Page 58 of Vengeance

“I beg to differ,” Avery says.

Tess nods her head. “That was bad. That was really bad, and we’ll never take that away, but you weren’t here to see what they did to Ky and Ashley’s mom. If you did, Ashley’s drug addiction would make a lot more sense. It’s been worse than what we’re seeing with the Slashers, even though it doesn’t feel like it for you.”

“But we don’t have to put up with it,” Autumn says. “We have a choice.”

“You’re really going to walk away from your man when he needs your support the most? All because you got a few shocks?” Melanie asks.

The tension between the two hasn’t lessened, and it now threatens to hit an all-time high. Looking at them, Lex doesn’t know if she’ll jump in to stop it. Not with what Autumn’s clearly been talking about to the others.

“Look, I get it. You like pain. You probably enjoy being scared out of your mind, and I think part of you liked what they did-”

“Shut the fuck up, Autumn,” Heidi snaps. “Just... shut the fuck up because you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Melanie takes a few steps further back, and it’s obvious she wants to punch the redhead and never stop. Lex doesn’t feel much different right now. “I can’t believe this is what you called us here to talk about.”

“You really want to leave Tripp, Avery?” Tess asks.

“I don’t,” she says, “but I live in constant fear. I have three kids, and if something were to happen, if the Slashers were to attack, I couldn’t protect them. I love him, but I have to put my kids first.”

“I’m worried all the time,” Lane adds. “I’m not sure I’m cut out for the club life if this is what you consider to be not that bad.”

Emma looks at her with wide eyes. “You’re with Zane. You had his child. If you weren’t cut out for club life, you probably knew this long before now.”

Her head snaps to Lex’s mom, and Lex feels her blood pressure immediately rise as Lane says, “You don’t get to judge. You’ve left the club so many times over the past however many decades, so don’t talk to me about being cut out for the club.”

“Watch it,” Tess warns. “You’re not tenured enough to get away with saying shit like that and not having someone kick your ass. You’re on fucking shaky ground.”

“I’m just pointing out-”

“That you don’t know shit. You’re talking out of your ass,” Emma interrupts. “I never left because I wasn’t cut out for the club, so let’s get that straight right here, right now. I put up with shit for years before I had to leave for my kid. Every time I’ve left, it’s been for my kid.”

Lex’s leg shakes as she stares at the ground and avoids looking at anyone in the group. The moment she opens her mouth, it’s game over, and she thinks everyone deserves a chance to at least speak. To dig their own graves.

“Okay, you’re scared,” Lily says. “It’s obvious, but leaving with new identities for you and your kids so no one can trace you is... wait - are you just going to never let your kids see their fathers again?”

Reagan deflates, her dark hair falling in front of her face. “Maybe that would be for the best.”

“Excuse me?” Karmen asks.

Lex feels her mother-in-law looking at her, expecting her to jump in, but Lex refuses. She can stare all she wants, but she’s not saying a word. Not yet.

“Being children of the club hasn’t always worked out well. Lily and Lex went through hell. My kids were kidnapped. And the men... they get pulled into the club to start a new generation of this shit. It’s a never-ending cycle, which didn’t seem so bad until the newest enemy targets women. It’s not a big stretch to assume they’ll jump to children next.”

“Are you going to say something?” Tess whispers.

She shakes her head and keeps her mouth pinned shut. Not yet. The moment she does, she’s gaining more enemies than friends. Just like this can of worms, once she speaks the words in her head, there is no turning back.

Everyone begins talking at once, and the sides become clear. The older generation and the women without children seem to be aligned, while most of the mothers of the second generation are on the other. Lex stays where she is as everyone moves to physically stand on the side they fall, leaving her smack dab between them.

“They’re working on a solution,” Tess says. “It’ll get better. It always does.”

“But how many more of us will get hurt while they ‘work on it’?” Autumn asks with air quotes.

Heidi shakes her head. “No, I’m not leaving my husband. Not for this.”

“And that’s your right,” Felicity says. “But you don’t have kids to also worry about.”

Hearing Felicity talk about leaving Ky and taking his kids to never be seen again snaps something inside of Lex. If she leaves Ky and takes away his kids, she’s no better than anyone else they face. She’s taking something from a man who has supported her and others in ways people outside the club wouldn’t have. If Felicity walks away, she becomes an enemy. There will be no coming back from it.

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