Page 94 of Riff

That was where Coach and Vienna were settled, both of them taking slow, deep breaths, as Coach quietly guided her through a meditation.

Hearing me enter, Jack’s head lifted, giving me a nod of acknowledgment.

I stood there silently, letting Coach and Vienna finish.

Coach opened his eyes first, noticing me, then wrapping up their meditation.

“Okay,” he said, and I watched as Vienna’s eyes flickered open, having that faraway haze they always did when she just finished a meditation. Almost like she was drunk off of it.

They cleared slowly as she looked at Coach.

It wasn’t until Coach tilted his head toward the door that she realized they were no longer alone.

“Reid,” she breathed out, making my heart swell. I’d never get sick of hearing her say my name.

She flew out of her chair then, rushing toward me, knocking me back a step as she collided with me, her arms squeezing me tight as she buried her face in my chest.

“Are you okay?” I asked, squeezing her tight for a moment before letting my hands drift up and down her back.

“I am now,” she said, holding me tighter still as Jack and Coach both silently stood up, and walked out of the office, giving us some privacy. “I knew you would come.”

“But you saved yourself,” I reminded her. “Even without all of your usual weapons. You were so fucking strong, darlin’.”

She made a sniffling sound, and I just held her tighter, letting her work through the tears as she clung to me.

“He’s never going to touch you again,” I vowed.

That had her finally pulling back, her lashes still gathering some tears, but her eyes were clear.

“Never again,” I added, voice firm, watching the understanding cross her pretty eyes.

“Good,” she said, nodding. “But…”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” I told her. “It’s all being handled.”

She’d asked once if the club ever killed people. And I’d been honest with her. We did when it was necessary, when people were trying to hurt us.

She understood what had happened.

And what, exactly, I meant by things being handled.

“How about we go back home?” I asked, chafing her arms with my hands. “Get something warm to drink, decompress, play with Vernon…”

“Okay,” she agreed, leaning her forehead against my chest for another moment before finally pulling away.

I wrapped an arm around her, and turned us outside to find that someone, likely Coach, had moved my car right outside the office, so I didn’t have to bring Vienna back where the van was located again.

“Come on, darlin’,” I said, shuffling her into the passenger seat, then getting us the hell out of there.

The ride back to the clubhouse was relatively short, but the silence grew between us as I kept sneaking glances at Vienna, but found her turned away, facing out her side window, hiding whatever she was thinking from me.

Morgaine was waiting inside the front door of the clubhouse holding Vernon, who she quickly passed to Vienna, who immediately snuggled him close as she walked across the clubhouse, heading toward the stairs.

“Go be with her,” Morgaine said.

“Maybe she needs you,” I said, knowing that I was her comfort person, but that Morgaine understood what she was going through better.

“No, she needs you,” Morgaine said, pushing me forward.

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