Page 22 of Trick

“Considering everything going on, we can’t have a big event, but the club wants to mark it in some way.”

They see Theo as a hero, as a respectable brother who followed orders, even to the detriment of his own wife. I should have expected they’d want to celebrate him. That kind of loyalty will always be rewarded, no matter the cost to those around them.

I keep my expression neutral, though my insides burn. “What did you have in mind?”

“A small gathering at the clubhouse. I know it’s not enough, and as soon as this shit is done with the Pioneers, I promise we’ll do more.”

My smile is tight, making my jaw ache fiercely. “It’s fine. It can’t be helped given the circumstances.”

My gaze drifts to the patch on his kutte—the one they all wear. I wish I could tear it off every single one of them. How can they claim to respect him when he was killed because of his affiliation with this club?

“That sounds perfect,” I say, the lie tasting vile on my tongue.

“If you want anything special, let me know and I can arrange it.”

It’s a nice gesture, almost an olive branch considering how tumultuous my relationship with the club has been since I’ve been back, but it has my molars grinding together.

“Thanks.”

He rises from the bench, and despite my better judgement, I can’t help blurting out the question that has sat on my lips for so long. “The men who killed Theo… why did they do it?”

The wall of ice he erects doesn’t surprise me. Bikers are cagey as hell. Even Theo kept a multitude of secrets from me over the years we were together.

“The club took care of it. That’s all you need to know.” He puts on his VP hat, letting me know in no uncertain terms all of that is not my business, but I’ve never understood what happened that day and no one has ever explained it. All I know is Theo left to do something for the club, and the next time I saw him was on a cold slab in the morgue.

In this moment, it suddenly feels important to have this information, to understand the chain reaction that led to me bleeding on the floor of my bathroom for hours, my baby gone.

Frustration makes my eyes flash with anger. “I have a right to know what happened to my husband.”

There may be a flash of sympathy, but it’s gone so fast, I’m not sure if I imagined it. “It’s done.”

“For you, maybe. What closure did I get?”

“We took care of it,” he says. “They paid for what they did to Crow. That’s all you need to know. It’s club business.”

Did they pay for what they did to me as well?

“Right.” My jaw is tight. “It’s always fucking club business, except this business changed my entire life, Blackjack. I have a right to know.”

“I’m sorry, but you don’t. Not with this.”

Fucker. “What happened to his killers?” I press, willing to die on this hill.

“Heidi… I ain’t gonna divulge that, but they didn’t get off lightly. Don’t ever doubt that.” I know what kind of justice the club doles out, but it doesn’t make me feel better. “Let me know about the celebration,” he says, shutting down the conversation before he walks back inside.

I lean back against the table, my thoughts colliding chaotically. Leaving Manchester would be the smart thing to do. I should forget this part of my life, move on and try to find happiness somehow, but I can’t leave Sophia here, and they will never allow me to take her. I would be hunted to the ends of the earth.

And I can’t do that to Trick anyway. He’s already lost so much, and Sophia is the only thing that keeps him from the brink of insanity.

Truthfully, I don’t want to leave him either.

The sound of the door opening draws me out of my ruminating. I turn to see Trick coming through the door with Sophia in her pram, passing Blackjack as he does. They stop for a moment, speaking briefly before Trick makes his way over to me and the VP heads inside.

Sophia babbles excitedly the moment she sees me, trying to reach for me. Despite the turbulence washing through me, I smile. I can’t help it—she brings me so much joy.

“You okay?” he asks, eyeing me as if he expects Blackjack to have left wounds. I wonder what he sees beneath my expression.

I let the smile slip as I fix Sophia’s blankets.

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