Page 41 of Jack

“Call Nick off. Let me have today with her. Give her a chance to tell me her story first.”

“If I thought she’d talk, I would. You can try to get her to talk, but I won’t stop Nick.”

“It’s wrong, Dad.”

“It is, but it’s what I have to do. Every woman who comes to us, whether we meet them or not, comes with medical records. Some have police reports. All of them have bruises or broken bones and are emotionally broken.

“Somewhere out there is some lowlife piece of crap. He hurt Lily. He’s probably looking for her. We know they do. If he finds her here, and she’s on club property, he’ll find my wife, my mother, my daughters, and my granddaughter.”

I quiet down and back off with each word he yells. He’s right.

“I lost my brother.”

Jay flinches. Losing his dad almost destroyed my family.

“I lost my daughter, my firstborn, and an unborn granddaughter at the same time.”

Losing my sister and her baby completely destroyed our family. No matter how many ways we find to honor Ariel and fight for justice, we’re never coming back from this one. On the outside, everyone believes we have it together. On the inside,we silently destroy ourselves, and in moments like this, we do it very loudly. Our enemies don’t have to come for us. We’ll end ourselves eventually.

“I can’t lose anyone else!”

My fight’s gone. Those words slice through my soul.

Mom rushes around the desk and slams into Dad’s chest. “Jacob, come on, hon.”

“I can’t, Ev. I can’t bury anyone else.”

“I know. We won’t. You’re protecting us all, Lily included.” With her arms around his waist, she eases Dad into his chair. She doesn’t take her eyes off of him. “Jay, you and Rodeo take Jack to the kitchen. Send Worley Bird back.”

“Got it, Aunt Ev.” Jay pushes off the window sill and motions for me to walk ahead of him.

“Mom? I didn’t mean...”

She looks over her shoulder. Her tears send another dagger through my heart. “Please, Jack. We just need some rest. Go take care of Lily.”

I say no more and follow Rodeo out the door. This has officially gone to pot.

“Everybody’s exhausted.” Rodeo falls in step next to me.

“Yeah,” Jay agrees. “Lily isn’t why he’s upset. Your sister said some horrible things to him before you showed up.”

Harley said some horrible things to everybody. I was only there for thirty minutes. I’d hate to imagine what was said and done before I arrived. Finally, she collapsed into Maci and Ember’s arms. Rodeo and I put her to bed. We left our younger sisters to watch over her. They’re still at Harley’s house, waiting for her to wake up.

“Why don’t you let Lily stay with Nana for a few hours and get some rest?” Jay suggests.

“What about you? You ok?” My cousin worries me. He keeps everything bottled up.

“Nope. Going for a ride.” Jay walks across the Den and out the front door.

“He shouldn’t be alone.” I go to follow him.

Rodeo grabs my arm. “I’ll call Bankz and Cloudy. They’ll watch over him. Your mom has your dad. Go have breakfast with Lily. She’ll be fine with Nana. I’ll have the entire club watching today. Go get a nap, man. I sure need one.” Rodeo has things handled. He’s going to make a great VP one day.

“Thanks, man.” I slap him on the back and head to the kitchen.

Chapter 18

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