Page 88 of All Our Ghosts

Cole nods in the full transparency that I'm still working on. "They let us move across the border without problems and in return they get girls at Moon."

"Until Becca died," I finish. "After we stopped letting Watson and his crew into the club. Girls started getting hurt and—" The words catch in my throat, and I feel her hand squeeze mine again.

"You didn't want them to suffer the same way Becca did," she says softly.

I nod curtly glancing back at Cole. "Watson had something to do with Bec's death. I know he did."

Cole bristles at the mention of my sister and Watson in the same sentence. He was silent for a moment before speaking. "Then we find the evidence, and then we kill him."

That was fine with me but when I look down at Kadence her features have stoned over. Her eyes are glued to Cole. "You loved her... didn't you?" She asks.

"More than I care to admit," he answers immediately.

It doesn't shock me how I thought it would. Cole is a hothead with a big heart and a love for Becca that I'll never be able to relate to. My gaze slides to Kadence. Or used to be able to relate to.

She glances up at me and nods. "How can I help?"

"No. Baby," I say, turning towards her. "You aren't helping with this. I'm not putting a target on your back bigger than the one already there." I look to Cole for help. "We're not involving Kade."

"Then why bring me today?" She asks with a hint of bitterness laced within her words. "After everything, you can't expect me to sit here and play the innocent girlfriend."

My eyes widen for a moment looking down at the woman next to me. Girlfriend. I know deep down that's what she is but hearing her call herself that sends a jolt of mixed emotionsthrough me. I must have made a face because she rolls her eyes at me and I can't help the small upturn of my lips at her attitude.

"Watson already knows something is up with me. By now, with the news junket circulating, I'm sure he and Stokes both know more than we want them to know about who I am and why I'm here." She tugs her hand out of mine and sets it on the table. "It's only a matter of time before they make a phone call to Jeremy's office and Miami-Dade is crawling all over the shop, not to mention Stokes having everything he needs to take down the club. So, before that happens and I fuck things up around here even more, we stop them." She glances between us. "We stop them both."

"You want to kill Stokes?" Cole's brows shoot to his forehead, his shock matching mine.

I was beside myself staring at the woman who not two hours ago was moaning my name. I want her to be strong, to be this firecracker of a woman instead of the meek one she thinks herself to be but I don't want that at the cost of her life and dealing with Stokes and Jeremy at the same time was a death sentence.

"Don't you?"

"So, we kill Watson and Stokes, then what? There's just going to be some other asshole who will replace Stokes and pull the same shit or shut us down completely," I argue. "Killing them both won't work."

A throat clears to the side of us and we all look up to see Maggie standing there, arms full of our plates before she begins dishing them out. "Anything else I can get ya?" She asks, glancing between the three of us with a raised brow.

"No, Mags, thank you." Cole glares at me as she nods and walks away. "Keep your damn voice down."

Kadence picks up her fork, pushing around the hashbrowns on her plate before scooping up a bite. "It'll work," she mumbles.Her eyes bounce between us. "Hand pick someone. Use what you have already on Stokes, release it to the town and show them he's not the upstanding Sheriff he claims to be. Throw your hat in the ring for whoever you choose. It's best if it's a friend of the club’s." She pauses. "And get the town eating out of your hands."

She shrugs like the master plan she just spewed wasn't more than a grocery list. I watch her take another bite and then another before the corners of my mouth turn up. A combination of pride and the fact that she's eating more now than she has in weeks.

I look at Cole, who is still staring at her with the same amount of curiosity and awe that I feel. "It's not a bad plan," I mutter and Cole's eyes collide with mine.

"It worked for Jeremy, well until..." her voice trails off, "his office pulled shit like this all the time. I'm not entirely sure about the whole murdering part but it wouldn't surprise me." She glances up at me. "Innocent girlfriend, remember?"

I'm thrown back to our earlier conversation of how Jeremy never hid anything he did. She flashes a grin at me before looking at Cole. "I heard things I wasn't supposed to, doesn't mean I forgot them and didn't catalog them for later as a backup plan."

I huff out a laugh, throwing my arm over her shoulders and press a kiss to her temple. The woman sitting next to me feels different than the woman I barged in on the first night I met her and fuck I'm proud of her.

"You're really something, Sunflower." I press my nose into her hair, taking in the lavender and vanilla that I love so much before dipping my head to her ear. "And you aren't mygirlfriend," I rasp lowly pulling back as she furrows her brows at me.

"You're myold lady." I smirk.

KADENCE

“Baby?” I groan, slipping the straps of my light blue sundress over my shoulders.

I start buttoning up the front of it as I glance at the bathroom door. He’s been in there for a while now and I’m sure he’s finished showering. “You know,” I tease as I fasten the last button on the bust of my dress. “We’re gonna have to have a chat about the fact that you’re taking longer than me to get ready for a party.”

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