Page 101 of My Secret to Protect

‘Don’t you fuckin’ lay a finger on her,’ he snarls, blood and spit spraying with his words, and I lean forward, grinning, looking right into his eyes.

‘What do you think, in your current predicament, that you could do to stop me?’ My voice is so calm, so steady, and tears fill his eyes.

‘Arlo, please.’ He begs, and if I were a better man, I might feel some pity, but I’m not, and I don’t. ‘I know you have to do this, put me down, but not her, please, please, not her.’

Inhaling deeply, I stand, reaching out and twisting to crack my back, then bending my neck from side to side.

‘Maybe I’ll just fuck her. Ask her if the rumors are true or if I’m bigger.’

The bile that rises up at even the pretense of fucking someone other than Bree makes my mouth water, but I don’t want him to see me falter. I spit on the floor near his feet and meet my dad’s eyes. This hurts him. He trusted Horse for a lot of years, and the betrayal is raw, but he needs to see it—needs to know the price for that betrayal has been paid.

‘I won’t fuck her, Peter. It is Peter, right? Your name? The club gave you the nickname, and since you’re not a member of this club anymore, I’m taking it away, but I’ll give you something. Your girl—’

‘Sadie,’ my dad offers helpfully.

‘Sadie,’ I repeat, smiling as Horse’s head drops, resigned. ‘She’ll be safe. She will be well looked after, right, dad?’

‘Yeah, son. I’ll look after herrealwell,’ he says, smooth as silk, and Horse actually sobs.

Jesus, part of me feels a little bad for the man. A tiny part, the part of me that considered making this quick and merciful. Unfortunately for Horse, I'm not a merciful man right now, I'm a vengeful man, a man full of rage, a man who would burn the world to ash for the woman he loves, and Horse, he's nothing but kindling to me now, and I'm about to light the match.

‘See, Peter. We won’t hurt sweet, sweet Sadie.’ I pick up a scalpel, then a hunting knife, seeing which feels the most comfortable in my hand, then my eyes land on the Viking cleaver my grandfather gifted my dad when I was kid, and I smile up at him.

‘You put this here for me?’ he nods, yes, and I pick it up, testing the weight in my hand and admiring the smooth, sharp curved blade. ‘Oh, that’s nice,’ I muse, and my dad nods but looks away. ‘Yeah, I think this will do.’ I move back to Horse and show him the knife in my hand, seeing him swallow hard as his breathing becomes ragged, his eyes wide. He knows this is going to hurt. ‘It’s poetic, don’t you think?’

‘You want a little atmosphere, kid?’ my dad asks, pointing to the speaker on the table, and I smile, pulling out my cell phone and connecting it, then starting Bree’s favorite playlist of disco classics. Dad shakes his head again but smirks as he leans back against the wall, crossing his huge arms over his chest.

The opening riff of Disco Inferno pours out of the speaker, extra loud, and I bob my head to the intro of the song, getting ready. Then, with a ridiculous spin in time to my girl’s favorite music, I swing the pronounced tip of the blade into the side of Horse’s knee with a smile, and he screams out in pain.

Grabbing his long, graying hair, I yank his head back and lean over him, ripping the blade from his knee. ‘You fucked me,’ I spit, ‘you kidnapped my girl.’ I bring the knife down again, onto the top of his kneecap this time. ‘Now I’m going to fuck you until there’s nothing left.’

All The Time in The World, Pix

Bree

Wow.

I swallow, my eyes going wide as I walk, my hand in Arlo’s, into the club he swore he would never bring me to.

I got out of the hospital two weeks ago, and while I’m still healing, I feel good. When Arlo showed up after being gone for three days, I noticed I wasn’t the only one who looked at him expectantly. His nod to my brother told me he and Doug had shared things I never imagined they would be sharing while I’d been unconscious. Then he met my eye and took a deep breath before crossing the room to kiss me deeply.

The slate was clean. He’d done what he needed to do, and now we were free to start our life together, but first, his father had asked us all: Arlo and me, Grandma, Mama, Zoe, Doug, and all the partners and kids to the club for a family day. Apparently, it was something they used to do back when my dad was here and when Arlo was a kid, for the old ladies and kids of the club members to come together and feel part of the club, but they stopped years ago. Now, I suspect on account of Viking having his son back in his life, they're starting them up again, and well, this is not what I was expecting.

‘A petting zoo?’ Zoe whispers as she bumps my shoulder with hers, and I press my lips together in a smile.

Children’s entertainers on stilts, in clown suits and blowing bubbles big enough to encase Bowie, wander around entertaining the hordes of kids running around the compound while Taylor Swift blasts from a huge sound system, and a laugh bubbles out of me.

‘Somethin’ funny, short stuff?’ Arlo asks, amused, and I shake my head, no, grinning as he leans in to kiss me.

‘You made it.’ We turn to see Arlo’s dad walking toward us, and I suddenly feel nervous. ‘All of you.’ He beams, happy, and I turn to see Arlo matching his dad’s expression.

‘Yeah, Dad.’ Arlo embraces his father, and I swallow hard. ‘This is nothin’ like it used to be.’ He chuckles, and his dad rolls his eyes.

‘Too many fuckin’ women and kids here these days.’ A pretty woman in a leather cut slides under Viking’s arm easily, and I’m impressed at the move. He didn’t even see her coming but somehow knew she was there.

‘Quit your whinin’, baby. It’s good for the kids.’ She smiles up at him, the lines around her eyes indicating years of laughter, and I glance up at Arlo as he takes her in. ‘You must be Arlo. Jeez, you look so much like your dad.’ She holds out her hand, and I see the property patch now. She’s Viking’s old lady. ‘I’m Ronnie. It is so good to finally meet you.’

Arlo takes her hand, then turns to introduce her to the whole Campbell crew before we disperse.

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