Page 39 of Bully's Darkness
The sun’s out, but it doesn’t touch the chill riding up my spine. Liv bolted out the clubhouse like her skin didn’t fit right, and I gave her space because Bria asked me to. I left her to breathe, but five minutes turned to ten, and my gut began twisting like something was wrong.
I find her behind the building, tucked under the shade of a tree like she’s trying to disappear. Her shoulders are hunched, phone in hand, and I’m close enough to see her thumbs fly across the screen. I breathe a sigh of relief and take a step closer. She doesn’t hear me, and I move until I’m behind the tree.
The name at the top of her screen catches my eye.Darren.I freeze, my blood roaring.
Her head dips, reading. She doesn’t even sense me behind her. That’s how deep in it she is. My jaw tightens as she types again, and another message flashes up before she can close the screen.
I hope you remember I tried to warn you.
That’s all I need to see. I reach forward andsnatchthe phone out her hands. She gasps and spins, wide-eyed.
“Bully—”
I don’t hear her. All I see is red. My hands are shaking, but I keep my voice low, deadly calm.
“How long has he been messaging you?”
She stares at me, frozen. Then, she softly says, “He was just checking in.”
“Checking in?” I repeat, as my own heartbeat pounds in my ears. I tilt the phone towards her. “This doesn’t look like checking in. This looks like a fuckin’ connection.”
“I was trying to find out what his problem is.”
I scan the messages, each one lighting another piece of rage inside me. “Jesus, Liv. You’re literally conversing with the fucking enemy,” I yell, unable to hide my anger.
“I was about to come and show you,” she mutters, barely a whisper.
“When?” I hiss, stepping forward so she’s forced to move back until her spine hits the tree. “After he laid out his next hit? After he twisted your head so far round, you didn’t know who the fuck you’re loyal to anymore?”
Her eyes flash with hurt. “I’m loyal to you.”
I exhale hard through my nose. My hands are still shaking. Rage and fear are bleeding together, making it hard to think straight.
I lower the phone, stepping in closer until my mouth is to her ear. “In case I haven’t been clear, you’re not to talk to him again. Delete his fucking number. Block him. Because next time, Liv . . . next time I find out you’re in contact with the man who wants me dead . . .” I let the sentence hang heavy with everything I’m not saying.
She swallows hard. Her chin lifts like I’ve slapped her. I realise I’m standing over her like a storm, casing her in and keeping herclose enough to feel the anger vibrating from me. She’s looking at me like I’m a stranger, like she doesn’t know who the fuck I am.
Her phone’s still hot in my hand. I want to crush it, throw it, grind it into the gravel until the screen doesn’t screamDarrenat me anymore.
Instead, I breathe hard through my nose and wait for her to speak.
“I didn’t reply to hurt you,” she says, her voice tight. “I just . . . I needed answers. After what Poison said—”
I grit my teeth so hard, my jaw pops. “Poison doesn’t know shit. Don’t go listening to clubhouse drama like it’s gospel.”
Liv’s shoulders stiffen. “She said I started a war.” Her eyes meet mine, and this time, they don’t flinch. “That the fire last night at the Scorpions’ strip club was because of me.” I hold her stare, not able to lie but bound by club rules to keep our shit quiet. “Jesus, Bully,” she cries, shoving me back a step and putting space between us.
“It was a message,” I say, my voice steady and measured.
“A message?” Her mouth falls open. “You torched a building because of me. Someone could’ve gotten hurt.”
“I did it because of them. Because they walked into that bar, knowing you were there, and shot it up. That wasn’t random, Liv. That was bait.”
“That you could have ignored. Where will it end?”
“With bloodshed, maybe death,” I mutter.
“So, stop it now before it goes that far.”
