip, trying to steady her, but the second his fingers brush against her wrist, she jerks back with a strangled noise. A flash of something dark and ugly flickers in her expression before she schools it, forcing it down.
She won’t meet our eyes.
My stomach drops.
“Vannah.” Tiny’s voice is softer now, coaxing. “Talk to me.”
She shakes her head once, a sharp, jerky movement. Her lips part like she wants to speak, but nothing comes out.
Capone moves from where he was leaning against the bar, his expression unreadable. “You don’t have to tell us everything right now,” he says carefully. “Just tell us this. Are we hunting this motherfucker tonight?”
Something flickers in her expression. I see it. Fear. Not for herself, but for us. For what’s coming.
I step forward, my jaw tight. “What did he do?”
Syvannah exhales a shuddering breath. “It’s not what he did.” Her voice is hoarse, raw like she’s been screaming. “It’s what he’s going to do.”
Thick, suffocating silence.
Tiny tenses. “What the hell does that mean?”
Syvannah doesn’t answer right away. She presses a shaking hand to her throat as if she’s trying to keep something inside. Aerianna watches her carefully, then moves closer, her voice low and steady. “Syvannah,” she says gently. “If you don’t tell us, we can’t stop it.”
Syvannah swallows hard. A tremor rolls through her body. Then, barely above a whisper, she speaks the words that shift the entire fucking world beneath our feet. “He’s coming.”
A cold chill wraps around my spine, a slow, creeping dread settling deep in my gut.
Tiny steps forward, his eyes burning with murder. “Then we kill him first.”
Syvannah sways slightly, exhaustion dragging at her, but she shakes her head. “You don’t understand.” Her voice is barely a whisper, but it cuts through the room like a blade.
Tiny’s fists clench. “Then make us understand.”
Syvannah lifts her head, and for the first time since she walked in, I see it, pure, unfiltered terror. She wets her cracked lips, dragging in a breath like it physically hurts. Then, finally, she speaks. “He’s not coming alone.”
Capone straightens, his entire body locking down. “How many?”
Syvannah’s breath shudders out of her, her entire body trembling. “All of them.”
The words are a punch to the ribs. All of them. The entire Black Market Railroad.
Every sick, twisted, psychotic bastard Lattimer could dig up from whatever hole they crawled out of. It’s not just a threat. It’s a goddamn war.
My fingers twitch at my sides, already itching for my gun. I glance at Aerianna, at the fire burning in her stormy gray eyes. At the way her fingers twitch just like mine.
She’s in this. She chose me. Chose us, and now, we fight.
I turn back to Tiny, my lips curling into something sharp. Something deadly. “Then we don’t wait.”
Capone cracks his knuckles, a sinister smile on his face. His eyes are black as coal. “We take the fight to them.”