Page 44 of Treachery

It was getting fucking ridiculous—he apologized, pulled out his heart and showed it to her, gave her goddamn space—what the hell else did she want?

“Just ask her!”

Wait…that wasn't in his head. Locust turned and narrowed his eyes at his VP.

“Why don’t you just ask her, dumbass?” Patriot drawled as he sat down on the stool beside him. “You sitting around here, wallowing in Irish whisky and tears isn’t going to get your woman back.”

Locust huffed. “You’re one to talk, brother.” Patriot grunted, glaring at Locust like he was daring him to keep talking.Don’t mind if I do!“You got so tied up in drama with Stallion’s sister, you hurt your woman bad?—”

“Yeah, but then I apologized, showed her how sorry I was, proved to her that I loved her, and she finally had mercy on my sorry ass.”

Locust scoffed. “And how that hell am I supposed to prove to Nadia that I love her when she’s not really keen on believing a word I say?”

Patriot looked pensive for a moment, before finally asking, “What do you hold most dear?”

“Huh?” Confused as fuck, Locust merely stared at Patriot, waiting for clarification.

Rolling his eyes, Patriot peered at Locust, shaking his head, as though Locust was straight up useless. “I’m asking you, does she believe she is the most important thing in your life? Have you shown her that there’s nothing more important to you than her?”

Thinking back, it didn’t take much effort to realize?—

Ah, fuck.

No. No, she did not know she was the most important thing to him, because he’d proven the opposite, putting his duty to the club, his debt to Frost, and his own goddamn pride above her.

He couldn’t catch his breath, sweat beaded on his forehead as panic speared him.

“Shit, brother…what the fuck am I supposed to do? There’s so much shit between us—how will she ever believe she’s it for me?”

Slapping Locust’s chest, Patriot demanded, “Calm the fuck down, and think. Freaking the fuck out isn’t going to help anyone.”

Sucking in a deep breath, Locust held it, counted to ten, then let it out slowly.

His heart was still pounding, but at least it wasn’t galloping any more.

“Right. Now,” Patriot snapped, “you love her, that’s obvious, you just need to show her that.”

Locust growled, “How the fuck do I do that?”

Patriot shrugged. “Risk something.”

Locust stared at Patriot like he’d lost his mind. “Risk something?”

“Yeah. Women love that shit,” Patriot declared, smirking.

Shaking his head at his obviously pussy-whipped VP, Locust grumbled, “What the hell am I supposed to risk?”

“How the fuck should I know? I did the work to get Cilla back, so you figure out what will work for Nadia.” Patriot stood up, slapped Locust on the back, then strode away like he hadn’t just scrambled Locust’s brains.

Risk something? Something Nadia thought was more important than her….

Like a flash of lightning, he realized what he had to do.

He just hoped that by risking everything, he’d gain everything, too.

Grabbing his cell once more, he typed out a club-wide text, his hands shaking.

This was, by far, the most terrifying fucking thing he’d ever done…but he’d do it again if it meant getting Nadia back.