Page 14 of Making Choices

Sure,” I agree. My voice wobbles, but I manage to stop myself from breaking down long enough to say, “Anyhow, I just wanted to say good night. If you see Zeke, please tell him that I’ve gone to bed.”

“Of course,” Angelis tells me.

“Night all.” I offer them a wave as I extricate myself from under my uncle’s arm. “Let’s hope we have some good news about Fret in the morning.”

“Call Slash,” Angelis shouts after me once the other men have wished me a good night. I spin around to look at him and he must see my confusion since he adds. “He’s stayin’ at the hospital tonight so he’ll know what’s what before the rest of us.”

“I didn’t think he’d stay overnight. Not with the whole…” I trail off and leave the rest of my thought unsaid.

Nobody has spoken her name, even outside of Slash’s presence since the day he pulled himself together and patched into the Shamrocks. It’ll be a cold day in hell before I resurrect her in any way after what she did. Not tonight. Not any night.

Her crime is unforgivable.

She broke the heart of one of the best men I know.

The bitch doesn’t deserve to be called by her name while Slash remains a husk of the man he once was.

“You know what he’s like,” Angelis offers with a shrug. “Bull-headed as his mumma.”

Duke, Hades, Cass, and Gabriel just nod like allowing Slash to torture himself like this is normal. I suppose for these men it is. The life they’ve chosen comes with sacrifices and, at times, self-inflicted anguish.

“I’ll ring him.”

Angelis is gruff as he says, “’Preciate that, Cherub.”

Although I keep an eye out for Zeke or my brothers as I wind my way through the packed clubhouse toward the bedroom quarters, I don’t see any of them. Once again, the strange atmosphere in the compound makes itself known and I try to shake myself free of the heavy foreboding that wants to weigh me down.

Everything that happened today whirls around in my head. Telling Zeke the truth about my abduction yesterday. The entire fiasco at the shed with the Maddison clan. My dad turning his back on everyone. Fret being kidnapped and tortured. Nadia’s part in Sander’s drug use—not to mention her history with Alex. It bounces around my skull, taunting me, unsettling me, scaring me with the sheer size of the problems raining down on us—on me. I can’t help but feel like the entire club is balanced on a knife’s edge, and there’s not much I can do about any of it.

As I close my bedroom door behind myself and strip down to my panties and tank top, the worry in Angelis’ eyes reminds me that there’s one person I can help right now.

“Hey, you,” I murmur down the phone when Slash answers my call.

“Cherub,” he replies with a chuckle. “Shoulda known you’d be callin’ some time tonight. Fret’s still sedated so nothin’ much has changed. I must say I’m enjoying gettin’ a word in edgewise while he’s out of it.”

“Nice try… I give you an A- for effort, although the execution is off.” My laughter is strangled when the stitches in my lip pull tight. The gaping yawn I try to stifle as my exhaustion decides to make itself known is loud. I shake it off, determined to focus my full attention on Slash. Since my middle brother is hardly chatty at the best of times, Slash’s attempt to divert me is obvious. Yawning wide a second time, I slide under the covers and prop my back up against the headboard. “Angelis told me that you’re planning on staying the night. I just wanted to ring to tell you what a bad idea that is. I don’t know why you’d want to torment yourself like this.”

At the other end of the conversation, Slash matches my yawn, then he tries to disguise his pain with another joke. “Self-flagellation is always a good idea in my books. It’s therapeutic and motivatin’ as fuck.”

“Sure. Sure.” There’s an undercurrent of cynicism in my voice when I add. “If that was the case, I’d be the happiest woman alive.”

“Oh, Cherub, if Venom ain’t up to the task, I’m more than happy to step in. A good, old-fashioned spankin’ can do wonders for the disposition… just give me the word and I’ll show you.”

“I know what you’re trying to do,” I inform him, even as his ridiculousness brings a smile to my face. “Changing the subject isn’t going to stop me. I’m still going to remind you that any residual guilt you’re feeling over what happened back then is unnecessary. She made her choice… and it remains unfair as hell that you still have to live with it.” After yawning again, I continue. “I hate being stuck here at the compound knowing that you’re battling with ghosts of the past over there—”

I stop speaking when my phone starts to beep. When I lower the device so I can see the screen, my smile widens. After hitting the icon to accept the incoming video call, I shake my head as Slash’s face fills the display.

“You look as bad as I feel,” he murmurs.

With a slow movement, I bring my fingertips to the stitches in my eyebrow, then brush them over my swollen cheek and then my split lip. “Considering I’m waiting for the day Men’s Health rings to book you for the cover, I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Slash twists his lips into a wry smile. “Sometimes our insides don’t match the outsides.”

“And aren’t I fucking grateful for that. I’d hate to scare all the little kids in the club.”

“Whatever you say,” Slash retorts with a quirk of his lips. “Humble doesn’t really suit you, Cherub. We both know you’d be worshipped even more than you already are if your stunning face was as fuckin’ beautiful as your heart.”

“You’re biased,” I tell him. “Plus, you’re scared Zeke will kick your arse if you don’t sufficiently fluff my ego.”

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