Page 81 of Filthy Hot

It doesn’t take us long to ride to the clubhouse, and for a moment, I wish we were going anywhere else. I want to handle Xavier. I want to torture and kill him, but I also want to feel Kyle pressed against my back.

I could have lost her. Or rather, she could have been taken from me… twice. That shit doesn’t sit well with me at all. Talonbeing dead doesn’t bring me joy. Sure, I’m fine with him being dead, maybe even relieved, but I don’t feel good about it… I don’t feel anything.

That shit is probably some kind of major emotional disorder of some kind, I’m sure. And I don’t think it has to do with the fact that he’s definitely not the first person I killed, but I think it’s more about me and this situation.

I pull through the clubhouse main gate and find my spot easily. The prospect is standing beside the pickup truck, Kyle’s bag at his feet. I thank him, grabbing the handle as I walk by and tug it behind me into the building.

Reaching out, I grasp Kyle’s hand with mine and together, we walk into the building and stop as soon as the door closes behind us. It’s dark. There are brothers sitting around everywhere. The music is low, not its usual volume, and nobody is drinking.

That can only mean one thing. We’re all prepared for Albert to come and for what that means. They probably all know about Loner as well. It’s a sobering moment for sure. We let that fucker into our club, into our lives, and he fucked us over well and truly.

Atomic is the first person to approach us, a prospect at his back. The prospect hurries over and takes the bag from me.

“I’ll take this to your room?” he asks.

And he is asking because it’s my space and nobody is just allowed inside, civilian woman or clubwhore. Nobody. I jerk my chin toward him, he dips his own, then turns and walks toward the bedroom hallway.

“You ready?” he asks.

“He in the building?” I ask.

Atomic nods his head. “He is. Tied and waiting for you.”

“You talk to Sal?” I ask.

Atomic clears his throat and rocks back on his heels. His gaze flicks to Kyle, and as much as I want to tell him that she stays right here, I can’t. Turning to her, I whisper against theshell of her ear and ask her to get me water from the bar. She does, knowing without a doubt it’s to get her away from the conversation.

“What do you know?” I ask with a hiss.

Atomic shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels again. “Sal is good. He didn’t find out anything. He was kept in that room the whole time…”

“But?” I ask.

He smirks. “But the ex has some things. It’s clear he thinks your girl is his, and he’s ready to take what he believes belongs to him.”

I ask a single question next, one that will tell me exactly how Atomic is going to play this, or rather, how he’s going to allow me to play it.

“Is he of any use to the club?” I ask.

His lips curve up into a grin. “He is completely and utterly useless. That building is yours. Nobody will come in until you call for cleanup.”

KYLE

I’msure I should feel guilty to see Xavier with his arms tied at the wrists and over his head, his body hanging from a hook in the center of an empty metal shed. But I don’t. All the things he’s done to me over the years, I only feel pity for him, but I don’t feel guilty.

Nothing about him makes me feel remorse, mainly because he’s never once felt that for anything he’s done to me over the years.

The man who I was so in love with, or maybe the boy. Because I don’t think I was ever in love with the man he became.The boy who I thought was my forever is nothing I imagined he could be.

Now, I stand in front of him feeling nothing but pity for the human he’s become—if I can even call him a human. He’s more like a monster, or at least he was before he was rendered completely helpless.

“Kyle,” Xavier whimpers as he lifts his head, his eyes finding mine.

Standing beside Rider, I stare into Xavier’s eyes. He’s a stranger to me. This person who I once thought I knew everything about is nothing to me anymore. Absolutely nothing. I’m not sure how I should feel about him, but I feel nothing at all.

“You don’t speak to her,” Rider grinds out. “Talk to me.”

“What the fuck do you want?” Xavier grinds out.

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