Page 71 of Raiden

Everything I was afraid to believe in, everything I didn’t know I wanted until I suddenly did, the tenuous future that I was building here and a shot at happily ever something, even if it was never destined to be an after, lights up in flames, becoming ashes in my head and heart.

My dad’s men came on bikes. They were waiting for us in that alley as an ambush. All he had to do was call them as wewere walking out. I expected a trap and walked right into one. All I can think as I’m loaded into the back of a black panel van and driven by Creed with my dad in the front seat, is that I’m so thankful that Raiden and Gray weren’t with me, but even that fades into a sick sense of dread when the shock clears from my brain and I can follow the breadcrumbs my dad’s so obviously left behind.

Gunner is the kind of man who looks like he’d know how to tie off his own leg and get help. My dad doesn’t leave loose ends. He wants Gunner alive for one reason. So he can tell the rest of the club what happened and that my dad has me. He’s counting on Raiden and Gray wanting me back. Or is he going to hold me for some ridiculous ransom until they agree to move his product?

Whatever his plans are, we pull up in front of a motel on the edge of town. He’s clearly got his men stationed here, judging from the bikes lined up in the crumbling asphalt lot. The place is a dump, one long row of dilapidated rooms with faded old pink stucco and a crumbling office with a flashing vacant sign where of course only the V is lit up.

Zale isn’t trying to hide. He’s making it easy to find him and utterly obvious where he is. He either brought enough men with him to obliterate his old club if they try anything, or he thinks he knows my brother and Raiden. He believes they won’t move against him with all their might.

Creed hauls me out of the backseat, wrenching painfully against the zip ties cutting into my wrists. I could break them, but at the sight of doors opening from every room and men spilling into the lot, I know there would be no point.

I could get myself loose, steal one of their bikes, and what? Create another chase where someone could die? By now, some of the Angels are probably reaching Gunner. They’d know everything. I don’t have to warn them. He’s done that already. There is no point in me leaving and risking my life or the lives of anyone else, including innocent people out there on the streets.

I refuse to cower or feel shame. I dig deep and come up with my inner badass. I wear my attitude proudly, like a badge and a shield.

Creed slams into the closest room, shoves me to the bed, and leaves.

It only takes my dad a single minute after he stomps into the room to tear that false bravado to shreds.

He slams the door so hard the whole room rocks and looms over me. I’ve never seen this dark, shadowy menace on his face before. I’m not stranger to Zale’s anger and cruelty, but I’d failed to see the madness that lies at the root of him, devouring his lifeforce like a parasite.

He strokes my jaw and tsks at me when I flinch back. “Don’t forget who gave you this happiness. It was me. I’m your everything. I’m the one you obey. I made this world for you, and I can tear it apart. Just ask your husband how easily his world crumbled.”

Zale is still a good-looking man. A few of the guys in the club are hard, their faces mirroring either the weariness in their souls or the evil, but not Zale. His face hides so fucking much.

My heart slams into my throat. “What you did to Raiden was an injustice!”

That earns me a sharp tug to the zip tie so that it cuts into my flesh. Another second and one meaty fist twists into my hair, snatching up a handful since I’m wearing it down. Zale tugs so hard that tears sting my eyes from the pain. He holds my hands down so I can’t reach up to try and claw his away.

“This is my world, Widow. You still don’t see that. I thought you were supposed to be smart. You’re beautiful, but that’s about all I can claim to have given you. If you think I didn’t know exactly the kind of woman Raiden would fall all over, think again. I watched that boy grow right alongside my own son. I patched them into the club myself, honoring our family legacy.”

“You don’t know him at all. You don’t know Gray either. You’ve built all this up in your head. You’re a liar and a manipulator, you’re seeing ghosts that aren’t there.”

Zale gives my head a shake but releases my hair when I cry out. He belts out an uproarious laugh like he truly finds causing so many people pain, amongst them his own children, to be funny.

“Either way, you want to see your husband, your brother, and the rest of their sorry little club live, you’ll do what I say and you’ll convince Raiden and Gray to do the same. I’d hoped you’d see the business sense of moving our product here and do this the easy way, but I figured you’d give me trouble, so I came prepared. I have no doubt they’ll do anything to get you back. Their code of honor knows no bounds. Gray is just like my dad. Can’t see into the future. Can’t understand self-preservation or see the need for change. I was trying to take the club in a direction that would have seen them thrive, but they called that greed and wanted me gone.”

“Only after you betrayed Raiden and everything you stood for.”

“The fact that you’re in love with a man as pathetic as him only shows that you’re not fit to be a part of my legacy.” Zale grasps my hair again, forcing me to look up at him or have a handful ripped from my scalp. It’s hard to hang onto my pride when tears of pain are coursing down my cheeks and there’s nothing I can do to stop my body’s automatic reaction to the blistering pain searing across my scalp.

“The only reason I’m here right now is because your brother was weak enough to show mercy. He doesn’t want to cooperate with helping us move product to eventually facilitate a full chapter up here, then he’ll taste the consequences.” He releases my hair but grasps my cheeks in a vicious pinch. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll give you another chance to prove your loyalty. You might be good enough to be one of the club sluts, or I’ll find you another husband. I’d even marry you off to one of my officers. You see what a reasonable man I can be?”

I want to spit at him but with the way he’s gripping my cheeks, I can’t do anything other than glare hatred at him.

I don’t know what I can possibly do, but I finally understand that I have to make a choice. My soul, or Raiden’s. My dad or my brother and his club. Even if I don’t stay here, if Raiden and I don’t work out—because nothing is ever certain and it’s so damn early—I know what I have to do.

There is no world that will ever be safe for Raiden, for Lark, for Penny, for Gray, for any of the goodhearted outlaws that I’ve come to care about, while my dad is in a position of power.

I told Raiden we needed to remove him.

He doesn’t need to be removed. He needs to be put to ground.

And I’m the one who needs to do it.

We’re alone in this room. His men are outside and if I kill my own father, there’s more than a decent chance that they’ll kill me straight out.

I only hesitate for a second, just to shore up a plan and search the room with my eyes for a weapon before I lunge forward, bring my knees up between my bound wrists, and snap the ties in half.

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