Nine
Ledger
Someone came for her once.The stupid fucks will try again.
And they’re gonna see how ready I am.
Kelly’s door clicks shut behind me, and I stand there for a long moment, jaw tight, pulse hammering against my ribs like it’s trying to break out.
Someone was watching the cabin.
Watchingher.
The last twenty-four hours were already a nightmare, but this?This pushes it straight into war.
I move through the cabin in silence, not because I need to, but because I can’t let myself explode.Not yet.Not with her resting ten feet away, fragile and foggy and trying to hold it together.
She trusts me.The thought hits like a blow.
She doesn’t remember me.But she trusts me.
She asked me not to leave her.
And for a man who’s spent years convincing himself he’s better off alone, that hits deeper than I want to admit.
I step onto the front porch, where Mellow and Shaft stand at the edge of the yard, guns out but lowered, eyes still scanning the woods.
“Tracks?”I ask.
Shaft shakes his head.“Ground’s too firm.Whoever it was bailed fast.”
“Any idea on size?Weight?”
“Not enough to know, brother,” Mellow mutters.“Could’ve been human.Could’ve been a raccoon with a grudge.”
I glare.
He lifts a hand.“What?You told me to consider all possibilities.”
“Shut up,” I growl.
Mellow grins.“There he is.I was waiting for you to stop being emotionally constipated and go back to being the bastard I know.”
“Keep talkin’,” I warn.“I’ll constipate you for real when I shove that gun so far up your ass you feel it in your throat.”
Shaft laughs easing the tension built up inside me.This is the thing about brotherhood, they read me and know how to calm the beast inside me.
My phone buzzes in my pocket.Chux.
“Yeah,” I answer.
“You at the cabin?”
“Yeah.Brothers are here on lookout.‘preciate it, brother.”I give my gratitude where it’s due.I didn’t even have to ask.Chux being my biological brother knows I’ve been fucking Kelly.Not because I tell him shit like that, but because Ally who is Kelly’s best friend is his woman.Chux knows Kelly matters to me and to Ally.Without hesitation he made sure the club closed in so I can focus on what Kelly needs and they can keep watch.
“Gainz call you yet?”
I glance at the woods again, tension pulling at my spine.“Not yet.”
