Page 111 of Bloom: Part 2

“You’re trusting the US Marshals again after what they did the last time?”

“No. I—”

“Don’t tell me you’re trusting your uncle.”

“He offered. He even thinks I’ll take him up on his offer, but I won’t.”

“You don’t trust him either?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust him, but if it’s one thing I’ve learned from being in WITSEC, it is that when you disappear, no one can know where you’re going. It creates too much risk.”

“So we just leave, and they wouldn’t know where we are?”

I nodded, my breathing turning shallow. What if he turned me down? Leaving his brothers behind wouldn’t be easy for him.

“Think about it carefully. Once we leave, there’s no turning back.”

“What if I said no?”

I tried not to let the fear of him turning me down creep into my voice. The decision had to be his alone.

“I’d be crushed, but I’d understand.”

I had to understand, but a part of me wanted to protest that he was the one who vowed he wouldn’t leave me. He was the one who made those wild promises I’d believed in.

“If you go, I go.” He shifted off me and landed on the bed next to me with his legs folded lotus-style. “Crowe will understand.”

I took his hand and held it in mine. “Are you sure? You won’t regret it later?”

“I’ll never regret choosing you. But do we leave before the wedding?”

“No, our wedding can be something positive they remember when we’re gone. They’ll think we’re on our honeymoon, and that’s when we’ll do it.”

“Where will we live?”

Definitely not the places my uncle had mentioned. “I’m thinking Ireland.”

“Ireland?”

“Yes, the process for moving there is not very difficult. Plus, it’s beautiful there.”

He would love it. I would make sure of it. Whatever he wanted to do with his life, I would help him to achieve it. If he wantedthe moon, I would lasso it for him. As long as he agreed to leave with me.

Bloom sighed heavily, his eyes locked on our intertwined fingers. The confusion was clear in his gaze. This was not what he had signed up for, this was not the life he had envisioned. He loved being a biker, loved his family. It was a lot to ask of him, to sever all ties and move to a foreign land.

His forehead creased into thoughtful lines. “Okay. I’ll go wherever you go.”

I sat up and took him into my arms, squeezing him hard. “I swear I’ll do everything to make you happy, Bloom. Everything will be okay.”

33

BLOOM

Inever thought I’d willingly step into Dr. Simms’s office on my own. Therapy was a necessary evil I’d come to terms with, but that didn’t mean I liked someone asking me a million questions and prying into my brain. And I definitely didn’t like that I had to watch my words around Dr. Simms. Saint’s mother had known the gritty stuff we got involved with. Trusting Dr. Simms was a whole different ball game.

After Logan’s bombshell that we had to leave everyone behind, never to speak to them again, I needed to figure out what I was feeling. All sorts of emotions seemed to be taking over, leaving me confused. Why wouldn’t I want to spend the rest of my life together with Logan? I couldn’t tell him no, but how could I leave everyone else behind?

I didn’t know who else to talk to about the massive change I was experiencing in my life. Definitely not Crowe. And I couldn’t let Logan know how much I was dreading giving up everything I’d ever known. I loved being a biker with the Blood Hounds. It was the only thing I knew how to be. What was I if not an enforcer?

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