“Everyone’s going to expect me to say something. To have a reaction.”
“Fuck what they expect.” I turn to look at her. “What Jackal just told you—that’s not something you process in five minutes. You don’t owe anyone an immediate response.”
Her eyes get wet. “My father sold me.”
“Yeah.”
“And Jackal knew. For months. And he didn’t tell me.”
“He was trying to protect you.”
“By lying to me?”
“By stopping the wedding.” I lean against the wall because standing is getting harder. “He did what he thought was right. Betrayed his own father to save you. That’s not nothing.”
“But he let me believe—” She stops. Takes a breath. “I spent weeks thinking Dad was trying to do something noble. That he was sacrificing me for the greater good, and it was all bullshit.”
“Yeah. It was.”
She’s quiet for a moment. Then she moves closer and leans against me.
I wrap my arm around her shoulders. Pull her in. The movement makes my side scream, but I don’t care.
We stand there. Silent. Watching the compound below us struggle back to life.
The wind picks up, blowing dust across the roof. Bonnie’s hair whips around her face. She doesn’t fix it. Just stares out at nothing.
Minutes pass. Could be five. Could be twenty. Time moves differently up here.
My legs shake. My side throbs. But I stay standing. Keep holding her.
This is what she needs. Not words. Not explanations. Just someone who’ll stand with her while her world rearranges itself.
“I was so angry at Dad,” she says finally. “For forcing me into that marriage. But I thought he was doing it for the club. For peace. I thought there was a reason.”
“There was. Just not the one he told you.”
“Saving his own skin. That’s the reason.” She laughs, but it’s bitter. “He was willing to hand me over to Marcus Stone so he could clear his gambling debts.”
“Your father’s a coward.”
“He is.” She’s quiet again. “I think I always knew, deep down. That something was off. That the timeline didn’t make sense. But I didn’t want to see it.”
She leans her head against my chest. I feel her breathe. In and out. Steady. Grounding herself.
“I’ll forgive Jackal,” she says quietly.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. He did what he could to save me. Turned our father in to the feds to stop the wedding. That took guts.”
We fall back into silence. More comfortable this time. Just two people standing on a roof watching the world try to fix itself.
A door slams below. Someone shouts about needing more plywood. Life continues even when it feels like it shouldn’t.
“Ghost?” Bonnie says after a while.
“Yeah?”
