“It’s my job to protect her.”
“It’s your job to respect her,” he corrects. “Or let her go.”
I laugh, bitter and sharp. “Let her go? You want me to give her a clean out? Fine. She’s better off without me anyway.”
Mason steps into my face so fast I barely register the movement. “You don’t get to decide what’s best for her,” he snarls. “You don’t get to use your trauma as an excuse to treat her like disposable property. She isn’t Tessa.”
That name hits like a sledgehammer to the ribs. I freeze. “Don’t fucking go there.”
But Mason does. “Tessa died because someone wanted to hurt us. That wasn’t your fault. And if you keep letting that ghost control you, you’ll lose Bri for real.”
My chest tightens. Rage and grief choke out every logical thought. “I can’t go through that again,” I admit, voice low and wrecked. “I can’t… I can’t bury someone I love.”
Mason’s stare softens by a fraction. Just enough to show he remembers that loss too. “No one is asking you to bury her. Weare asking you to stand beside her instead of shoving her behind you like dead weight.” He gives me a long look like he’s torn between empathy and knocking my teeth out.
“Go home,” he orders. “Sleep. Sober up. Then you go to Brooke’s. You apologize to the girl. And you listen. If she still wants you after that, you do better.”
“And if she doesn’t?” I ask, the words cutting on the way out.
“Then you take the hit like a man who finally understands love isn’t something you get to cage.”
I just stare at him, stomach turning with that familiar fear I keep trying to ignore, and all I can get out is, “I’m not ready.” Mason gives one short nod like that’s all he expected anyway, then tells me to get ready and do it fast before turning and walking back toward the clubhouse, boots hitting the ground with that steady confidence I wish I had right now.
I stay put in the alley, leaning against the cold brick, cigarette burning low between my fingers while I fall apart where nobody has to watch. The truth sits heavy in my gut, the same one I never say out loud. I’d rather Bri hate me and stay alive than love me and wind up another name on a headstone like Tessa. But there’s another truth I can’t shake, the one Mason didn’t bother to spell out… if Bri really walks away for good, if I push her too far and lose her for real, it’ll be the end of me anyway.
TWENTY-TWO
BRI
I wakeup with a stiff neck, dried tears on my face, and the kind of puffy eyes that say “you made bad choices last night.” Brooke’s blanket is twisted around my legs and my hair looks like a wild animal built a nest in it. I blink at the ceiling fan for a long second, trying to remember where I am.
Then it hits. Blade. His voice going sharp enough to cut me open.
Brooke appears with a mug of coffee that smells like salvation and hands it over without a word. She drops down beside me, barefoot, messy bun, the look of someone who has seen me at every version of rock bottom.
I wrap both hands around the mug. “I should’ve just stayed home last night.”
Brooke snorts. “Yeah. Well. If every woman listened the first time a man barked orders, the world would’ve ended years ago.”
Despite myself, a tiny laugh slips out. It hurts. Everything hurts.
She watches me for a moment, her eyes softer than her voice. “Tell me.”
I stare at the steam curling up from the coffee. “He was terrified. I saw it. But instead of being relieved I was okay, he went straight for humiliation. Told me I was acting like a child. That he’s too old for my bullshit.”
Brooke’s expression goes flat. Deadly flat. “He said that to your face?”
“He sure did. In front of all the guys.”
She mutters something under her breath that sounds like a threat and a prayer combined.
I scrub a hand over my face. “I get why he’s angry. What happened was serious. But he acted like I was the problem. Like the danger exists because I breathe.”
Brooke shifts closer. “This life is complicated, Bri. You know that.”
Before I can respond, the front door opens and Bella walks in holding Baby Jax, his fat cheeks squished against her shoulder. His hair sticks up like he fought a pillow and lost. He sees me and reaches out, all smiles and drool like the world isn’t ending. I take the little squish and hold him close.
Bella sits on the coffee table right in front of me. “Rev called Switch and told him what happened. I thought he was going to drive to Perdition and beat the shit out of Blade.”
