Page 89 of Matrix

“I plan on scarfing down this entire pile myself. But if my woman wants a few bites, I’ll let her have some,” Scar says, teasing his wife.

“If you want me tolet youhave anything later, then you’d better hand that plate over, buddy.” Julia playfully slaps his arm.

While this is happening, Angela’s watching everyone. She visibly relaxes for the first time since arriving. I think she’s finally starting to realize we’re a family. Not the big, scary bikers we appear to be. Not when we’re with our friends. She’s safe here. I hope she understands that because it’ll make things easier for her going forward.

After a noble attempt at polishing off all the food, Nina and Holly pack up what’s left. Scar and Julia take Eli, Trent, and Robert outside to play. The smiles on their faces warm my heart. Ever since they got together, Scar’s hard edges have softened. Not completely. He’s still a tough motherfucker, especially when it comes to club business. But when it comes to his family, he’s completely whipped, in a good way.

As they walk away, I can’t help but feel a sense of relief wash over me. We’ve been carrying the burden of what happened at Blackstone’s for years. I know I shouldn’t get too excited because there aren’t any guarantees yet, but I already feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Justice might finally be served. I cling to that hope because it’s all that I have. That and Daisy. I don’t know how she’ll react to her sister’s change of heart, but I’m about to find out.

“Um, I want to testify,” Angela blurts.

“What?” Daisy nearly drops the glass she’s carrying to the sink.

“I know what Blackstone did to Matrix and Talon,” Angela whispers.

“You do?” Daisy’s gaze snaps to meet mine, and fury fills her eyes. I want to explain what happened, but Angela cuts in before I can get a word out.

“Blackstone is a bad man who hurts kids. I want you to arrest him and take him to jail.”

“I want that too,” Daisy says cautiously.“But it’s not as easy as just walking up to him and slapping handcuffs on him. It might be more complicated than that.”

“What do I have to do so he goes to prison?” Angela asks.

“I’ll have to call my boss and let him know you’re ready to talk. He doesn’t even know we rescued you yet.”

“Okay. Call him.”

“I will. In just a second. Matrix, can I speak with you for a minute?” Daisy grabs my arm and drags me toward the hall.“Angie, stay with Nina.”

“I’ve got her,” Nina says.“You’re a brave girl. You’re going to kick Blackstone’s ass.”

“Good,” Angie says.

Daisy pulls me into our bedroom and closes the door. When she turns to face me, her bottom lip is trembling.

“Babe, what’s wrong?” I ask, grasping her forearms.

“What did you say to her?”

“Nothing. She overheard me talking to Talon outside. That’s how she found out about my connection to Blackstone. I didn’t try to talk to her about it at all. We never mentioned any specifics about what he did to us. She doesn’t know any details.”

“Really?” Daisy skewers me with a look.“You’d better not be lying.”

“Have I ever lied to you?” I release her and take a step back. I’m wounded. The only person who wasn’t telling the truth in our relationship was her. She was the one undercover, lying to my face every day for months. However, I’m not going to point that out and start a fight. In fact, it’s almost as if she’s trying to pick one with me. What’s going on with her?

“No.” She sniffs but won’t meet my gaze.

“I’ve never kept anything important from you, and I never will. I love you, Daisy. I don’t know why you’re pissed off, but I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Why did she change her mind so fast? What exactly did you and Talon say?”

After relaying our conversation with Angela as close to verbatim as I can manage, I wait for Daisy’s response. She’s silent for several minutes.

“Look, I don’t have any reason to lie about this. I’m not going to force a kid to testify, especially when I couldn’t do it myself. She came to us, not the other way around.” I run my fingers through my hair, exasperated.

“I’ll call Agent Vale. I don’t even know if I work for the FBI anymore, but it doesn’t matter. They have to listen to her story. It’s the least they can do after totally failing her. I can’t fuck this up, Matrix. Everything that happened in the last week … it’s just too much. Being around you is too dangerous.”

“Around me? What are you talking about? I kept you safe.”

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