Page 99 of Where We Ended

The flames from my house were growing, licking at the sky while members started screaming and scrambling.

“Now might be a good time for everyone else to evacuate the club.”

Lance glanced at the burning house and then let his gaze settle back on me.

“I’ll have it done. What are the crosses for, Silas?”

A group of terrified men were on their knees being kept in place by a few of my loyal men. Guns trained on them. Most of them were in their boxers, pajamas and underwear.

A few bunk bunnies and Sweetbutts came outside, half-naked.

“Get them out of here.”

I let my bag drop and then pulled out the first iron stake that would be driven through one of these motherfucker’s hands.

“Silas…” Lance got my attention. “The crosses?”

“We’re crucifying them. Every last person who knew what Dirk was doing to my wife.”

TWENTY-FIVE

NATTY

PRESENT

My eyes were red and itchy when I finally woke up.

The sun came in unhindered through my window. Silas wasn’t with me, which had me pressing my fingers into his side of the bed.

Where had he gone, and why would he leave me after such an emotional night?

Maybe he’d told me where he was going and I just missed it…there was so much that I had pushed out last night, not allowing it to touch my already fractured heart. I had ignored what people were telling me left and right, and then Silas was holding me and I passed out.

Standing, I stretched and on instinct inspected the window to ensure no more nefarious notes were left behind. Then started moving around to get dressed.

My cell was plugged in, but when I pulled it free, there was no message from Silas, or any sort of phone call or update.

Which was weird…but I shook it off.

Facing the downstairs kitchen was going to be too much at the moment, so I opted to eat in my room while putting on the news.

Sad. Depressing. Horrific. Nothing good ever came from turning on the television unless it was navigating to my favorite tv show.

I pressed play on something familiar but zoned out, too confused and hurt to focus. My toast was gone, but I couldn’t stomach anything more. I was slowly curling into a ball onto one of the cushions when someone knocked on my door.

I felt like I was moving through molasses as I walked to open it. Laura, Callie and Penelope were on the other side, all teary eyed and wearing pajamas. We all were quiet, just staring at each other as grief swelled among us like a summer thunder cloud.

Callie came into my arms first, a sob stuck in her throat, and I held her so tight that I started shaking. She’d known Red her entire life; she was like a mother to her. Pen and Laura were around us moments later and we all just fell to the floor in one big support hug.

My friend’s pregnant belly was getting bigger now, so we were all careful of her. We all cried for Red, and for Brooks, and for the attacks the club seemed to keep taking. It felt like an hour before we detangled and dug into the donuts Laura had picked up from The Drip. I had just barely checked in with them, returning for a few shifts before swapping with Allison, having her wear my apron when I wanted to lose the detail Silas had put on me.

“You seemed really upset with Silas yesterday, Natty,” Laura said, glancing back at my empty bed. I was so tired that my head drifted to the side, inspecting the still unmade bed, empty and cold. Once I focused on the group again, everyone’s gaze was on me.

Callie swiped at her face and then brought a cream filled donut up to her mouth and took a generous bite. “What’s this I heard about Fable calling you Silas’s wife?”

Penelope’s gaze swung over to me, and Laura was nodding.

“Yeah, I was curious about that too.”

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