Page 103 of Consequences

Shannon curls up next to Beckett as Brock climbs into the passenger seat. “Can we go away now? Far, far away from here?”

“We’re going to the clubhouse, sweetheart,” Colt says. “And you need to fucking stay put this time because your man looks like he’s due for a week-long nap.”

“Pretty sure that’s called a coma,” Brock says and turns around to look at him. “Do you need a coma?”

“Fuck off,” he says and holds Shannon tightly in his arms. “Thanks, Colt. Not knowing if she was okay was worse than any beating they delivered.”

The President just nods to him in the rearview mirror and drives. He’ll gladly accept whatever punishment the club dishes out.

Shannon’s lips find Becket’s ear as she whispers, “Please don’t leave me again.”

“Never again,” he says back. “Never.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Griffin’s Beach

Marnie

Standing behind the bar of the restaurant, Marnie stares into space. She doesn’t know why she’s still in town. After the fall out with Venom, she should have packed her bags and booked a flight anywhere far, far away from here.

Summerville is out of the question. It just serves as a reminder of how horrible of a person she was. And Griffin’s Beach has the man she loves but doesn’t love her anymore. Maybe never did.

Venom was different from every other guy, and she knows she’ll never love anyone like she does him. Hell, it probably will never go away, and now she understands what people talk about when they wish they could stop loving someone.

“Lex?” Marnie asks as the blonde walks up to the bar.

Holding up a finger, she sees the phone against the curly blonde’s ear. “Lucas, it’s me. Have you heard from Hailey recently? I can’t get in touch with her, and I need to know how much she needs for the next semester.”

Studying her, Marnie’s nerves kick up. Lex has never once sought her out before. They’ve never spoken outside of a clubhouse, and there are only two reasons she can think of for this visit.

One: Venom’s hurt. Or worse—dead. Even as upset and hurt as she is, this would completely devastate her. She’d never get over it.

Two: Lex is here to give Marnie the final warning to leave town. Some timeframe will be imposed, and if she doesn’t hit that, she’ll face the wrath of the Queen Bee.

“Sorry,” Lex says and hangs up. “Lucas hasn’t heard from his sister, either, and I’m starting to get worried. I know she and Gavin officially broke up a bit ago, and she’s been MIA ever since. She normally doesn’t come home for breaks, but I thought she’d at least talk to her brother.”

“Can you go and check on her?”

She laughs. “She wouldlovethat. Anyway, I’m here to see why you’re still in Griffin’s Beach.”

And there it is. The threat to beat my ass should be coming any moment now.

“I don’t know,” Marnie answers with full honesty. She has no clue why she didn’t book it to a resort to drink her blues away on a beach somewhere.

“Do you have plans to leave?”

Sure, she could lie, but what could would it do? Lex will likely see right through her, and so she shakes her head. “I have nothing planned. I’m waiting for the pain to subside a bit because I know I’m not thinking clearly. It’s a day-by-day situation right now, and not that you probably care, butgetting out of bed and coming to work today is a pretty big accomplishment right now.”

She fights back the tears as another wave of pain washes over her as it randomly does, and Lex shocks the hell out of her when she says, “Don’t go anywhere.”

So not the reaction I expected.“Why not?”

Sitting down, Lex leans forward onto her elbows. “Venom and Cinder broke up.”

“They did?”

“Yeah, she found your care package, and she lost her shit. Which… A fleshlight? Really? You never told me exactly what was in that thing.”

---