Mom, Astrid, Magnolia, Vail, Fern, Gwen, Everly, Skadi, Starla, Esperanza, Aziza, Rayna, Meghan, Saga, Dasha, Elfe, and me.
All of us in the main room, trying to distract ourselves from the dread.
"Remember the run of '09?" Fern says. "When they went after those dealers in Jacksonville?"
"God, that was terrifying," Charm murmurs. "They were gone for eighteen hours. No word, no updates, no way to know if they were alive or dead. I thought I was going to lose my mind."
"But they came back," Magnolia adds. "They always come back."
"Not always," Vail says quietly.
Silence falls.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
We all know what she means.
We've all seen the ones who didn't come back.
The funerals.
The widows.
The empty chairs at club gatherings.
The holes that never quite heal.
"They'll come back tonight," Astrid says firmly. "All of them. They're too stubborn to do anything else."
It breaks the tension.
A few weak laughs.
Nervous, but genuine.
Then Vail turns to me. "How are you holding up, sweetheart?"
"Barely," I admit. "I keep thinking about last time. When he came back stabbed. When I almost lost him before I ever really had him."
"That fear never fully goes away," Vail says. "I've been Vanir's ol’ lady for almost thirty years. Thirty years of watching him ride out, thirty years of waiting for him to come home. I still get knots in my stomach every time he leaves on something dangerous."
"How do you cope?"
"I keep busy. I stay close to the other women. And I trust—trust him, trust his brothers, trust that he knows what he's doing." She takes my hand, her grip warm and strong. "Gunnar is smart. He's capable. And he has the best reason in the world to come home."
"What's that?"
She smiles. "You."
Tears prick my eyes. I blink them back.
"He's reckless when it comes to you," Vail continues. "Going after that man alone—I wanted to strangle him for taking that risk. For being so stupid, so impulsive. But I also understood it. He loves you in a way that makes him brave and stupid all at once."
"I hate it and I love it," I admit.
"That's exactly right." She squeezes my hand. "That's exactly what it feels like to love a man like him."
