Page 134 of All Our Ghosts

“So you must be the asshole she’s been screwing behind my back,” he spits.

Again, I ignore him, my eyes flicking back to Kade’s. “You okay, baby?”

Her brows furrow but she nods. A small fleck of relief falls off of my shoulders but her forehead is caked in dried blood and the nasty gash along her hairline is red and angry. I glance between Jeremy and Watson. I know Cole is near me, his own shotgun trained on Watson.

“You know, she told me you're horrible, but man did she leave out how much of an actual piece of shit you are,” I bite looking at Jeremy.

“She’s a lying whore,” Jeremy laughs. “But she’s mine. Can’t have some low rate biker taking what’s mine now can I.”

I shift on my feet again. “I’m only going to tell you this once. Watch the way you talk about her.”My shotgun is aimed at Jeremy but it’s far too close to Kadence than I like. I’m going to need to switch to my pistol if I want a clearer shot with less spread and an even lesser chance of hitting her.

“I’ll talk about her any fucking way I want to. She was riding my dicklongbefore she was yours.” He seethes. “Drop the shotgun or I’ll cut her so deep she’ll be dead in seconds.”

“I’d listen to him,” Watson chimes in. “You don’t have a shot here, Nash. Take it or leave it.”

“Shut the fuck up!” Cole barks, jerking his shotgun in Watson’s direction. “I know what you did, Watson.”

“Do you?” He grins at Cole. “Tell me, O’Neil, what do you know?”

Silence falls between everyone. Kade’s ragged breathing is the only thing I can hear.As long as she’s breathing. I have to remind myself that she’s handled Jeremy before. She knows his triggers, his patterns. I also know that if Jeremy is desperate enough to fly across the country for her, he won’t kill her. It’s the only hope I have as his gaze moves to Watson.

“You killed Becca,” Cole says lowly, his voice trembling between rage and sadness.

Watson barks out a laugh. “You’ve just now figured that out? Tell me what else you’ve figured out.”

Cole’s brows knit together and his eyes flick to me before moving back to Watson.

“You don’t know do you?” Watson chuckles. “You gotta be more careful about who you let wander around your clubhouse, O'Neil.” Once again, a shadow creeps forward in the darkness and Layla moves to stand at Watson’s side. “Wonder why we’ve always been one step ahead of you? How we found Kadence unprotected?”

Layla has the audacity to wave her fingers in my direction. That smile I used to gain comfort in after a long night of drinking only makes my skin crawl now. We’ve had a rat under our roof this whole time and this time it’s at the expense of Kadence’s life.

“You fucking bitch,” Cole hisses. “You’ve been working for them? For Watson!” He moves the shotgun from Watson to Layla. Watson doesn’t even flinch to try and protect her.

“I wanted to be a part of the club!” Her shrill voice cuts through the racing thoughts. The millions of ways that this couldgo wrong. “I wanted him!” She points a finger at me. “But he wanted this road trash instead!”

My gaze flicks to Layla at her words. “You’ve been betraying this club long before Kadence showed up, you snake.” Layla betraying us, Watson admitting to Becca’s death, my mind won’t quiet down. Doing as Jeremy says, I drop the shotgun, instantly reaching for the pistol behind my back and aiming it right at Layla. Before she can protest, I pull the trigger. Hitting home right between her eyes.

Kadence holds back a scream but I catch the strangled noise that comes from her direction.

“What the fuck!” Watson yells watching as Layla’s limp body falls to the floor. Cole trains his shotgun back onto Watson.

“Are you four done?” Jeremy says impatiently. The knife is still firmly pressed against Kadence’s neck and as she swallows, a drip of dark liquid runs down her skin and below the collar of my sweatshirt. “Watson, hurry up or we’re going to miss the plane.”

“You aren’t going anywhere,” I bark, taking a step towards him and lifting the barrel of my gun at Jeremy. I’ve got to get the knife away from Kadence. Even shooting him, I can’t risk the slip of his wrist and it cutting into Kade’s neck.

Jeremy shifts behind Kadence and narrows in on me. “What do you want with this bitch anyway?” He tugs on her head again, bringing her head back so far she has to look up at him. “The only thing she’s good at is being a pain in my ass. At least with me I can keep her in line. Tell me, she talk back to you yet? She’s got a mouth on her when she wants.”

He leans into her, brushing his nose against her hair. “She smells sweet too, tell me, Nash. You taste her yet?”

My hand tightens around the pistol as Kade’s eyes close. My control is splintering. The need to get her as far away from Jeremy as possible is the only thing I can think about, that andkilling him. A low rumble comes from my chest as I take another step.

“Get your hands off ofmy wife.”

Time stops when I realize what I said. Then satisfaction rolls through me as realization crosses over Jeremy’s face and Watson falters for a second. I can’t look at Cole. I can already feel the betrayal burning from my friend's eyes and into the side of my own head. Kadence’s eyes lock onto mine and the corner of her mouth turns upward ever so slightly. In this moment alone, I know that even burning down the world for her would never be enough.

KADENCE

We got married that day in Santa Barbara. Holden told me he wanted to surprise me with something, wanted to take me someplace special, and drove us both to the courthouse. At first, I had a sliver of panic roll through me. Was it too fast? What would everyone else think? But then he kissed me. Soft and slow in the way that makes my insides melt and I realized then that marrying him made the rest of the world melt away. It doesn't matter if it was too fast or if everyone thought we were crazy. It was the one good thing we could look back on and not regret. And now? If we both die in this warehouse at the hands of men who thrive on cruelty, then at least I would die married to a man who loved me with his whole being.

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