“Already working on it. The bastard vanished the second he walked out of his cell. But I’ll find him.” Hatred wheezed through my gritted teeth.
“We need to bring this to Sovereign tomorrow night,” Theo urged. “The rest of our crew needs to be apprised. You don’t need to be going this alone.”
Refusal puffed from between my lips. “I always go it alone.”
“Not anymore. It’s fuckin’ time you stepped out from behind the place where you keep yourself sequestered. No matter what you think of yourself, you’re a part of this family. And if she’s important to you, then that means she’s important to the rest of us.”
My chest tightened, my throat growing thick.
“Is she important to you?” he pressed.
Fuck.
I ducked away, roughing an agitated hand down my face, before the word ripped out of me like spite. “Yes.”
“Good, then we figure this shit out tomorrow. And in the meantime?”
I turned back around, hostility scalding my marrow. “In the meantime, they’re under my protection.”
“How many?”
My heart racing erratic as their faces flashed through my mind. “She has three kids. Three, five, and seven.”
Amusement flitted through Theo’s expression. “Holy shit, dude. You have three kids and the woman who haunts your dreams living under your roof?”
I grunted at him.
A clear warning.
With a laugh, he held out his hands, his dark eyes gleaming like the schemer he was. “Seems like a good opportunity to me. Maybe there’s another reason she showed up at your door.”
My jaw clenched. “You know that’s not going to happen, so don’t even start.”
“If anyone needs to get inside a warm, sweet body, it’s you. How long has it been? It’s no wonder you’re grumpy as hell. We’re lucky you haven’t gone on a rampage with all the tension you have pent up.”
Irritation flashed, and a hot puff of air escaped my nose.
Dude knew I’d gone on plenty of rampages.
And I didn’t even want to think about getting my dick wet.
I’d done plenty of fucking back in my days in the MC, but with every body I blew through, the hollowness grew. That cavern whittled deeper and deeper because I didn’t deserve to be touched or pleasured.
When I came to Moonlit Ridge, I fully gave myself over to isolation.
Theo reached out and gripped me by the shoulder. “Just giving you shit, man.”
He angled down to make sure he was meeting my eye. “But maybe this is your opportunity to make a change. Maybe she is here for something bigger than the temporary. Maybe it’s time you forgave yourself.”
Grief clutched my conscience, and the old anger pulsed around it.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I grated out, needing to cut the conversation off before it devolved any further.
I turned on my heel and stormed down the sidewalk to Theo shouting behind me, “It’s time to join the living, brother.”
I just put my head down and didn’t respond as I weaved through the crush of people browsing along Ninth Street.
Theo should know better than feeding me that bullshit. There was no forgiving myself. No way to make amends.
