“Would you be mad if I did?”
I pause with the wipe above the next cut and close my eyes. I didn’t see the whole fight. Jack turned me away, but I could hear it. He and my nephew delivered what they consider biker justice tonight. They’ve waited over ten years to get their hands on my ex.
“I don’t know how I feel, but I’m not mad.” I take a shaky breath.
“He tried to kill you.” His voice is rough and strained. He’s not talking about tonight.
“You were there that night.” I know he was. Lauren told me everything after I returned. I wasn’t given any details before I left.
“Mack and I were the first ones there.” He swallows hard this time, and his voice cracks. “I carried you out.”
I suck in a breath and raise my head. I didn’t know that. “You… you saw me at my worst.”
He wipes the tears from my cheek with his thumb. “He left you for dead, Chrissy. If Presley Nichols hadn’t gotten home when she did, you wouldn’t be here now.”
All I knew when I left was that my neighbor called 911. Lauren filled in some of the blanks on this part for me. Presley was fifteen at the time and had just gotten off the school bus. As she was unlocking the door, Sean ran out of the house, still calling me horrible names. She quickly went inside, locked the door, and called for help as Sean sped away. The club had a police scanner and heard the call. They arrived before the cops and ambulance did. I was unconscious and never knew how I got to the hospital.
“So, if he’s not here, I’m not sorry.” He softly presses his lips to my forehead.
“You could go to prison.”
“Worth it.”
His phone on the counter dings. He hits the button to open the message without picking it up. I can read it from here.
Bankz: Cops found him. Carrying the dirtbag to the ER. Still breathing.
He cups my face in his hands. “Looks like I’m not going anywhere.”
“You sound disappointed.”
“Not on the part about being with you.” His thumb moves back and forth over my chin.
“But the other part?”
“Would you be mad if I were?”
I take a deep breath and rest my head against his chest. His arms wrap around me, pulling me closer. “No. I don’t know how I feel about it, though. It means he’s still out there. I’ll never have peace.”
His arms tighten. “Oh, lil lady. You’ll have peace. We’ll see to it that he goes away for a long time. Ciara is brutal. She’ll get him.”
I groan. “Court.”
“Yeah, afraid so, love.” He clears his throat. “I hate to ask right now. We know he had help tonight. He didn’t do this alone.”
I nod against his chest. “There were three men with him.”
“Names? Faces? Logos?”
I know what he’s asking. Sadly, I can’t confirm it. “No. They wore black and covered their faces. Sean argued with them before they ran off. They’ve been hiding him.” I suck in a breath and quickly lean back and look up at him.
He cups my cheek with one hand, keeping the other around my back. “What, Chrissy? What do you remember?”
“They told him not to come to Chattanooga or they’d kill him for the McLeods.”
He drops his head and growls low and deep. “Mavericks.”
“But it’s not enough to prove it.”
