Page 132 of The Trust We Broke
“Luce,” I cry, dropping to my knees, checking her face to see if she’s alert, before pulling her head to my chest. “Come on, Bug. Are you okay?” I lift her arms, move her around. That first bullet went somewhere.
Did it hit her? Is she punctured somewhere I can’t see?
“Luce. Daddy’s here. Please. Talk to me.” The last three words come out on a raw cry.
Then, Lucy bursts into sobs as fat tears fall down her face. “I knew you’d come.”
Those four words resuscitate my heart. “Always,” I say, gripping the back of her neck and pressing my lips to hers. “Are you okay?”
She looks over at Adam, dead on the floor, then gasps as she looks away.
“What did they do to you?” I ask, as more footsteps thunder up the staircase.
“They wanted me to go with them,” she blurts between sobs. “But Catfish gave me a knife before I left, and I said I wouldn’t go with them willingly.” She sucks in some air. “It bought me some time. We fought, and then, his gun was between us, and I managed to push myself away from him at the last moment but…oh, God. It hit him. Who is he?”
A knife. From my brother. That was the difference between life and death. Not sure how I’ll ever thank him.
“You protected yourself. The make-my-day statute gives you the right. And he’s Wes Granger, former president of the Rebels.”
“Adam.” Granger’s voice is laced with terror. “Fuck…you killed him…assholes.”
I turn for a second and look at Granger. Wraith is standing with his foot over the man’s bullet wound. Wraith has kicked the gun out of Granger’s hand and is holding his own weapon, pointed at him.
But still, Granger tries to fight and look over to the man we now know is his son.
“Lucy.” The scream echoes down the hall, and then, Lucy’s mom appears in the room.
“She’s fine,” I say, as her mom drops to her knees beside us.
“Everyone okay?” Atom asks, following her inside.
“Apart from the fact I nearly went through Grudge’s windshield?” Wraith asks.
Shade nudges Wraith from his spot and puts his own foot on Granger’s chest. “Go sit down,” he says.
I turn back to Lucy. “Tell me what happened, Bug.”
“They were looking for the files. And then, they said something about hurting me because you hurt that man’s brother.”
I stand, then help Lucy to her feet before pulling her tight against me.
“Your brother?” I ask Granger.
He tries to shove Shade’s foot off his chest, but Shade just stamps down harder, causing the man to wince. “My brother was…the attack on…Butcher. Prison.”
“Then, that means your brother was tasked with killing our president and, therefore, deserved whatever happened to him.”
Granger’s cheeks are red, but I can see the threat of tears as he looks over at his son. “This is Rebel territory.”
I shake my head. “It’s Outlaw territory. So, is this what it’s been about…all these years?”
Granger looks at me. “You hurt my family. I’ll hurt yours. It’s always been the way of things. And this is my fucking club. No matter what the charter says. No matter what Hooper says, useless fucking president that he is.”
Wraith blanches. “You had my wife and child killed.”
Granger nods, but it’s the action of a man who is making his peace with his fate. “An eye…for an eye.”
“A grown assmangetsinjured,” Wraith says, his voice cold. “And in revenge, youkilleda defenseless woman andbaby. You gave the instruction to kill my daughter.”
