He helps me up and waits for me as I brush my teeth before he carries me to bed, tucking me in before sitting down beside me.
“If I didn’t have church, I’d stay.”
“You’ve missed enough. I’ll be fine, and I’ll call if I’m not.”
“Alright.” He presses a kiss to my forehead, lingering there for a minute. “I love you. No matter what. Promise me you’ll remember that,” he says gently as he tucks a stray hair behind my ear.
I feel the smile slip from my face as I reach for the edges of his cut and look up at him. “What’s wrong?”
He smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes, not like before. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just being a sentimental fool because I don’t like leaving you when you’re sick. I just want to know that, because if anything ever happens to me, I don’t ever want you to question what I felt for you.”
“If you’ve got a bad feeling, maybe you should stay home.” I bite my lip, feeling anxious all of a sudden. I can’t lose him, not after everything else I’ve lost.
“No. Not only do I have church, but Blade’s meeting with the Kings of Carnage tonight. He needs us at his back as a show of solidarity.”
I don’t say anything for a moment as I think over his words. Blade is the club president. Lee—Snake, as he is known to the club—takes his job as the club enforcer very seriously. I know he’s capable of taking care of himself—and Blade, for that matter—but he’s not nearly as indestructible as he seems to think he is. I’ve cleaned up my fair share of knife wounds and bullet holes over the years, each time sending thanks to the man upstairs that Lee came back to me, even if it was a little worse for wear. But luck can only keep you alive for so long. Every time he left to go deal with club business, I worried that it would be the last time.
I push those thoughts aside, putting my faith in Lee and in his brothers to have his back. I reach up and cup his jaw. “I love you. Forever and always.”
It turns out that forever and always were a lot closer than I ever could have anticipated. There were no signs. All I saw were green flags and a white knight until it was too late.
He never came home. Not that day, nor the next. It wasn’t unheard of, but he’d never been gone for so long without calling or messaging me. I’d tried calling him. Heck, I’d tried calling everyone, but for some reason, I had no signal. Tossing the phone on the counter, I grab the keys to the truck and head to the compound. I don’t bother grabbing my bag. My fear that something has happened, something bad, has overruled any sense of self-preservation.
I don’t know how I make it to the compound without crashing and killing myself in the process. The first thing I notice is that the gate is open and there is no prospect insight. I abandon the truck and am running before it’s a conscious thought. I don’t stop until I collide with someone and end up on my ass. I barely feel the pain as I scramble to my feet. It was Kruger I crashed into, and for the first time in hours, I feel a sense of calm wash over me.
Until I get a look at his face.
I don’t know what I thought I might see—fear, pain, regret, worry, hell, even pity. But not hate. It’s so visceral, I take a step back.
I notice others heading my way, each with similar expressions. My eyes move from Kruger to Circus. They skate over Capone and Midas before coming to a rest on Blade, who looks like he’s been through the ringer.
“Tell me.” My voice cracks.
Nobody speaks for a moment before Blade takes a step forward. “How about you tell me, Del? Tell me where your husband was last night.”
I answer without thought. I do what I’ve always been instructed to do—have my man’s back.
“He was with me,” spills from my lips like an oath, sealing my fate. I’m just too stupid to know it.
There’s shuffling before they all draw closer.
“Is that right?”
“Where’s Snake?”
“Why, Deli, I thought he was with you?” Circus taunts.
Frustrated tears run down my face as confusion, fear, and anger war for supremacy. “Will someone tell me where my fucking husband is!” I yell.
The feel of a hand around my throat cuts off my shout. I’m lifted clear off the ground, and I find myself eye to eye with Blade. “Your husband is in the ground where he belongs. And if you don’t shut your filthy mouth, you’ll be joining him,” he snarls before he tosses me to the ground.
I sob, my anguish pouring out of me as his words penetrate the fog. “Why?” I whisper, feeling as if someone has taken a white-hot poker and shoved it into my heart.
“Snake was working with Bear to stage a coup. As you can see, I won.”
I cover my mouth with my hand and shake my head because that can’t be true. He wouldn’t do that.
“No. he?—”
