Page 72 of Savior

“Daddy,” I gasped. However bad things had gotten between us, he’d deserved better than this. He’d deserved better than being discarded like trash.

My vision blurred as Wolverine helped me up the stairs, but the tears wouldn’t fall. The grief left me feeling as if I were going mad, wild with rage that they were going to pin this on Jamie too, and people would believe it.

They would believe that my father had died at my husband’s hands, because to them, it made sense.

And while everyone was busy shaking their heads in shame, Jamie slipped farther out of reach. The Sons and the man who betrayed him got away scot-free.

Not today.

I broke away from Wolverine’s side with a low growl and ran for Jamie’s truck, hitting the lock button as the door slammed shut behind me. The gun I hadn’t realized I was still holding dug into my palm and I reluctantly placed it in the passenger seat before starting the ignition.

Wolverine rapped at the window in a panic. “Celia, open the door!”

My resolve slipped until I remembered my father’s body, left to rot in that hell all alone.

“It’s Bear. He’s the traitor, Wolverine!”

The leathery skin around his eyes stretched thin in surprise as he yelled back through the thin pane of glass, “No. Celia, it ain’t him.”

But it was.

“He has Jamie’s vest,” I choked out, sounding as if I was on the verge of crying even as my eyes remained dry. “I’m going to kill him.”

“Don’t do it, doll. Just open the goddamn door!” His fist connected with the glass, making it rattle.

“Move,” I pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He pulled back. “You go down to that canyon, and you’re askin’ for death! Ain’t one person gonna be able to save your ass. Think about Jamie! You want to turn his brothers into his enemies?”

“They already are,” I said before shifting the truck into drive, leaving him behind in a cloud of dust.

Within seconds, my cell phone screen was lighting up with Angel’s name, the cheerful musical tone filling the cab of the truck. I let it go to voicemail, only for it to start up again almost immediately.

I switched it off while keeping my foot pressed against the accelerator, daring any cop to try to pull me over. I navigated the narrow road leading down into the canyon with ease, no longer a scared pregnant teenager, but a cynical woman with a vendetta.

I bypassed the open spots and threw the truck into park behind a row of bikes, watching in amusement as the prospects shared looks of wide-eyed panic.

Jamie’s newest prospect, Alex, ran up to the side of the truck, demanding that I get out. Only, he didn’t answer to Jamie anymore. He answered to a traitor.

“Hey there, Alex!” I kept one hand on the door handle and the other on my gun, praying he’d back down once he knew who I was.

“C-C-Celia?” he stuttered as I climbed out, keeping the weapon tucked close to my body. “Jesus Christ, you damn near took out Pres’s bike!”

I brought my hand up to my mouth in mock horror. “Did I? I’m telling you, I just got these new contacts, and my depth perception is all sorts of messed up. Is your Pres here?”

His eyes moved to the hand I had concealed in the folds of my dress before he replied, “Uh, he ain’t around—”

A gun is the fastest. Get the guy on his knees, press the barrel against his skull, and pull the trigger.

“That’s funny, I saw his bike. Which one was it? Oh, it’s right there.” I pulled the gun free and brought it to the side of his head before he could reach for his own, gripping the patch-free vest right between his shoulder blades to keep him from bolting on me. “Get on your knees.”

My head jerked from left to right as the remaining prospects raised their weapons without hesitation. They didn’t know me, and even if they did, my husband wasn’t the one running things anymore.

“Get Bear!” I called out through a clenched jaw.

“There’s six of us and one of you, bitch!” a prospect taunted from over my left shoulder. “Those ain’t the best odds.”

I spun with Alex still locked in my grip, fighting to keep them in my sights. “Bear!” I screamed, knowing I had about thirty seconds before they started putting bullets in me.

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