Page 530 of Hell Hath No Fury
With that, we made our way out of the clubhouse and into the summer evening heat. I hadn’t realized how much the metallic scent of blood had been flooding my nose until I could breathe some fresh air in.
“We will drive around a little before heading back to the club—what?” he asked as I started vigorously shaking my head.
“No. We aren’t going back to the club.”
“We can hit your apartment after if you want. To sleep. But we gotta tell the guys what went down.”
“The guys don’t give a single fuck what went down tonight,” I said, voice hitching up, making him turn to look at me, brow raised.
“What’s going on?”
“I begged them to save you, Bear. Begged, demanded, insulted them about being pussies for not coming to get you. They didn’t give a shit. Not one of them.”
“Babe, it’s—“
“It’s not, though. It’s not complicated. They’re fucking selfish assholes who don’t deserve your loyalty. And even if you want to go back, I can’t.”
“Why? What happened?” he asked, his entire massive frame tensing.
“They kicked me out. And let’s just say that some guys had things to say about what they’d like to do to me since I wasn’t yours anymore.”
“Fucking bastards,” Bear hissed, jaw getting tight. “I don’t… they are all I know, Clyde.”
“Well, now you know me, too,” I said, placing a hand on his chest. “Let’s go back to my place, pack up some essentials, and get the hell out of here.”
“And go where?” he asked, shaking his head like none of this was making any sense.
I couldn’t even blame him. Ever since he was a little boy, all he knew was his club, his brothers, the life.
There was nothing else out there for him.
So he was having a hard time seeing a future without all of that.
And even if they were, in the end, disloyal assholes, they were all he had by way of family. Leaving family behind, however toxic they may have been, was not an easy thing to do.
Hell, it took me a decade or so longer than it should have to cut my own toxic ties.
I had to give him a little grace.
A lot was coming at him hard and fast.
For a man who was accustomed to a very predictable life, asking him to leave that behind for complete uncertainty, it was a lot.
“Babe,” I said, moving forward, flattening my hands to his chest, leaning into him a little. “Anywhere. I would go anywhere with you.”
Bear took a deep breath, leaning down to press his forehead to the top of my head.
“It might be a road to hell, but I’d blindly follow you into the flames,” I added, giving him a tight squeeze.
His arms went around me, giving me a squeeze, his intense gaze looking down at me.
And then he said it.
The words that would change our whole lives.
“Let’s do it,” he agreed.
