Page 64 of Through The Woods

“What the hell did you do to Twitch, Darlin’?” Rooster drawled out as he walked up.

I laughed nervously. I’d wanted to surprise the biker, not send him on a bender. “Nothing. He had somewhere to be, I think.”

Rooster laughed. “He took off like he’d been shot out of a fuckin’ cannon—thought you might’ve scared him.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yep…all sixty-three inches of me are pretty intimidating.”

He laughed, but headed back toward the clubhouse, no doubt going after Twitch. I brought my knees up and rested my chin against them, defeated. I’d been able to show four of the men my gratitude, but I still needed to think of something to do for the others. Minus Gunner, they’d all gone out of their way to make me feel welcomed and accepted, and I wanted to return the favor.

Unfortunately, everything I touched turned to shit. One bad decision had turned my life into this and it didn’t matter how hard I tried, Gunner had made it abundantly clear that I would always be an outsider. I would spend the rest of my life wishing that I could’ve changed the past.

“You are pretty intimidating.”

I jumped at his voice, ignoring the flush that crept up my neck. “I didn’t know you were out here.” My voice cracked and I tried to mask it by clearing my throat.

Charm took the last remaining steps until he was next to me. “Yeah—I’ve got a lot of shit to get done today, thought I’d get an early start. So, you scaring my men?”

I smiled. “Yeah, you know it. Listen, I’m glad you’re out here. I wanna talk to you about what happened that night on the porch—”

Charm held up a hand, stopping me. “I already told you that we were good. I actually just came out here to let you know that we’re going to host a few other clubs here in a few days. I’m gonna need your help to pull it off. I’m thinking we’ll have close to a hundred. I can get you some help in the kitchen, but it’ll be a lot of work. You think you’re up for it?”

My heart sank. I wanted to tell him that I said what I did before I figured out that Rae hadn’t pulled through. I wanted to tell him that I was afraid I’d never live up to his expectations. Most of all though, I wanted to tell him that I was afraid to hurt him.

Loving me was nothing short of a death sentence.

Instead, I answered distractedly, “It might be hard, but I think I can handle it.”

He clapped me on the shoulder. “That’s what she said.”

My mouth dropped open in shock. “You—but I? You—” I sounded like a broken record, skipping over words.

He winked and walked away, calling out over his shoulder. “I’ll let the guys know to get you whatever you need.”

In that moment, he could’ve knocked me over with a feather.

Who was this man and what had he done with Charm?

Fir tree

It’s…it’s over.

I was going to get her out of the clubhouse for the day—I fucked up. I should’ve gotten her away from here years ago. This club is poison; destroying anything and everything in its path.

She’d promised that things were turning around.

Instead, I’m forever left with the image of her, propped up in bed staring at nothing. She was so cold and I knew it was too late, but I tried resuscitating her anyway. I close my eyes and see the horror on Vic’s face as he dragged me screaming from her side. I’m haunted by all the things I could’ve done differently.

Her blood is on my hands.

Luck shrugged the whole thing off; as if she’d never meant a damn thing to him. It wasn’t until I overheard him on the phone that I put two and two together.

She was collateral damage.

Now, I’m not going to stop until this club is mine. And the first order of business will be getting rid of the whores, the drugs, and him.

I sat at the large metal island in the kitchen with a notebook in my hand, but completely lost in thought. I had to come up with a menu to serve a hundred people; there wasn’t time to dwell on Charm’s reasons for going after Luck when Rae died. I couldn’t fathom how he connected her death to the club. Unless, she had lung cancer brought on by being around bikers who smoked. Although, if that had been the case, I couldn’t imagine that Twitch would’ve remained a smoker.

I stared back down at the blank notebook and tapped my pen against it. I had to come up with something. Charm was taking care of the tables and chairs, but there was so much work that needed to be done with only a few short days in which to get it all accomplished.

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