Page 123 of Cold Hard Truth

“Earn it?” Kane laughs, and I sense his ego burning to the surface. “I’ve put my blood, sweat, and life into this club, you spoiled fucking asshole. I built this club from the ground up. And when my president died, I sure as fuck earned my place after all I’d done.”

“And what about what I’ve done? I gave up my fucking wife, my kids—” I don’t know much about Helix, but I do know his wife walked out with their kids when they were pretty young. “I was owed that patch. And instead, I’ve had to sit back and watch you shit all over it. You don’t even care about this place. You shouldn’t be allowed to hold your title. But we’re all taking orders from a kid now just because he’s Percy’s son. It’s bullshit.”

“That’s how this works.” Steel is barely holding back. “You don’t like it; you slice off your patch and walk away.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Helix yells, his arms shaking as he aims at Lyla. “I’m going to teach you all what it’s like to lose your family just like I did. Then you’re going to learn what it means to lose your club. And then you can watch from where you burn in Hell while I make it mine.”

Helix clenches the gun, and I shift to try to block Lyla.

“Don’t,” Helix threatens.

Lyla reaches up slowly, taking my arm and holding it tight. Her little nails dig into my leather jacket, but she’s not pulling me to her, she’s holding me away. “Listen to him, Sage.”

“Fuck that.” I shake my head.

“It’s okay.” Her voice is calm—too calm. “It was meant to go like this.”

“Don’t you dare talk destiny to me right now, Lyla. Don’t you fucking dare.”

“You aren’t dying for me.”

I break my stare at Helix to look into her purple eyes. “Fuck if I’m not.”

“How sweet.” Helix laughs. “The motorcycle princess fell in love with the dropout.”

“Don’t talk about my daughter.” Kane twitches but pulls back when Helix tightens his grip on his gun.

The tension is on the verge of snapping.

Around us, bikers are fighting, bleeding, dying. Screams and shouts ring out with the buzzing in my ears from the explosion. We walked straight into it. We brought everyone here just like he probably wanted.

I brought Lyla here.

“You’re not walking away from this.” Steel looks around, and Helix glances left and right, seeing the people slowly closing in on him.

What guys are still standing have started to take notice of the situation, and they’re only holding back because Steel hasn’t made a call for them to move yet.

“Maybe so.” Helix shrugs. “Doesn’t really matter so long as he doesn’t either.”

Helix pulls the trigger and time stops with the bang. With the bullet flying through the air.

The first shot goes off, and I shove Lyla out of the way as hard as I can while Kane steps in front of her. I move for Helix at the same time as Kane does, and Helix refocuses his aim on Kane. He hits him once, twice, three times in the center of his chest. And even if he’s still moving forward, his posture tilts.

Reaching behind my back, I pull my dad’s gun out and aim it at the center of Helix’s face.

One shot.

One final sound rings out and his brain matter splatters the wall behind him.

His body falls knees first to the ground, and I shoot him again in the chest because he deserves to be reduced to nothing. I empty my whole fucking clip into him. For my dad, for Ellie, for Lyla. I teach him what it means to be weak. To be helpless.

To be nothing.

I make a mess of his body. Art with his blood. I let my rage write a love letter for my girl so she knows no one is going to hurt her again.

This was all ego. For years, Helix brewed in his own pathetic need to be more. He thought he was owed something, and he decided to take it by force.

We aren’t owed anything. Not life, not love. The only thing that is certain is death, and I grant him that. I make a mess of his flesh, pulling the trigger until there’s nothing else coming out.

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