Page 60 of Avenging Devil: Part 2

“Salem was winged in the arm. He’ll show you his scar if you want. Ink caught a bullet in his chest, but his Kevlar just left him a huge fucking bruise. Same thing happened with Marvel from Tucson. Pyro from Colorado was shot in the shoulder, but it was a through and through with no lasting damage. Oh, and a bullet grazed Bones’ leg, but he’ll live. Oh, and Curtis? Fuck me, but that prospect can shoot. Let’s just say, if you go to the range, never put your money on anyone else.” He pushes back his long hair that’s flopped into his face. “It was to our advantage that they were focused on you and totally fuckin’ unprepared. We were more than a match for them.” He breaks off and shakes his head. “What they did to you, Brother.” Dart’s eyes shutter, as though blocking out sights he can see in his mind. “If we hadn’t got there when we did…”

I’d be dead now.I shudder, remembering their threats, how they were going to break all my bones one by one. Just like Humpty Dumpty.

Their voices are in my head. I shake it, trying to clear it, wanting to forget all about those threats, but something tells me it’s important to remember exactly what they’d said.

Just like Humpty Dumpty. No one will be able to put you back together again.

But all I can think of is the pain. How, despite myself, I’d screamed like a fucking girl.I shudder. The beeping of the monitor next to me starts to speed up as I force myself back to those dreadful hours. From the moment Slit was killed to seeing Saffie, what I thought at the time shot, to being tied to the chair and stripped…

“Should we wait for Duke?” That had been Croak.

Then from their prez, “Fuckin’ Duke, he’ll be gone a few hours yet. He’s gone to Carson City to work on a new drug deal. That’s what he should be concentrating on.”

Suddenly I know what I’d been trying to remember. I sit up, too fast, making that monitor go crazy, but with all my strength, I grab Dart’s arm.

“Duke’s alive! He wasn’t there. He was out on a fuckin’ run.”

Dart’s eyes go wide. Removing my hand, he stands. “Fuck it! You’re saying he was one of the pair who rode out? Who was with him?” I shake my head. I hadn’t known, and if I’d asked, I doubt I’d been told. “Fuckin’ hell. Goddamnit.” Dart turns and bangs his fist into the wall. “I’ve gotta go.” He swings around and spits fast, “I’ve got calls to make.”

He has.

Before he’s at the door, I rasp out, “Saffie. She can’t know.” She thinks she’s safe. I can’t take that from her. I don’t want her looking over her shoulder again.

Turning, he gives me a sharp nod, letting me know I don’t need to explain. “She’s under our protection, Brother. She’s yours, she’s ours. We’ll keep her safe.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

What do I do now? Saffie thinks that she’s in the clear with no one coming for her. I’d told her it was now up to her what to decide, what she wanted from life. After all the suffering that she’s been through, I can’t take her new sense of security away. But that means I’ll be lying when I’ve just promised to be truthful to her.

She thinks she’s safe. She’s not.

I want to see her smile. I want her to move forward without looking back. It’s better that she believes he’s dead.

Without his club, surely Duke’s got enough to worry about. The rumour is it was a mafia hit. He’ll think she died in the clubhouse.

As long as I keep her close by my side, and we perpetuate the myth that she’s my old lady, there’s no need for him to know either of us are alive. We’ll have to make sure we find him, and this time, deal with him so he can’t come back to life.

“Your visitor been upsetting you?” A nurse comes in, frowns at the monitor, then looks at my chart.

“He was just yanking my chain,” I excuse him.

“Hmm.” She takes my temperature again.

“Is he alright?” A worried looking Saffie appears behind her with a coffee in her hands.

The nurse turns to her brightly. “Looks like he is.” Then adds, a little sternly, “Don’t you go upsetting him, like your friend.”

Christ, now she’s going to ask me what Dart was talking about.

Saffie puts the coffee next to me, then takes the seat she was using before. Her mouth twists. “I didn’t think Dart was going to tell you.”

Tell me what? Does she know Duke’s in the wind and even now she’s not safe? Eyeing her carefully, of course she doesn’t. Dart didn’t get a chance, and I’ve only just remembered. I’m certainly not going to tell her. She looks more relaxed than I’ve ever seen her, and I’d hate to take that from her.

Not wanting to smash her newfound security, I prompt her to discover what she’s talking about. “What’s your take on what Dart told me?”

Her face falls, “Oh God, I hope it will be okay, Niran. Grumbler was falling apart when he left… Which I can understand after what I’ve been through.”

Grumbler. What she’s been through? My brain must have cleared as immediately neurons start firing, adding things together. Fucking hell no. Not his baby.

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