Page 88 of Renegade

Bile rose in my throat.

This wasn’t just about keeping her away from the club anymore. It was about keeping her safe.

“Hello?” Lauren sleepily asked.

I glanced down at my watch, feeling guilty for calling so late. “Hey, Red. Did I wake you?”

She yawned, “No, I was up…doing stuff.”

Sure she was.If I knew her, she’d been passed out since eight. “Have you seen the moon tonight?”

Lauren yawned again loudly. “Hmmm? The moon? No, why? Is it doing tricks?”

I chuckled. “Something like that. Why don’t you step outside and look?”

“Okay,” she whispered softly. “Let me get my shoes.”

I waited until I heard her open the front door. “You might have to go downstairs to get the full effect.”

She sighed. “Is it really necessary for me to see it? I’m pretty tired.”

“It’s a once in a lifetime sight. Just go downstairs and head toward the street. Then you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

Lauren came into view, sleepily rubbing her eyes, and I ducked behind some shrubs. She walked a few more feet before stopping and staring up at the sky in confusion. “Can you just tell me what I’m looking for?”

I stood up slowly. “How about the guy right in front of you?”

She held a hand up to her chest. “Jesus Christ, Mike! You can’t just go popping up out of bushes, scaring people.”

I bent down and retrieved a cupcake with an unlit candle sticking out of it. “I wanted to be the first one to wish you a Happy Birthday, Red. Fucking candle wouldn’t stay lit though.”

Lauren’s eyes lit up and she grinned before taking it from my hand. “You got me a birthday cake?”

I nodded and corrected, “Technically acupcake, but close enough.”

I wondered if Monica had ever been sober long enough to celebrate her. By the way she was tearing up, I was gonna go with no.

She wrapped her arm around my neck and whispered in my ear, “Could you be any sweeter?”

I thought back over the last week and a half. I wasn’t sweet.I was a fucking monster.I’d helped dispose of six Sons of Death members—well, what was left of them. Grey had made sure they met the same end that Ian, the prospect, did. Kid hadn’t even earned his road name yet.

It wasn’t like SODMC was going to file a police report. This was tit for tat. They now knew the score—take out one of Grey’s and expect to lose six in retaliation. Neither side was going to back down now. This was a full-on war that I just happened to play a role in.

Brushing those thoughts aside, I scooped her up in my arms and carried her over to my truck. “I’ve got something I wanna show you. Do you have some time?”

Lauren looked up at me with a smirk. “Oh, well I had a date with my bed, but I guess I can spare some time for you.”

The minute she was seated and buckled in, I handed her a bouquet of daisies. “Gift number two.”

She eyed me with a raised eyebrow. “Well, well, well. Look who’s just full of surprises. Where are we going?”

I made a right turn and shook my head. “Uh-uh, Darlin’. You’re just gonna have to wait and see.”

We drove about fifteen miles outside of town. By the time I parked the truck, Lauren was dozing with her head against the window. I stepped out and snagged the blankets from the back seat. Grey bought this land a while back and after all the blood I’d gotten on my hands this last week, he owed me one. I threw a match down and the small bonfire went up in bursts of red and yellow.

Time to wake the birthday girl.

I opened the passenger door and she gave me a sleepy smile. “Is it time for my next present now?”

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