My hand was steady when I drew my gun.
Crystal’s defiance cracked. “Wait. Wait. I can give you information. Names. Routes. I know things...”
“You don’t know anything.” I raised the weapon. “You never did.”
She opened her mouth to say something else. Some final plea, some last piece of poison. But I didn’t give her the chance.
One shot. Clean. The sound echoed off the concrete walls and then there was nothing but silence.
I stood there for a moment, looking at what was left of her. There was no satisfaction in it. No triumph. Just the cold knowledge that it had needed to be done.
“We’ll handle cleanup.” Colt’s voice was quiet behind me.
I holstered the gun. “Make sure there’s nothing to find.”
“There won’t be.”
I turned and walked toward the stairs. Glitch caught my eye as I passed. A brief nod, acknowledgment of what we’d all just witnessed. What we’d all carry.
At the top of the stairs, I paused. The sounds of the clubhouse filtered through the door. Pool balls cracking, someone laughing at a joke, the low thrum of classic rock from the jukebox. Normal sounds.
My phone buzzed. Another text from Handful:Still sleeping. All quiet.
This was the ugliness of my world. The part I’d never wanted Indira to see, the weight I’d carry so she wouldn’t have to. She’d chosen to know the truth about the gun running, the federal scrutiny, the danger. But this she would never know about.
I pushed through the door and headed to my house to stand guard while my woman slept.
Chapter 28
?
— Indira —
The box sat on my coffee table like a question I was finally ready to answer.
One week. One week since I’d woken up in Jacob’s guest room, disoriented but fully rested, to find the house quiet and dawn light filtering through unfamiliar curtains. I’d found him on the front porch, sitting on the steps like he’d been there all night—and maybe he had. When he’d seen me, his whole body had relaxed.
It’s over,he’d said.The Wolves. There was a coup. New leadership. They’re backing off.
Then he’d asked me to stay.
I hadn’t. Not because I didn’t want to, but because everything had happened so fast—the threat, the truth about gun running, waking up in his house with my world completely upsidedown. I’d told him I wanted him, that I believed in what we were building, but I needed time to process. To figure out what this new reality meant for us.
He’d let me go without argument. Just nodded, said he understood, and asked if he could call me later.
He had. Every day. We’d found our way back to each other and I wasn’t letting that go. We had dinner at his place one night, him showing up at mine with takeout the next. Still no sex. I wasn’t quite ready for that level of vulnerability yet, and he never pushed. Just meals and conversations and quiet evenings thatfelt like the foundation of something permanent. He’d become part of my routine so naturally that I couldn’t remember what my nights had looked like without him.
I picked the box up for the hundredth time, running my fingers over the smooth lettering Leather & Lace. Inside were two versions of the same commitment.
The question was: who did I want to be?
My phone buzzed with a text from Jacob:At the clubhouse dealing with some supply issues. Might run late. Start dinner without me.
I’ll wait,I texted back.Handle your business.
Thank you for understanding. I love you.
Love you too.
