Page 125 of Rigger's Mistake

Air whooshes from my lungs, and I’m forced to bend over, resting my hands on my knees. It’s over. It’s fucking over.

“You did good, brother.” Lucky holds out a hand to help me stand upright and yanks me in for a backslapping hug. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Of all my brothers, Lucky has seen me through it all. He knows more than anyone what I went through and how hard it was to walk away from my past.

He groans. “Now what do we do with him?”

“Call Levi. He’ll take care of it.”

Levi is a friend of the club who owns a crematory. For the right price, he takes care of our problems and discards the remains.

“No way. Not a chance. That asshole creeps me the fuck out.”

I shrug. “He’s not that bad.”

“Last time I saw him, he told me I have nice ears. You can’t tell me that’s not creepy as hell.”

I laugh, the adrenaline of the night slowly leaving my bloodstream. “That’s a little creepy. But you still have to call him.”

“Fuck you.”

I flip him off as I head back upstairs, wanting nothing more than to spend the rest of the night with my girl in my arms.

* * *

“You think she’ll be okay?” Navy asks.

I inhale her floral scent, curled around her from behind in bed. “Yeah. I put a prospect outside her door in case she needs anything.”

“I’ve never seen her like that. The last couple years, she’s been detached, but not like that. It’s like she was in a trance.”

I tug her closer. “It’s just shock. She’ll snap out of it after she gets some rest.”

After I returned to the room, Mary helped me get Laura to an empty suite a few doors down from Navy. I don’t know what we’ll do with her long-term, but for now, she’s safe. And after getting a sedative from Monroe, she’s sleeping.

“I hope so.” Navy’s quiet long enough for me to think she’s asleep, but then she whispers, “It’s done?”

“Yeah, babe. He’s gone.”

She turns to face me, digging her face into my chest and tangling her legs with mine. What starts as a sniffle soon becomes sobs and full-body quaking. I hold her through it all, whispering I love her and that she’s mine. Mine. Mine.

I know the tears aren’t from sadness. They’re born from keeping her shit together even though the devil was still walking around free. Now that he’s gone, she’s feeling all the weight that’s been lifted. I only know because I feel the same damn way.

“It’s over,” she cries.

I stroke the back of her head. “It’s over.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t have to thank me. It was as much for me as it was you.” I only say that to ease any guilt she might feel. My girl is sweet and innocent, so it’d only be natural for her to take on some responsibility for this and I don’t want that. Not ever.

“I don’t know how I should feel.” She looks up at me, her eyes swollen and bloodshot. “Does it make me a bad person if I’m relieved?”

“I’d be worried if you weren’t.” I stroke my thumb over her cheek, wiping away her tears.

“You won’t get in trouble, will you?” she asks, her body finally relaxing.

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