Page 53 of Ruthless Reign

“No,” Hardin interrupted, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was. I didn’t want our cousins or Diesel anywhere near Séamas O’Sullivan. It was bad enough we lost Chief Andrews and Archer. I didn’t want to lose anyone else we cared about. And I knew Becca wouldn’t want the Crows in the line of fire, either.

“The guns are more than enough,” I said, softening the finality of Hardin’s rejection. “We’ve been cut off from most of our suppliers, so thank you. And thank Diesel again for us, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Rook said, but his gaze had darkened, and I knew he was probably pissed off that we weren’t going to let them get their hands dirty alongside us. The truth was that if my Dad hadn’t asked and if Diesel didn’t give the order, the Crows would have to stay here. Defend their own territory.

In theory, at least.

These fuckers were never ‘Saints’ when it came to following orders.

“Come around back, we’ll get you loaded up,” Corvus said, leading the way as Hardin followed him.

“You tappin’ that yet?” Rook asked as we fell into step behind them.

Leave it to fucking Rook.

“Not that it’s any of your business…”

He laughed darkly. “Damn. Ghost owes me fifty bucks.”

Once we got everything saddled up and locked away in the Bronco, Hardin was practically buzzing with latent energy. He wanted to get back on the road. We had a few errands to run and needed to make a safe hand off of a bunch of ammo to Pope at the autobody shop to disperse among our ranks.

“Just chill, man,” I said to Hardin as he paced the kitchen for the fifth time in as many minutes. “I’ll go tell Becca what’s up.”

He grabbed the small black backpack by the leg of the chair he’d been occupying next to Grey and tossed it to me. I’d packed it while she got ready to go this morning, stuffing it with the basic necessities, trusting Ava Jade to have anything else she might need in case we weren’t back as quickly as we wanted to be.

“Good luck,” he said and I shot him a pointed glare over my shoulder before leaving. We already told the Crows and they were cool with it but it would come as a shock to Ava Jade and Becca. I was prepared for Becca to be upset with us, but I’d rather not piss off the Saint’s Blade right before walking into a den of insane Irishmen.

I followed the sound of chatting and laughter, finding them in a room near the end of a long hallway where everything from the ornate crown moldings to the ceiling was painted a deep, glossy black. Even the runner beneath my feet was a Persian done in shades of black, gray, and deepest midnight blue.

They’d clearly done some shit to make the place theirs. I doubted the old bag Becca mentioned would’ve had slasher film artwork in the living room or giant dragon eggs on little gold pedestals on half the tables.

There was some inside joke there I wasn’t getting to do with Fabergé, but the dragon eggs looked pretty dope.

“Coming in,” I called as I pushed the door the rest of the way open. They both turned to be from where they sat on top of the bed and one look from Ava Jade told me Becca had spilled fucking all to her best friend.

Not about the Sons or what the fuck was going on in Santa Clarita. But about us. Me and her. Her and Hardin.

Did she tell Ava Jade that I told her I loved her? That she didn’t say it back?

Maybe I shouldn’t have. I could’ve waited.

But it was true.

I’d never loved any of the women I dated. Not even close. So I had nothing to compare it to. Not really. But I knew that whatever this was—whatever shifted in me when I first tasted her—couldn’t be undone.

I hadn’t thought about another woman. Not once. I wasn’t sure I ever would again. Not long ago that shit would’ve scared the piss out of me. But not anymore.

“You good, Kaleb?” Ava Jade asked, her face screwing up in confusion, making me realize I’d been standing there like an idiot for like an entire minute without speaking.

King of awkward.

“Shit, yeah. Yeah, I’m good. I just need to talk to Vixen for a sec.”

“Vixen?” Ava Jade looked at Becca. “Okay, Vixen. Guess I’ll leave you two to chat.”

“The guys want to chat with you,” I told her as she passed me. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she immediately knew something was up. Her jaw clenched.

“Yeah. Sure.”

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