“He can think what he wants. She was part of the club first,” I practically growl, feeling my chest squeeze, my anger building. I want to kill Bianchi for even thinking he can have her, touch her against her will. “He forced her.”
The room quiets, yet I feel their eyes on me, warily watching. I’m already too far gone over everything we learned today. A single bullet to Marco Bianchi’s head won’t be enough. The man deserves a slow, torturous death. To have his skin peeled from his bones, teeth ripped from his gums. I’ll be the last thing he ever sees, and the way he cries and begs for his life still won’t be enough to atone for what he did to Winnie.
“We need to get those trackers out of her, first,” Prez says, his brow pulled in concentration. “Winnie can’t make any moves until then.”
My heart lurches in my chest. “We aren’t using Lyric’s contact to make her disappear.”
“It's up to her, brother,” Squirrel says. My head whips toward him. Whatever he reads on my face causes him to raise his hands. “I’m just saying, the girl has a right to decide what she wants to do.”
I know he’s right deep down. I know more than anyone that Winnie will not want the choice taken from her. She was alwaysfiercely independent with her own mind. Unless it came to me. That was the only time she changed her mind, changed her life was when I asked her to be with me. My gaze slides to Karma, and he lifts his chin. Our situations are somewhat similar, and he made the decision to keep Lyric back then, too.
“I’m taking the trackers out. We’ll leave them here, so it looks like she hasn’t left the compound. Winnie is coming with me to the cabin. Then she can decide what she wants to do. She needs to hear all her options,” I rattle off the plan that I’d been forming since before we stepped into church today. The second I held her in my arms again, I knew I wasn’t letting her go. I have years to make up for. Truths I need to tell her. I owe her a conversation about what happened five years ago more than anything. Maybe she won’t forgive me, maybe it is all too late, but I have to try.
Prez and Jester share a look that I read all too well. Neither one of them questions me, though. Jester clears his throat and moves to sit down in one of the big leather chairs. Prez rounds his desk and pulls out a bottle of his best whiskey from the drawer, along with four tumbler glasses. He pours and hands us each one.
“You know she may chop your balls off for this,” Squirrel says, raising his glass like he’s toasting me.
“Let’s be honest, brother. They’ve always belonged to her,” I say before shooting back the burning liquor.
“I’ll head up to your place and make sure the fridge is extra stocked. I’ll go over the property surveillance too,” Karma says, before taking a gulp of his own drink.
Jester opens his mouth like he wants to say something, then ends up just shaking his head and tossing back his drink as well. Prez’s lips touch the liquor, while he narrows his eyes at me over the rim, sitting behind his desk.
“I’ll handle Bianchi and the alliance. You’re going to have your hands full trying to convince her you changed.”
A laugh barrels out of my chest. “Thanks, Prez.”
He shakes his head. “Don’t thank me yet. I’ll back you on this, Dodger, but you better have a hell of a plan. If she still chooses to disappear, I’ll have to help her.”
I nod in agreement, even while my heart thuds painfully, thinking about actually losing Winnie for good. I know if Lyric uses her contact, I really will never see her again. She’s been gone for the past five years, but at least there was a chance I could find her. Setting the glass on his desk, I glance at each of my brothers, my family. I don’t need words or to thank them over and over. They would do anything for me, just like I would for them. This is on me now. Winnie’s safety is at my discretion and under my control. It's up to me to prove to her that I’m worth the risk a second time. I have to show her that she’s always been the most important person in my life, at all costs.
Hope and another female doctor arrive about an hour after Winnie first went to lie down and relax. I follow them to the room and hover outside the door while the doctor completes herexam and blood draw on Win. Once she left, Hope peeks her head out, her eyes landing on mine.
“She’s ready.”
Stepping through the door is a punch to the gut. I hadn’t set foot back in here since the day Winnie and I moved out. The memories we created while living here are some of the best of my life. Back when we were just living life, making love, and dreaming of a future. Somewhere along the way, I lost sight of the things we talked about on those nights we lay in the dark, ignoring the always-present club parties around us. I forgot that she was my dream, and that nothing else mattered as much as when Winnie looked at me and graced me with her smiles.
Win is sitting on the edge of the bed, pillows propped next to her with towels laid out. I meet her eyes and see the apprehension in them. I hold the suture kit up in my hand.
“Ready?” Her face pales slightly, but she nods her head yes.
“Let’s get this over with,” she mutters and flips over onto her stomach. “Hope already gave me the numbing shot. It's right here.” She points to the spot between her shoulder blades that she can’t reach on her own.
My hands fucking shake. Not from nerves but from knowing I’ll be touching her skin. Honey-gold skin that I used to touch, lick, and kiss. My hands, my lips, and my body used to know every inch of hers. It’s been so long since I held her, caressed her in any way, and I miss it. I miss how silky she feels, how warm my skin would get against hers. I almost feel light-headed, just anticipating being this close to her. Quickly, I set the bag down and get out the scalpel and tweezers. There is nothing I want more than to fix this for her, to make her feel better. Hope places some gauze on her shoulder for me to grab as well.
“You got this, Win,” I tell her, reminding her how strong she is. I hear her exhale against the bedspread as my fingers gently push on her skin. Sure enough, I can feel the little bead lodgedunder her layers of flesh. Without hesitating, I grab the little knife and make a small incision. Blood trickles out immediately, and I swipe it with some gauze before grabbing the tweezers. The second I start to dig them in, her body flinches, and I freeze.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s not painful,” she mumbles. “It just feels weird.”
I chuckle lightly and go back to the task at hand. The second I have the tracker in the claws, I pull it out, then immediately hand it over to Hope. “Bring that to Inspector. I’ll close the wound.”
Winnie looks back over her shoulder. “You know how to stitch?”
My brow rises. “I barely made a mark. I'll clean it up, add some glue, and a butterfly bandage. You should be fine.”
“Really?” She reaches around to feel. I grab her hand, taking her fingers, and trace the small cut I made. “Holy shit. That's amazing work.”
