I grab my jacket, check my gun, and head for the door. Aubrey grabs my wrist.
“Dean. No. We need to be smart about this.”
I look at her. “I’m done running. They want to come for me. Let them. I’m ready.”
“Okay. Then I’m comin’ with you.”
I shake my head. “Absolutely not! It’s not safe. This is my fight.”
She steps closer, eyes determined. “Not anymore.”
Something in me breaks. I pull her close and kiss her hard. “You’re too good for this world, Aubrey Ryan.”
She smirks, wiping her tears. “And you’re an idiot if you think I’m letting you do this alone.”
Chapter 9
Aubrey
When Deanfinally unloads every filthy, fucked-up secret, it’s like something inside me snaps. I feel like I’ve been drowning for days and just now broke the surface, and holy shit, it burns. My lungs feel like they are full of fire. Now I know everything, and I still can’t fucking breathe. But this is a different kind of feeling. It’s not fear or heartbreak. It’s something sharper. Something that feels like rage and courage got together and had a mean little baby naming it ‘resolve.’
I want to scream, rip something apart, smash a fucking window. I want to grab him and never let go, pull him behind me and dare the whole damn world to come for us. There’s this wild, protective urge that’s ignited inside me…raw, fierce, and so much bigger that my fears could ever be. I’ve never felt anything like it. Not for Clint, not for anyone. I thought I knew what it meant to care about someone…to love someone with everything you have, but this is different. It consumes me in a way that makes my bones ache. The thought of those bastards coming after Dean…wanting to hurt the man I love, makes me see red. If these bastards want to start shit, they picked the wrong bitch. I’ll burn this whole town down before I let them take Dean from me.
Wait. What the hell is wrong with me?
Maybe I’m losing it. Or maybe, for the first time, feeling this much is the only sane reaction I have left. But one thing is clear as glass: if these assholes want to play games. Then game on, baby, I’m not the one who’s going to break.
Dean’s pacing like a caged animal, jaw clenched, veins bulging in his arms. I swear if he grinds his teeth any harder, he’s going to break everyone in his skull.
“Aubrey, you don’t have to do this. If you get hurt…fuck. If you get caught in the middle, I’ll never…”
“Stop.”
I get right in his face, so close I can feel his breath, smell the sweat, anxiety, and all the feral energy oozing out of his skin.
“Too late, Dean. I’m already in this. You think I’m just going to sit here and let them rip you apart while I watch from the window, clutching my pearls? Get real. If they want a fight, they just picked the wrong bitch.”
His eyes go wide as he stares down at me, searching, maybe hoping I’ll break.
I don’t.
My hands are steady, but my heart is beating like a freaking jackhammer. For a second, he says nothing…then he takes my face in his hands, being rough and gentle all at once.
“Fine. But we do this my way. We do it smart. No fucking heroics, Aubrey. I mean it.”
I let a slow, mischievous grin spread across my lips. “Define heroics, tough guy.” And he almost laughs.
There’s a dark edge in his eyes that makes my pulse stutter, but I hold my ground. I think he likes it. I know I do.
We hole ourselves up in Dean’s room for the rest of the night, consuming bad coffee, cold pizza, and coming up with every dirty trick we can think of to nail these bastards. Dean knows the MC life better than anyone. He knows how to bait them, where to hit them where it hurts, their weaknesses. But I knowthis town…every nosy neighbor, every back alley, every cop who owes me a favor. We are a fucked-up dream team.
“I can get Jax to run his mouth,” I say, scrolling through my phone for the best audio app. “He’s a control freak. He wants to see me scared; wants to think he’s got me under his thumb. If I play my cards right and act like I want to sell you out, he’ll get cocky. I just need him to say one incriminating thing. Make one threat. That’s all it’ll take.”
Dean’s face goes dark, and murder fills his eyes. “He touches you; I’ll slit his fucking throat.”
I let out a laugh, loud, and a little unhinged. “Easy, killer. This is Crystal Falls. Half of Maggie’s Taproom will be watching. And I’ll record everything. If he gives us what we need, he goes down. He cuts all ties with you, taking his goons, and leaving town. Or hell, I drop that shit straight to the sheriff or every rival MC this side of the state line. He’ll be lucky if he ever rides again.”
Dean looks at me, shocked by this side of me. Like he’s torn between pride and horror. “And if he figures you out? Aubrey, these guys are fuckin’ wolves. They can smell bullshit a mile away.”
