Page 63 of Sweet Revenge

I took a long swallow of beer and dropped the bottle back down to hang from my fingertips. “He killed my mother. Made me watch. Then set the cabin on fire and burned her to ash.”

His body stiffened beside me. “Fuck.”

I remembered that moment the way I always did, with nothing but pain in my chest for my mom who suffered in a way that no one as good and kind as she was should ever suffer. “You shouldn’t trust me. But you should know why I’ve been working so damn hard to bring him down.”

“And Snake?”

“Maggie deserves a life where she’s free and doesn’t have to look over her shoulder constantly. I’m going to give that to her. I have to.”

“For your mom?”

I huffed and looked down again at the bottle. “For both of them.”

He lifted his hand and slapped it against my shoulder. “What you need to realize, brother, is there’s no ‘I’ in this anymore. We all need to bring them down, and we will do it together. If you don’t trust us, when the time comes to end the Widows for good, you may find yourself standing alone, face-to-face with the enemy and no one at your back.” He took a long drink from his bottle. “That damn sure wouldn’t be a place I’d want to be.”

I grunted. “Spent a lot of years with no one to trust.”

“You’ve also spent a hell of a lot of years with a fucking army at your back. You don’t know that, you aren’t the man or the leader I thought you were.”

I nodded because he was right, but I was done talking. Talking wouldn’t prove myself; I needed to rebuild the trust they lost in me, and I would but not with my words. It would take action, and it would take time, but we’d get there.

Maggie turned and started walking toward us with Kat at her side. I reached out and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to stand right up against my chest. She giggled and tipped her head back so I could lean down and kiss her softly. “You having fun, baby?”

She nodded and then looked back at Kat who smiled. “Kat said when I’m able she might have a job for me if I want it.”

My eyes widened in surprise. “Is that something you’d want?”

She nodded again, a smile gracing her beautiful face. “I think I’d like that. It would be answering phones and filing and stuff, but I think I could do that.”

I brushed her hair off her cheek with my fingertips. “I know you could, baby.”

I looked over her head and met Kat’s stare. “May be a while.”

“That’s okay.” She shrugged. “I’ve managed this long on my own, so I can wait a little while longer.”

“Why Maggie?” Bull asked from beside me, and I waited for her answer.

She glanced at Bull, but her light expression darkened. “I think it would be a good to have someone with me who understands this life. Less questions.”

“Probably a good idea.” Bull agreed.

She stared at him a minute longer before she shifted her attention back to Maggie and smiled. “I need to talk to Bear for a minute.”

Maggie nodded. “Okay. Thanks, Kat.”

She shot me a smile but ignored Bull when she brushed past him, and I snorted. “Bull, man, she does not like you.”

Bull pushed off the bar and turned, pointing his bottle at me. “Fine line, brother.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Fine line?”

“Between love and hate.” He smirked and turned to lean over the bar, calling out for another beer.

I chuckled and pulled Maggie in tight against me again. She lifted her hands and laid them on my chest. “What does that mean?”

“It means…” I leaned down, putting my face closer to hers. “Kat’s been waving a red flag and has no idea.”

She looked adorably confused. “What does that mean?”

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