Page 31 of Banshee
When men feared for their lives, they made mistakes. I couldn’t help but wonder what reason Pepper had given to movethe club to Wyoming. What lies had he told about me that would make it worth Skinner’s time to hunt me down?
I was supposed to be a nobody. Here, I was Aspen Winters. Not Irene Cooper. Irene Cooper died on her kitchen floor two years ago. She was beaten and strangled, and she was dead.
Irene Cooper was weak.
Aspen Winters was strong. She was confident and powerful. Because she had no ties to the underworld.
Until she did.
I’d come to realize, sitting in church, that I would never escape my destiny. Never escape my family legacy and the underworld they were a part of.
“Baby girl, let’s go.”
I looked up, and Banshee held out his hand. In the other was my suitcase. He’d packed my things while I sat here, closed off to the world around me. I hadn’t even noticed him moving about the room.
I ignored his hand and stood. When I reached for my bag, he growled, and my eyes rolled involuntarily. I was so tired of the macho alpha crap. But I was also too exhausted to fight him right now, so I walked out of the room I would never see again.
“Aspen?” Haizley met us downstairs. “I’ll be out at the ranch in a few days for your session.”
I nodded, unable to voice the words that swirled in my belly. I wouldn’t be there tomorrow. By morning I would be gone. I couldn’t let him find me. I wouldn’t put these people at risk. Half of the old ladies were due to have babies. They didn’t deserve to be hurt.
Silently, I followed Banshee to the SUV. He held the door open while I climbed in and then opened the back door for Diesel. He slid in behind the wheel, and as we rolled through the gate, he reached over and grabbed my hand.
“It will be okay, baby girl. I’ll keep you safe.”
I stared out the window as the vehicle crawled down the street to the other side of town, where the Powell Ranch sat. Winchester met us at the gate, and we followed him to an area that held small cabins.
It was beautiful out here. Quiet and peaceful. The cabins were set far enough from the house and the road that no one would know we were back here. Except Pepper would find me. The area was too open, too exposed.
There was nowhere to hide.
It had become the story of my life. A life that once held promise. Once fueled a dream to grow and learn and live by my own rules. Rules that hadn’t been set in stone long before I was born.
This wasn’t the life I wanted.
This wasn’t the life I’d dreamed of.
This wasn’t the life I was promised.
Growing up in the club was wonderful until it wasn’t. I was spoiled not only by my parents and my brother, but by my uncle Issac. And Jupiter, and Oceanus, my father’s friends and their old ladies. I was the only daughter of the president after my sister disappeared. So, I was doted on—protected.
Until they could no longer protect me, and now, I protected them by staying hidden. Staying away, not only from them, and from my husband, but from the underworld.
I shouldn’t be here. I should never have stayed in Diamond Creek. If I’d been smart, I would have told Kytten in the beginning. I would have been truthful one of the many times she called to check on me.
But I stayed silent, as I was now.
Banshee led me inside, and I looked around the room. It was small and open. The kitchen was to the right, with a small table with four chairs. A small countertop spread out from the sink, with a stove and refrigerator.
To the left was a sofa and one chair. Books lined a small bookcase in the corner. There was no television to pass the time. No radio to listen to music. The cabin was small and rustic. Banshee, Diesel, and I would trip over each other in the small space.
“It’s not much, but it has two bedrooms and a bathroom through that doorway,” Winchester explained. “The kitchen is stocked. When you run out of food, get me a list, and I’ll send someone out to restock it.”
“Thanks, brother.”
Winchester slapped Banshee on the back and left the cabin. The sound of the door clicking closed was louder than I expected. It felt similar to what I imagined it would feel like to be sealed into a coffin. Confined by the choices made by myself and others. Choices that, for the most part, had been out of my control.
I sat on the sofa while Banshee put our bags in the bedrooms. Diesel lay on the floor beside me. It would be a long day waiting for Banshee to fall asleep so I could run. I had no other choice. I had to run.
