Page 16 of No Mistakes
And I will burn every fucking thing in Chicago to the ground before I let anyone, even her, tell me it’s too late.
We arrive back at the house in record time with Ant behind the wheel. At one point, I swear the car swayed hard enough to make it lurch, and I had to brace myself against the door to try and stop myself from landing in his lap. He didn’t even blink at my reaction when it happened, just kept his eyes on the road.
I unclip my seatbelt as he turns the engine off. “Have you ever considered slowing down before you kill us both?” I mutter,side-eying him. Ant’s only response was a smirk, and I know the bastard is enjoying himself.
The atmosphere around the house sends a chill down my body. It was too quiet.
I look towards the door where I watched Eva disappear, and the air feels thinner as I replay the scene over and over inside of my mind.
I walk along the gravel driveway, welcoming the sound of it crunching beneath my feet.
I push through the front door, and I’m met with the weight of silence, but not the peaceful kind. The kind that sat on your shoulders, waiting for you to break.
“He’s back,” someone calls from the living room. I recognise Flynn’s voice as the sound of people moving floats through to the hallway.
I walk into the living room to see the rest of them already gathered. Gunnar was sitting on the edge of the coffee table, elbows on his knees, his expression set like stone. Carter’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed, his stare razor-sharp, and Flynn… He’s pacing like a caged animal, like he’d been doing since I left.
No one says a word when I step in, and Ant steps through the door following me.
“You look like shit,” Gunnar says finally.
“I feel worse,” I respond, dragging a hand through my hair. It still smelled like her from when I was staying in the house without her, hiding my secret. The smell of Lavender and something warmer underneath, something I can’t name, but whatever it is, it makes my chest hurt.
Every day, I would use her products to feel a little closer to her.
“So, she’s gone?” Carter asks, his voice low.
I look towards him, nodding. Ant informed me on the way back to the house that Mandy made the decision to take Eva back to Boston, where she can find herself properly, and that if I really wanted the chance of forgiveness, I needed to be as far away as possible.
“Good,” Flynn snaps. “Now maybe we can finally get our heads outta our asses and deal with the real problem”
I turn slowly to face him. “You wanna say that again?”
He doesn’t flinch, “You heard me. We’ve been spiralling since this all started. Traitors in the ranks. Cops on our payroll are flipping. We’re hanging on by a thread, and you’re too busy chasing after someone who-”
“If you value your life, you won’t finish that sentence,” I warn, my tone serious.
Tension snaps through the room like a live wire. Ant steps between us without saying a word, his silence louder than any shout. One look from him is enough to make Flynn shut his mouth.
I exhale through my nose and drop into the arm of the couch.
“Eva needed answers,” I tell him. “I tried to give them. Whether she wants to know more is up to her.”
Gunnar stands, “We’re all hurting, Axel. But we don’t get to fall apart. Not now.”
I can’t help but look at Gunnar. Every time I see him, I think of the little boy he used to be. Chasing us around with sticks, pretending they were swords. Eating everything in the house to the point our mother couldn’t keep the fridge stocked enough. But now, when I look at him, I see the man he’s become. I never wanted him to be introduced to this world, but maybe it was naive of me to think that. It’s in our blood. We’re all destined to this life one way or another, and now it’s his too.
He doesn’t look like a kid anymore. Not even close.
He’s tall now, broad in the shoulders, built like someone who could carry the weight of this whole damn family if he had to. His jaw is sharp, set like stone, and there’s a new edge in his eyes. Cold. Calculated. Not the wild-eyed boy who used to laugh without a care. His hair’s darker now, longer too, pushed back like he hasn’t bothered to tame it. But it’s his stare that gets me every time—steel blue and unreadable. The kind of look that makes people step out of your way without asking questions.
There’s power in him now, quiet and simmering just beneath the surface. And if I’m being honest, it scares me a little. Not because I don’t trust him, but because I know what this life can do to good men. I want to believe he’s strong enough to survive it, to rise in it, but a part of me still wants to shield him. Like I used to when he scraped his knees or got in over his head. But I can’t protect him from this. Not anymore.
Whether I like it or not, the darkness has him now. And all I can do is stand beside him, hope he remembers who he is beneath all of it, and make damn sure no one drags him under.
I look around at the only people I have left. My brothers. The ones who followed me through every reckless decision I’d made. The ones who would die with me, even if they didn’t always agree with me.
“We need to find out exactly what is happening in Chicago,” I tell them. “I know we received intel from the remaining members of Marco’s crew, but we need it verified. Double checked. Triple Checked. Are they still in the holding space?” I ask, directing my question mostly to Flynn.
