“Not willing to waste time finding out. I need to get back, I’ve already told King I’m on my way.”
“Okay,” I stepped back. I didn’t know what else to say.
“For what it’s worth,” he looked over the top of my head, back towards the hospital where the man he loved lay. “I never hated you for leaving. Or not keeping in touch. It was what you had to do. But I’m glad you’re back.”
“Me too.”
He walked away. I clenched my hands into fists as I watched. I felt Hudson’s presence stepping up behind me. He didn’t say anything, he was watching Warren too. His hand came up to the back of my head, cupping it, his thumb stroking my neck.
“I’ll explain everything back at the hotel,” I told him.
“Okay.”
That was all he said. He may not be blood, but he had been a brother to Warren since we were five years old. In some ways, he knew him better than I did. He took my hand and we walked to the parking lot to Ransom’s car, both of us looking up as we heard the roar of a bike engine as it headed out onto the main road.
“Shit, he took Goldie’s bike?” his brows lifted.
“He’s the VP,” I said, turning back to Hudson, as if that explained him riding another man’s bike.
He nodded his head. “Yeah, he is. Come on. I’m hungry.” Just like that. He accepted it.
The remnants of our room service dinner was on the table, Hudson was standing by the window, looking out into the darkness. He’d listened in silence while I recounted my conversation with Warren.
“I need to go knock some sense into his head.”
“He’s already made up his mind. He just needs to focus on something else to get through it.”
“Not War,” he turned around. “Connor. I should go over there and tell him he’s being a fucking asshole.”
“Not the best of ideas, given the circumstances,” I rolled my eyes.
“Why the hell would he even do that?”
I shrugged and sat down on the end of the bed.
“Well, he’s right about one thing,” he came over to the bed. “War is needed back home. Whether King wants him away doing something else or not, he needs to step up to his role and he’s really fucking good at it.”
“He was so upset. I mean, he did his best to hide it, but I could see it written all over his face.”
Hudson sat down next to me. “I’d be upset too, if the person I cared about the most didn’t want to see me.”
I gave him a look and he just grinned back at me.
“Look, the way I see it, War is in the best place for him, and Connor is where he needs to be. There is still a lot of shit to sort out and no one at the club is gonna be able to relax until we all know it’s been dealt with, and that you’re safe.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I’m gonna go wash up,” I told him and got up before he could say anything else.
I didn’t want to admit to it, but I was struggling to keep my shit together. I closed the bathroom door and stood in front of the mirror, staring at myself. I looked tired, pale and I’d lost some weight over the last few days. I was stuffed after our meal, though it suddenly felt like ash in my stomach.
Looking at my face now, I tried to imagine the woman who had actually been our mom. I’d been so sure I could see Warren and I in Danica’s face, but what had Delaney been like? Dad had hidden her away so thoroughly, I didn’t even know if there were any pictures of her anywhere.
I suddenly wanted to find out. I needed to see her, to have some real tangible evidence that the woman actually existed. I was in this weird in between state of not knowing how to react to what I’d learnt over the last couple of days.
Warren’s words came back to me about finding out who killed her. I wasn’t sure what he planned on doing, but now, with some clarity in my head, I wanted to be a part of that. I may never get to meet her but if we could do this one thing for her, find the bastard who killed her, then that had to count for something. Dad would take care of Danica, I didn’t doubt that but the person who actually did it, they shouldn’t get away with it either.
“Wave?”
I turned to see Hudson in the doorway. He was frowning at me.
