Page 26 of Conan

“Luna, I’m about to tell you something I’ve never told anybody else. I don’t want it getting out there, I don’t even want Xavier or Kodiak to know.”

“I don’t keep secrets from Marcum, but for you, I’ll always make an exception.” As I go to thank her, she holds up her finger to stop me and continues speaking, “Unless, it will hurt you, me, one of them, or the club, then, I can’t keep that promise.”

“I can accept that,” I whisper, seeing as I’m in the same shoes as she is when it comes to our men, it’s an understandable statement.

“Do you still want to tell me what it is you were about to confess?”

“Yeah, Luna, I do.” I sigh, swallowing the lump that’s formed in my throat, and flop back in my chair. “It did something to my nervous system. I had some sort of adverse reaction to whatever they slipped into my drink.”

“Tell me,” she whispers, reaching out and placing her hand on top of mine in support.

“The power and force in my body isn’t what it used to be. My right side goes numb at times, and I’m not sure if it’s medical or psychological because when I came to, that’s the side I was laying on. But since that’s my dominant fighting arm, and my force is dull on that side, I had to retire. I couldn't take the chance of getting hurt and possibly becoming paralyzed.”

“Oh, Demi,” she cries. “I hate that you had to make that choice. Fighting was a passion of yours.”

“It still is. Only I can’t be an active participant in the arena anymore thanks to those jackasses,” I hiss. “They didn’t just damage my soul, Luna, they obliterated it… shredded it into tiny, iridescent particles.”

“I hate them!” she shrieks, banging her free hand on the table causing the plates on it to rattle. “I hope when the guys make them pay for their sins against you, they feel the same things you did that night.”

“They’ll never truly feel that unless one of the guys shoves a wooden stake up their asses,” I tell her.

“There’s an idea. I should share that with Marcum,” she mumbles.

I begin giggling when that imagery is depicted in my mind. “I can see it now, they’d not only be humiliated, but they’d have their pride ripped away from them.”

“You know, show and tell used to be my favorite part of school, but with this, I could do without,” Luna says, her nose and forehead wrinkled.

“I don’t mind wishing bad things on them, and even not being as squeamish as you are, I still wouldn’t want to watch it happen in real time,” I acknowledge.

“We’ll leave the guys responsible for plotting the revenge,” Luna says, nodding.

“We’ll just reap the rewards,” I reply, lifting up my glass for her to clink hers against.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Luna giggles. “I love earning rewards from Marcum.”

“Do tell,” I say, wiggling my eyebrows.

From there, our topics get lighter. I’ve randomly given Luna small details about what I can remember when it comes to that night, but she never asks for me to confess them in one go. She gives me a cooling off period, and that’s why she’s not only my best friend, but my sister.

She’s the first person to enter my life after being abandoned that made me feel safe, she still does, which is why I’ll never trustanyone more than her. Xavier is becoming a close second, I’m just not there—yet. However, I don’t see it being much longer before he slides his way in.

Luna and I are floating in the pool, admiring the stars when Regulator and Roscoe come into the backyard, a plastic bag in tow. We’ve steered clear of the clubhouse, not wanting to deal with the parties and women, they’re still a sore spot for the both of us after none of them had the cajónes to stand up to the ones who tried to poison Luna and murder the baby.

They didn’t even go to one of the guys with the plans the sluts were cooking up.

Whatever happened to women having a moral compass? I’d never allow what they were planning to happen to my worst enemy. It was preposterous and could’ve had a deadly outcome. But they’re so damn full of patch envy that they wanted Luna and her unborn child out of the picture.

“Kodiak and Conan sent dinner for you two,” Regulator announces, holding the bag up to shoulder height. “Do you want to eat in the pool, or on the patio?”

“I don’t want food crumbs in the pool, we’ll get out,” Luna insists as she shimmies off her float and starts treading toward the ladder.

“Y’all planning on staying in the water for the rest of the night?” Roscoe asks.

“You never know with us,” I tease. “Why? Is there a reason you need to know?”

“Not particularly,” he replies. “But if you’re going back in, I want to be on standby in case y’all fall asleep in there.”

“I think we’ll call it a night after we eat,” Luna announces. “Watch a movie, text my man, and snuggle on the couch with a warm, fuzzy blanket wrapped around me.”

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