Page 89 of Where We Ended

“She’s mine to keep safe, not yours.”

My mother’s face fell flat, her eyes narrowing in a hard edge. “While that may be true, you left her unprotected, Son…and while I’m the one who advised you to do it, it doesn’t change the facts. There were situations that put her in danger, and after enough time, it was too careless to allow her to stay here.”

My mind whirled, viciously tossing images at me of what might have been done to my wife.

“Did Dirk do…” I couldn’t even bring myself to ask as my voice broke. Lance was at the entry of the kitchen now, rubbing his jaw where my elbow must have landed.

My mother shook her head. “I know you well enough that if I begin to give you specifics, you’ll do something without thinking. I won’t risk that. Just know this was the best course of action to keep her from danger.”

“Stop. Fuck.” My chest felt like it was caving in. “You’re talking about her like she’s a number on a chart. Or a statistic.”

I couldn’t breathe. She was gone.

If I were to go right now, the Stone Riders would kill me. I knew that much, and then what.

Tears began welling in my mother’s gaze as she watched me fall apart.

My mother crossed her arms, staring down at the floor. “I understand that you’re upset, but you need to focus on claiming this club from Dirk when the time is right.”

My lips trembled as I seethed, “I don’t fucking want this club.”

“But you will need it, and the power it offers you. Please understand why I did this. I did everything to keep her safe, Son. Everything.”

“How do I—” I needed to breathe, but my chest felt too tight. “I need to fix this.”

My mother was suddenly next to me, her face close to mine.

“The best thing you can do for her is let her live her life, honey. She is safe there. Simon is giving me updates nearly every day. She has her own room in the club with a kitchen and bathroom. She keeps to herself, but she’s safe. The men have been advised to stay away from her.”

“Her cell phone?”

Lance shifted behind me, and my mother watched his movement. She cleared her throat and pulled something from her pocket, and then Natty’s phone was in front of me. The red rubber case with yellow baby chicks printed all over nearly made me sob.

“So I have no way of reaching my wife?”

My mother’s hand soothed my back as a tear slid free.

“No honey. This is for the best. You’ll see, I promise.”

TWENTY-TWO

NATTY

PRESENT DAY

The quiet in the club was peaceful.

Silas was outside, doing something with his bike, which was nice because I needed a small reprieve from him. I wasn’t mad, but I felt confused.

A little lost, and if I was being honest, afraid.

I had given Silas an out. To run away…and while I knew he wanted me to have this life, and my friends, it still felt like he was trying to find a reason to keep his club and fight this battle with Fable. He didn’t realize that I was terrified of Fable, and even if we could run for a time, we could always come back. I would return to Pen, and Red, and the Stone Riders. I just wanted to take a breather from all of this and to finally have a chance to be with him.

“Hey, this seat taken?” Rachel asked, holding her mug of coffee.

Killian had settled her in with him and Laura, in their guest room. It had been a few hours since I last saw her, and since then, she’d showered and changed into a fresh pair of clothes.

I smiled up at her and moved the throw pillow that was on the seat. “No, of course not.”

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