“Done.”
“Just like that? No questions asked?”
“You’re trusting me. I’m trusting you. And Delphi, you’re one of the smartest, strongest, and kind-hearted women I know. If you need these things from me, there’s a reason for it. All I ask is that you call on me if things go tits up.”
“Deal.”
“I’m going to kill him,” Kruger snarls when I finish telling him what happened that day. “Where the fuck would he even get…King.”
“Well, she’s right about one thing. If Blade and King got the shit, it won’t be traced back to her or us. They are way too smart for that.” Havoc nods.
“I’m still gonna kill him,” Kruger snaps.
Havoc grunts. “Gonna have to wait in line. I think I need to remind the old man who the fucking president is.”
My watch pings, making everyone look at me. “What? You said no phone, not no watch.” I glance down at my screen and swallow as I read the text.
“What is it?”
“Can I go now? I need to talk to Theo.”
“There are still things to go over—” Havoc starts.
I nod and get to my feet. “I know, and we will. I just need to talk to Theo before he hears it from someone else.”
“Hears what?”
“That his mom just died.”
Epilogue
DELPHI
It didn’t matter what she did. It only mattered who she was. That was why we stood around Diane’s coffin that had been adorned with flowers, and said goodbye to a woman I hoped found peace in the afterlife, for Theo’s sake at least.
He grieved her loss like it was a secret he was ashamed to share, but I refused to let him suffer in silence. When he hurt, we all hurt. When he realized there was no shame in it and that all the conflicting emotions he felt were normal, he gave in and allowed himself to feel it all. It was hard. I wanted to take it all away, but some things I couldn’t fix.
Theo’s grief was quiet. It didn’t come in screaming nightmares or sobs of “why.” It came with a sad understanding that this life was too much for her and that she had been slowly dying since the first time she took drugs to escape. After all, the only true escape from life is death. Theo knew it was inevitable. He’d admitted that he came home every day with the knowledge he might find her dead. It ate away at him, and I can’t help but wonder what would have happened to this kind and loving boy if the twisting of his sanity continued until the chains snapped altogether. There’s a reason cops profile their perpetrators andtheir victims. There is almost always damage caused by some horrific trauma that they just couldn’t heal from.
I watch him like a hawk, looking for signs that he’s struggling beyond what is normal. But slowly and surely, he moved on. Diane died. But Theo didn’t, and he was determined to become more than the legacy she left behind.
I had to work through my guilt. I stood by what I did, but it was impossible not to react to Theo’s pain when I knew I was the cause. He never once treated me like he was angry at me, though. I think sometimes that made it worse.
One good thing to come from it all was that the cops ruled it a murder-suicide, deeming Diane’s overdose as intentional after assuming she had killed Josh and shot me. If they’d dug deeper, they may have found some inconsistencies. But like I hoped, they didn’t bother. The cops didn’t want to waste their time and resources on two people who didn’t fucking deserve it.
It has been six months since Theo returned to us, and we spent all that time petitioning for permanent custody. Greer worked with us, helping with the groundwork, which became a huge conflict when it was revealed that Theo’s original caseworker had been getting kickbacks. An investigation was opened, and it was discovered that he had turned a blind eye in many cases where he was being paid off to say nothing was amiss. I despised him. He was in a place of power and a position of trust, and he abused the very system designed to keep these kids safe.
In two weeks, we will go before a judge. They would either approve of the adoption, or we’d leave the country in the dead of night, taking Theo with us. I didn’t trust anyone to keep him safe but me and the Raven Souls, who—through it all—had our backs.
Of course, they had it out with Blade. He was ordered to pay restitution to the club in ways I wasn’t privy to, but I know hedidn’t give a single fuck. King isn’t technically part of the MC, so he ignored the lot of them, much to my amusement.
King had been coming to the clubhouse more often lately, partly because he found the whole thing entertaining. I wasn’t sure what to make of him, to be honest. I’d met him once before, a long time ago, when he was the president of Kings of Carnage MC, a club his son’s now run. He’d been the head honcho there, yet he’d played a role that never truly fit him. I’m not sure he fits anywhere. I think that happens when you wear too many hats—you lose sight of yourself.
That said, I was not expecting to see him or Blade this morning as I stared at myself in the mirror, trying to stave off a panic attack. There was a loud knock at the door, which opened before I could say anything. When King walked in with Blade on his heels, it was enough of a surprise that it snapped me out of my panic.
“What are you guys doing here?” I croak out.
“Sunshine said you wanted a minute alone. I know you well enough to know you wanted a minute to have a mini-meltdown,” Blade says.
