Page 35 of Biker's Dark Revenge

His strength as a protector was everything to me – the perfect father, a man who would do anything for his family. And, as he washed my hair, I knew I couldn’t have picked a better man to raise Kara with.

And I wouldn’t have wanted to do it with anyone else, either.

Chapter Twenty-Two – Lee

I settled down in the seat across from Chuck, and he leaned back and let out a long sigh.

"Well, Lee, we fucking did it," he remarked, a grin spreading up over his face. I couldn’t help but return it.

"We sure as fuck did," I agreed. I was still wrapping my head around the fact that Lombardi was, well and truly, wiped off the face of the map – it felt like, for so long, he was a standard part of the Atwood scene, an annoyance, and a threat we would never be able to fully rid ourselves of. But, as his body rotted in the middle of nowhere, at an ancient factory nobody would ever bother checking out, I knew he was finally done.

Which left us with a major question – what the fuck should we do next?

"I still can’t believe it," Chuck remarked, shaking his head. "I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop – I thought some of his guys might want to try and take revenge, but the ones we didn’t take out, they’ve scattered. Guess they were never really that loyal to him in the first place..."

"Can you blame them?" I pointed out. "Knowing what he was into, would you expect anyone to stick around and avenge him?"

"You’re right," Chuck agreed. "Nobody would want to defend his legacy. And the ones who did...they’re in the same place he is."

I gritted my teeth and nodded. He was right. Lombardi was where he should have been all along, dead and gone, lost to the world – and all the damage he had done, though it wouldn’t be easy to overcome, was starting to be addressed.

I knew the women he had harmed, the children he had trapped, and the girls he had abused and forced to work for him were finally getting the help they needed. Of course, it wasn’t just like you could snap your fingers and leave all that shit behind – they would need years of therapy and support to get where they needed to be, but the Dogs had sworn to make sure they got it. Though the authorities who provided them care were a little uneasy about having us around, they seemed to figure that it was worth it to make sure the victims felt safe coming forward. We were the ones who had saved them, after all – they needed us there to prove that they had nothing else to fear.

But that left us with a few major questions – most importantly, what the hell the Dogs were going to be in the wake of everything that happened with Lombardi. The destruction of the Kennels felt like the end of an old era, and I wasn’t entirely sure what the next one might look like.

"So, that’s Lombardi," I remarked. "But what about us?"

Chuck sighed.

"It’s something I’ve been giving a lot of thought to," he admitted. "Ever since the Kennels went down, I’ve felt like we need a new start. We spent too long being involved in the dark shit in this city, but everything that happened with Lombardi – it proved to me that we can make a difference if we want to."

"Make a difference?" I asked, my ears pricking up. Liana had been applying to a few courses so she could start getting the qualifications she needed to pursue a career as a support worker for women escaping various forms of domestic violence and hearing her passion for her new line of work, made me want to throw myself into something similar.

Ever since I moved into the new place with Kara and Liana, something profound had shifted in me. I wasn’t the same person I was when I’d been caring for Dina, of course not – I would never be the person I was back then, not since I had lost her. The pain of that wore too heavy on my soul, and it wasn’t the kind of thing I could just brush off, and act like it never happened.

But there was a part of me that felt as though I had exorcised the need for violence now that I had gotten revenge on the man who had killed her – knowing that he was not only dead but that the sick organization he’d worked for had been destroyed too, it was like I could finally close the book on that chapter of my life.

"Yeah," Chuck replied, nodding, locking his fingers in front of him. "A difference. I know there’s still so much shit that goes on in this city, don’t get me wrong – I know how tough it is out there. And I know that sometimes we’ve been the cause of that for the people who live here..."

He trailed off, his brow furrowing. I could see something shifting within him, just like it had done in me. Now he was settled with a partner of his own, I was sure he could see more clearly how much harm there was around him – but that, deep down, we were capable of making a difference.

"But I think we can change that," he replied, leaning forward, a flash of excitement in his eyes. "I want us to move into protective services. For the people who need it. God knows the fucking cops don’t do enough to protect people; Abbey’s ex-."

He stopped himself before he could spiral any further, taking a deep breath. I knew some of what had happened with Abbey and her ex-boyfriend, but Chuck seemed to want to keep most of it to himself. And, if he wanted to keep it a secret, I had to trust it was shit I probably didn’t want to know about anyway.

"Trust me when I say there are a whole lot of people out there who aren’t getting the support they need," he finished up, grounding himself once more. "Or they feel like they can’t get the support they need because of who they are, what they’ve been involved in – whatever it might be. I want us to make that right. I want us to be the ones to give them support and protection when they feel like they can’t get it from anyone else."

I nodded.

"I like that idea," I replied. "You think the rest of the Dogs will get into it?"

He chuckled.

"Look, I think we’re all getting older," he remarked. "And this business, it’s a young man’s game. Not just because of the physical stuff. But you’re...tougher when you’re younger. More willing to put up a fight. More willing to answer everything with violence. Now we’re getting older, and I think a lot of us want to be involved in something a little more...grounded. A little more peaceful. And something that makes a difference. You know?"

"I know," I murmured back. Ever since I had moved out of the compound and into my new home with Kara and Liana, I had been feeling the same way.Once I was out of the intensity of living under the compound’s roof, I craved some different.

"It might take a bit of time for them to get used to it, but they’ll come around," Chuck remarked. "Especially Ian. You know he has his daughter coming to stay with him? He’ll want to keep her away from all of this if he can. She doesn’t know a thing about what’s going on here."

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