Page 72 of Diesel
My sweet girl. Always looking for understanding in places where there isn’t any. Considering the things we’ve seen over the years, it always surprises me that she still tries to see the good. “I don’t know why they did it, but Crank allowed it, and he’ll fucking pay for that,” I assure her.
Her brows draw together, and the look in her eyes makes me want to burn things. “I hope she can rebuild her life. It sounds like she has been through a lot.”
That’s putting it lightly. I kiss her nose. “She’ll be taken care of.”
We leave the room and head into the main bar area. It’s already busy. Brothers are hanging around the tables, and the girls are sitting with Riot and Mace.
Ravage, Nox and Nic are in the corner, huddled together with serious faces and hushed whispers.
Nic stands, then addresses the room. “We’ve got a lead on Crank and the others. We’re heading out.”
My stomach clenches, not in fear of fighting, but because Makenna stiffens at my side. I hate knowing she’s here, worrying about me.
Her smile is thin, wobbly too. She squeezes my hand, and I go to kiss her, but she stops me with a hand on my chest. “Save that kiss for when you come back to me.”
I get it. It feels like a goodbye. Too final. Too real. But fuck, I hate walking away without tasting her.
“Stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”
Her laugh is sharp. “I’m not the one who goes looking for it.”
I step back, her hand still in mine until I have to let go. I turn and walk away, even though it fucking kills me to do it.
Riot and Mace walk beside me, and I ignore the glares coming from Riot. I’m done defending myself.
“Where’re we going?” Blade jogs up behind us as we step out into the car park. He’s breathless, flushed in the cheeks, his eyes a little wild.
“Got a lead on Crank,” Mace says.
“Good,” he says, a little too enthusiastically. “I could do with letting off a little steam.”
We stop in front of the van, and Mace opens the back doors. I tune out the conversation flying around me, and glance back at the clubhouse just once.
She’s inside, she’s safe.
And I’m fucking coming to her, even if I have to drag myself out of hell itself to do it.
TWENTY-THREE
MAKENNA
There’sa heavy weight in my stomach as the men head out. They leave a few brothers behind—protection, I guess—which makes everything feel worse. They’re prepared for trouble. Expecting it.
The room goes still, thick with all the things we didn’t say before he walked out. It settles like smoke, clinging to my throat, and making it harder to breathe.
Part of me wants to chase after him, wrap my arms around him, and force him to stay here. Part of me whispers you may never see him again, and I shut that part of my brain off.
I stare at the door he disappeared through moments ago, and I can’t make myself move. What if he doesn’t come back? What happens then?
My breath rips out of me like my lungs are being torn apart. I curl into myself without meaning to, wrapping my arms around my belly like that can keep my fractured parts from coming apart. It doesn’t help. Fear still chews through the last thread holding my sanity together.
“This part really sucks,” Maylie mumbles from behind me.
She’s not wrong. It feels like there’s a hollow pit inside me that I can’t fill.
It takes all of my strength to pull my gaze from the door, to turn away from it, and sit at the table with her. Her son is in her arms, oblivious to the danger his father has just walked into. He wriggles in his sleep, little fists twitching like he’s dreaming of something warm and soft. I’d give anything to be that unaware, just for a second.
“He’s cute,” I say, because I can’t think about how much this part does suck without wanting to go after Zane. Focus on the baby, not the man I love who may not come back.
