Page 13 of Wrath

“Okay, but you gotta promise that you won’t react.” I’ve known Ruckus since he was a kid, he can’t hide shit from me. Right now, he’s worried about how I’m gonna react to what he’s got to say.

“I can’t do that.” I refuse to tell him a lie, I couldn’t even if I wanted to, Ruck knows me just as well as I know him.

“Wrath, I had a direct order from Prez, and–”

“AndI’myour best friend,” I remind him.

“C’mon, don’t play the best friend card. You know that what Prez says goes, and I gotta admit, I was with him on this decision. You bein’ at the club would have made things a whole lot harder.”

“Made what harder?” I step into his space, and before I can grab him by his tee, he holds up his hands in defense.

“Eden wanted to talk to her ex-fiancé, and Raze was insistent that she do it at the club. I saw him show up in his fuckin’ Mustang as I was pullin’ out the yard.” He diverts his eyes away from mine, knowing that I won’t like what I’m hearin’.

“So this was all a distraction to keep me away from the club?” I wanna throw my fist at his face.

“No, we needed to come here and take a look at the place, anyway. Raze just thought now would be the perfect time.” He tries being diplomatic, but it’s not making me any less angry. I don’t wanna be shut out from what’s happening in Eden's life, I’ve spent the past ten years suffering from that. I should be there at the club showing her support.

“And what if this ex is dangerous? What if he upsets her?” I start heading for the door. I may have promised to stay away, but if she’s hurting and there's even a remote chance she wants me to comfort her, I need to be there.

“Wrath, she’s got Raze, he’ll be takin’ care of her.”

“Yeah, well, the person takin’ care of her should be me.” I slam my way out the door into the bright L.A. sun. Ruckusfollows after me, calling out my name, and trying to persuade me to go back. I ignore him, hopping on my bike and skidding off toward the clubhouse.

“Where is she?” I burst through the door when I eventually get there. Trinity’s the first person I see and I make it clear I’m not interested in her crap when I drag the arms she wraps around my neck off me.

“If you're talking about the runaway bride, Prez has moved her into the motel. Room 17.” She slides her finger up and down the seam of my cut and seductively licks her lips.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I realize Eden’s not gone anywhere. The whole journey here I’ve been worried that her fiancé would somehow talk her back to him. The fact she has her own room now proves that she’s staying, at least for a little while.

I ain’t wasting any more time, so I head back out the door, marching across the yard toward the motel. I try not to think about how much her going back to him would have destroyed me as I climb the stairs up to the second floor, and when I get to room 17 I knock on the door real hard and stand back while I wait for her to answer.

“Go away!” she calls out from behind the door.

“Eden, I need to talk to you.”

“You promised me you’d stay away,” she reminds me, sounding hurt and real fucking broken. I wanna break down the fuckin’ door so I can get to her and fix it.

“I know I did, and I will once ya open the door and show me that you're okay.”

“Aaron, I’m fine, please go.” She sounds so desperate to get rid of me. I fuckin’ hate it.

“Open the door, show me you're okay, and I’ll leave,” I repeat, and when the door finally flings open and I see her standing in front of me, she looks everythingbutokay.

“I’m fine,” she croaks, trying hard to hold it together, but the red rims around her eyes and the fact her cheeks are all blotchy give her away.

“Come here.” I open my arms for her, and when she rushes forward and wraps herself around my waist the warmth it puts in my chest reaches all the way down to my toes.

I hold onto her tight, so tight it feels like I’m crushing her, and while she sobs her tears into my shirt my fingers automatically scrunch her hair into a fist as I kiss the top of the head.

“It’s okay, whatever it is, we can fix it,” I promise, and it's a promise I know I can keep because for her there's nothing I wouldn’t do. In fact, I’m ready for the fuckin’ challenge. Especially if it means I get to break her ex-fiancé's face.

“This isn’t gonna be okay, Aaron. I’ve lost everything.” She snuffles and pulls herself away from me far too soon. Her eyes have lost all their sparkle and I can tell that whatever has upset her is real fuckin’ serious. “Mark came here, and he asked me to go back with him,” she starts explaining through shakey little breaths that make me wanna hunt this fucker down and tear off his limbs.

“You can’t do that. You don't love him. You're not the person you were pretendin’ to–”

“I know that,” she talks over me. “And when I tried to explain, he got real nasty. He reminded me that, without him, I’m nothing.”

I frown when I consider that she’s actually believing this shit, then dragging her inside her room, I slam the door behind us and grab each side of her face in my hands.

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