Page 174 of Fury

“From where I’m standing today? Right now? You bet I do.”

Loss, disappointment, disillusionment, regret. Fuck that.

“You called me to come here, knowing she was here?”

She shot to her feet. “I had to call you. My brother’s life was on the line.”

“You did good, babe.”

Still fiddling with her bra, she let out a sigh, her shoulders dropping. “Everything’s different now, Finger. Tell me it isn’t.”

Yeah, everything for her was different now—a divorce, a crush on Butler—but were things different for me? I’d made plenty of good and bad choices over the years and, for the most part, remained unrepentant. Those few regrets my stubbornness had kicked over my shoulder created a messy pile at my back that I’d only ignored. Could I change anything about that now?

Did I want to?

We stared at each other in silence, reality sinking in, cooling the temperature of our blood, easing the pace of our pulses. I’d gotten Tania into bed again, but we both knew it wasn’t about her and me, not really, never had been, and that wasn’t enough for her anymore.

Maybe it shouldn’t be for me either.

I pulled the tie out of my hair, ripped off my bandana.

Tania wasn’t someone who cowered or lit up in the shadow cast by my name, my title, my reputation, my scars. She was right, and I knew it the minute she’d hesitated.

I cupped her chin, brushing her lips with mine and planted a kiss on her forehead. I left her on the bed and headed into the small adjoining bathroom, stripped off and got into the shower. A cold shower.

Catch and Tania had shown me their true colors tonight. Catch flying off the handle, going full throttle on pure emotion, pure feeling. And Tania putting it all on the line and asking me to help her, knowing what that meant. Brother and sister did not hold back in the face of what they felt was right or just, and did it with an overwhelming passion.

The cool water streamed over my head, down my hair, my skin. I pushed my hands against the tile wall and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and turned the water to full on hot. My skin reddened under the assault of the steaming, needling spray. I knew what I had to do. What I’d been wanting to do for years, but holding back. There was no reason to any longer. Here I was in the same general latitude and longitude as her.

Tomorrow morning, first thing, I would stop holding back.

Category 5.

49

Iswiped atthe tickle grazingmy nose. My mouth.

“Tricky, stop...”

Hold on.

My eyes snapped open, and I jerked up, clutching the sheet tightly around my naked body. It was too late to reach for my gun in the top drawer.

Two dark eyes bored into mine, a bandana wrapped around his head, his dark hair down past his jaw, peppered with hints of gray. His large body hovering over me filled my vision.

Finger said, “Good morning.”

So casual, so warm, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be in my bedroom after all these years. It wasn’t natural. The world had turned upside down.

Madness.

My eyes darted to my alarm clock. Tricky had left maybe twenty minutes ago. He’d come over late after the brouhaha at the club with Catch and Nina, after he’d gotten his licks in.

Seeing that Flames patch last night on Catch’s jacket had made my stomach flip over and knot, my head swim. I’d frozen up at the sight, then I’d gotten out of there as quickly as I could, taking Jill with me. I’d dropped her off, got myself home, and waited for Tricky in my bed.

When he’d finally shown up, he started telling me about beating up Catch, about Nina and Butler, but I didn’t let him talk. He always wanted to talk, but I certainly didn’t want to hear about what had happened to Catch and bike club rivalries. I’d climbed onto his naked body and then he finally shut up. I was good at focusing. I was disciplined. Years of physical pain and deprivation had made a great teacher.

I blinked hard, but Finger was no mirage. “What are you doing here?”

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