“Yeah, I’m done.”
He reaches into the shower, turning off the water before grabbing a towel and holding it out for me. It smells like Tate; I’m guessing not much laundry had gotten done during my heat, and I don’t hate it.
I was in the hot shower for too long and now my vision is slightly hazy. Axel takes mercy on me by picking me up and placing me on the vanity.
He uses another towel to dry my hair before using a brush to get out the last few knots. I’m shocked when he tugs a pair of my own panties and shorts up my legs.
“Where did you get these?”
“Cash brought the van with our shit here,” he answers.
“Oh, he’s been back to the compound? Did he bring Winnie?”
Axel sighs and nods his head. “Just that first night, your stuff and the dog are here. A lot of shit’s been happenin’.”
“What’s been going on? Is everyone okay?”
“Let’s get you dressed and then talk about it with the others.”
“My mom… does my mom know?” I choke down a sob.
Have your breakdown when it’s more convenient,I remind myself.
“I’m not sure. I know she’s safe, though.”
I appreciate his honesty, and that he isn’t sugarcoating things for me. He pulls a t-shirt over my head, and I poke my arms through it.
“Let’s go to the kitchen, you need to eat and drink more.”
I nod, and Axel holds out his arm. I use him for support as we head to the kitchen. Tate is making something on the stove, while Cash is completely immersed in his laptop. Winnie is happily perched on his lap, and as much as I want to shower her with love, I don’t have the energy.
I sit down across from him, and Axel immediately puts a Gatorade in front of me. I nearly down the whole bottle in one go, and he places a glass of water next to it. I’m not going tobe the one to start the conversation because I know the least of what’s going on. So I just sit there as Tate puts a pile of pancakes and bacon in front of me.
Each bite seems to make me feel stronger and more aware. No one speaks until I’m finished, pushing my plate away from me, not able to take another bite.
Three pairs of eyes stare at me, and I wonder who is going to start speaking first. It’s Tate who shocks me.
He runs his hands through his hair before placing his elbows on the table and grabbing his head.
“I’m not really sure where to fuckin’ start, if I’m being honest, and we really don’t have time to get into every detail,” he begins, his voice soft.
“We need to know how much youwantto know, Lily? Do you want us to take care of this? To keep you out of it and just assure you everything is going to be fine, or do you want to be all in with this? Before you make your decision you need to know it’s probably worse than you imagined,” Cash calmly asks me. He’s seen me panic about club business before, but he also knows I can pull my shit together.
“I think we’re past keeping me in the dark. I’m all in,” I inform them.
My leg shakes under the table as I wait for them to tell me everything I need to know, and it’s far more sinister than I ever could have imagined.
I wanna spillmy guts to her, to tell her everything, almost as much as I want to keep these dark secrets tucked away forever.
I’m about to open my mouth, ready to give her the CliffsNotes version of the whole sordid story, but then Axel’s phone rings.
When he picks it up, I know it has to be one of the guys at the warehouse.
“Hello?” Axel answers. He just listens for a few minutes, rubbing his forehead like it will somehow help him think faster. “Fuck. Talk to Tate,” he barks, handing me the phone.
“Shit, they’re packing up to leave,” Cash states, looking over at the monitor where I see my father, Smiley, Davidson, Pipes,and Boomerang getting on their bikes to leave. I’m shocked that Dread isn’t with them.
I draw my attention back to the phone as Mickey frantically talks over the line. “Blaze called me. Prez said he was doing a run to the warehouse. What do we do?” he asks me. We moved them from the warehouse to Ink’s old trailer, but when shit got too crowded and the warehouse had been searched by my dad, they brought them back to the warehouse.
