"About the raid?"
"About everything."
He leads me toward the clubhouse, and I follow.
Not running.
Not hiding.
Just... trusting.
That maybe, finally, I found someone worth being brave for.
Someone who won't leave.
Someone who sees me and stays anyway.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Gunnar
Ingrid's hand feels right in mine.
Such a simple thing—her fingers laced through mine as we walk into the clubhouse—but it makes something in my chest settle.
She's here.
She came back.
She's choosing to stay.
The main room is mostly empty, just a few prospects cleaning up and one or two members nursing beers at the bar.
Nobody pays us much attention as we head up the stairs and down the hallway toward my room.
Inside, I close the door behind us and flip the lock.
Not because I'm expecting anything.
Just because I want this moment to be ours.
Private.
Protected.
Ingrid stands in the middle of my room, looking around like she's seeing it for the first time.
Maybe she is, in a way.
The first time she was here, she was drunk and desperate.
The second time, she was running.
Now she's just... here.
Present.
Choosing this.
