Page 59 of Filthy Savage

Fuck the highway commission.

I’ll find a different route somewhere else.Fuck all of this. Every single fucking second of it. Fuck it all.

In fact, I open my mouth to say just that. I’m ready to pull my piece and just start going down the line. If I die, I fucking die at this point. I don’t care anymore. This entire goddamn thing is beyond ridiculous, and I don’t want any goddamn part of it.

Atomic jerks his chin toward the asshole himself, Conrad. “Let me discuss this with my men, but first, I want your terms,” he grinds out. “In writing,” he adds.

Conrad keeps his stupid fucking smirk planted on his lips. I want to slap it the fuck off him. I just might before this trip is finished. I am so ready to be done with it all. I should have never come.

I should have stayed the fuck home with my woman. I would have been better off there. I’m fairly certain that I will always be better off buried inside of my woman, though. No matter the situation.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-THREE

SPENCER

Gnaw watchesme as I pack my stuff, but he has the good sense not to try and change my mind. I am determined, and he’s known me long enough to realize that there is no talking me out of a damn thing right now. I’m heated… but most importantly, I’m hurt.

Once all of my stuff is back in my suitcase, I tug it behind me, thankful that this happened before I moved my entire life here. I’m ready to return to my world. After I visit Humble, of course. I have to make sure he’s okay before I get in my car and drive back to Austin.

“What do you want to do?” Gnaw asks, dipping his chin to my luggage.

I roll my eyes to the ceiling, then lower them back to meet his. “I want to go back to Ophelia’s,” I state.

“You know that whatever he has with her, it ain’t shit, right? She’s here to cause problems, and you’re doing exactly what she wants you to do.”

Shaking my head, I try to fight back the tears, but they’re right there, pricking the backs of my eyes. Inhaling a deep breath, I try to calm myself before I have a complete meltdown right here in front of him.

That would be seriously embarrassing.

“It doesn’t matter what she was doing or how she was doing it. I am not here to put on clown makeup and look like an idiot,” I snap.

I’m not sure why, but those words make Gnaw’s lips curve up into a grin. He thinks I’m being funny, but I’m absolutely not doing that. I am pissed off. Hear me roar. He flicks his gaze to the ceiling as if he’s trying to muster up the energy to deal with my crazy ass.

I know that I take some energy because Iamridiculous, but I’m not being overly dramatic. I’m not being anything except rational and sane at this moment. A woman came here, knew who lived here, informed me that she’d been fucking my man for a decade, and then Gnaw sent her on her way, knowing exactly who she was.

I might be a fool, but I’m not an idiotic clown.

“Okay, babe. Back to Ophelia’s you go, but can you please not leave town, at least until you’ve talked to Brew?”

I could make that promise easily, but I’m not in the mood to be agreeable with anyone wearing the Dark Horse MC cut at the moment, so, as childish as it is, I lift my chin and look down my nose at him, refusing to answer.

Gnaw continues to believe that I am not only being funny but cute as well because the asshole just chuckles. He reaches for the handle of my bag and turns to walk away, tugging it behind him without saying another word. Asshole. They’re all assholes.

Once we’re outside, I close the cabin door behind me and, with it, add a little brick and mortar around my heart. Walking toward the bikes, I stop in front of them and look over myshoulder at Guts, who is smiling a little too widely as he watches us.

Gnaw is standing next to his bike, and his shoulders are shaking as he laughs silently. I want to slap him. If I didn’t like Kyle so much, I might do just that. But for her, I won’t. He’s making it hard to refrain, though.

“Let me make a phone call, get you a car down here,” he murmurs after he’s composed himself.

Narrowing my eyes, I nod once, then watch as he fishes his phone out of his pocket. I don’t know why, but I expect him to call Ophelia. I know she’d roll down here as quickly as she could, then she’d probably roll on over to Sal’s Bar and see if they’d let her work the pole again.

I snort, thinking about her dancing on the stage with the rest of us. It was just a few days ago, but it feels like a whole lifetime. Turning my back to Gnaw, I walk toward the lake. It’s not too far from the cabin, and it almost feels like a dream, being this quiet and serene.

I’ve done some hiking and paddleboarding in Austin, but there have always been people every corner you turn. This is different. There isn’t anyone here. The silence consumes me, almost to the point where it’s deafening.

I’m not sure how long I stare out at the water, watching for something to happen, anything, but it stays calm. It almost looks like a painting, and that’s how still it is out there. I don’t see any snakes swimming along the top of the water, and with that, neither do I see evidence of any fish.

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