Page 123 of The Grief We Hold

I could kill him for not seeing his own son as he is.

Tears flood Marco’s eyes. “I’m desperate. If I get arrested, I’m screwed. If the Bratva find me, I’m screwed.”

“Yeah, well. You met me and now you’restillscrewed.” I think for a moment. “I want three things to happen in the next month. One, you’ll sign the divorce papers and make no contest to anything she asks for in the settlement. Two, you’ll sign over your legal rights to Fen. You left that kid to face the Bratva and were about to use him as a hostage to coerce Raven into helping you break?—”

“I didn’t know they’d?—”

The contact between my fist and his jaw rattles my bones. Marco’s head spins, and he spits blood as he moves.

“Don’t fucking interrupt me. You left your wife and kid unarmed and alone against an enemy you knew you were in epic shit with and who knew where you lived. You don’t deserve either of them, so I’m taking them from you.”

Marco reaches for his jaw and winces. “You can’t…just take…my family.” The words are mumbled. Guess I broke the fucker’s face.

I take my gun out of its holster, jam it under the jaw I’m certain I broke, and shove it hard. “I’m taking them or your life, your call. And I get them both either way.”

He tries to hold my gaze, but like any dog when he knows he’s beaten, he looks away. “Fine.”

“Good. And three, you’ll never contact Raven or Fen again. Everything can go through lawyers, and you better not ever step foot in Colorado.”

Marco nurses the thumb I ripped the nail out of. It’s bleeding. Not so much that it’s a messy cleanup, but enough that it’s seeped down to his palm. “I won’t.”

I snatch my gun from his jaw and re-holster it. “Oh, and if you have any thoughts that so long as you get away from here, from me, you won’t have to follow through on any of what we just discussed, know this: There are Iron Outlaws chapters in every state. We’re a bigger presence in the continental United States than the Bratva. Fuck me over in any way, and we’ll chop you up into pieces.”

“Can we kick him about a bit before we let him go?” Atom asks.

I nod. “Do what you want. Just make sure he can drive out of here.” I look to Butcher. “Could you follow him out? I need to check on my family.”

Butcher nods. “Felt like taking a long ride today anyway. We’ll get him a hundred miles from here.”

And knowing my brothers have got my back, I go and find some peace with Raven and Fen.

39

WRAITH

Two days later, I’m sitting in church, thinking about Fen. The relief on Raven’s face when I’d stepped back into that apartment and told her Marco was gone from their lives was palpable. But Fen threw himself at me and, through tears, whispered, “I knew you’d come.”

I play lots of roles. Iron Outlaws brother. Sergeant at arms. Lover and future husband. But I think being the rock on which Fen can depend has got to be the one that honors me most.

Being a kid’s safe place? Yeah. That’s what life’s about for me. And I wonder how soon I can persuade Raven we should have more kids.

I spent the rest of the day with the two of them up at the clubhouse. Managed to get both Raven and Fen up on horses with a little help from Smoke. I know it won’t immediately fix how Raven and Fen felt after Marco left, but I just want to create a pathway to happy for them whenever I can.

Hearing the two of them laugh was everything.

Butcher strikes the gavel. “One last order of business.”

Grudge rolls his eyes. “Fuck me, how long is this meeting gonna drag on for?”

Catfish shrugs. “You always hate meetings about our budget.”

Grudge lights another cigarette. “Because I trust you to take care of numbers shit so I don’t have to.”

“Stop bickering,” Butcher says. “This will take two minutes.” He reaches beneath his desk and pulls out a delicate leather cut, then pushes it to me.

There’s a whole bunch of cheering and hollering, and I can’t help but grin. I turn it over, and on the back, it reads,Property of Wraith.

I gave one of these once. I wondered if it would still feel special having already done it. But I realized that love can be different without being less. Not sure I could live if I lost Raven and Fen. I’ve endured that kind of loss before and it’s devastating. What I have now is more than I ever imagined being lucky enough to find again.

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