Page 20 of Torn In Two

Kara’s shoulders slumped.

I almost hated she knew I was right. I didn’t want her to not want to come home. The idea was killing me that she didn’t want to come back to the club. Back to me.

Chaos cleared his throat. “She can stay at my place.”

Kara looked up at him in surprise.

At the same time I growled, “No. Fucking. Way.”

Kara snapped her head in my direction. “This isn’t your decision.”

“Like hell it’s fucking not!” I lost a grip on my control at the very thought of her being out in the middle of the Saint View slums, only protected by Hayden fucking Whitling. She’d be a sitting duck for his enemies, as well as her own, and probably mine too. “You think Josiah is going to give up after one attempt at getting you back? Chaos can’t protect you!”

“He did before,” she said softly.

Oh, her fucking Stockholm syndrome was going to be the death of me. “He held you against your will, Kara! That is not the same thing!”

Anger flashed in her eyes. “You have no idea what happened between us all those years ago. No one does but him and me.”

I ground my molars. “He has you as brainwashed as Josiah did.”

“Watch your fucking mouth,” Chaos swore at me. “I get you’re mad. And you’re scared—”

Oh, that was fucking rich. “I’m not scared. She’s just not going with you.”

Kara’s face flushed with hot red anger. “Fine, Hawk. I’ll come back to the MC. On one condition.”

Something loosened in my brain, relief flooding in. “Anything.”

She pointed at Hayden. “He comes too. You give him a room at the clubhouse so I can see him whenever I want.”

“What?” I practically squawked. “You want me to let a Sinner stay at our clubhouse?”

Even Chaos looked wary. “Kara, I…”

“So it’s a no?” She glared at me, challenge in her eyes. “You’ll let me stay there. You’ll protect me. Give me whatever I want. As long as what I want isn’t him. Is that about how it goes?”

It was the truth. I didn’t want to admit it, but it was.

But the bigger hurt was what she wanted wasn’t me. With him in the picture, I was out.

Clearly, I had to let that go. Let her go. I couldn’t make her come back with me.

Hell, she’d gotten hurt on my watch, so maybe Hayden really was the better choice.

I gave in. “If you really want me to let you go, Kara, then go. Go live your life with him. I hope he makes you happy.”

The worst part about the whole thing was, when I walked out the door, I truly meant it.

At the end of the day, I wanted her and Hayley Jade’s happiness more than I wanted my own.

I’d fucking grown up. Pulling the woman I loved from a hole in the ground and breathing life back into her had forced a change I hadn’t known I’d wanted.

It was a shame it was twenty-four hours too late.

8

HAYDEN

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