She took a deep breath, her chin lifting a touch as the sass re-entered her eyes.
“I love you, you dumb fucking asshole, so if you throw me away again, I’ll make your life a living hell. I’ll hunt you down, just to fuck up every fucking day for you!”
I literally felt like the world just brightened around me, like we were both filled with light and happiness, and that’s lame, I know. It’s just… she just gave me everything. She just fixed what I’d broken, with one borderline abusive and threatening statement.
“Fuck me that’s hot. I love you, V. Even if you tear me a new one daily, I’ll still fucking love ya. It’s you and me now, right? Well, and Nixie. Fuck! Nixie!”
I’d left her with Has without a fucking thought. Where the hell was she?
“What did you do with her? Rocket, if you rehomed her, I’ll fucking stab you in the throat!”
Whoa. Still hot, but fucking hell. I dug my phone out and could already see the messages waiting, because guess what, this number wasn’t a fucking secret after all. I’d been fooling myself this entire time.
“We have your dog,” I read out, starting to laugh.
“What?”
I turned the phone to show her. Obviously there was no name against the number, but it had to be someone at the club.
Unknown: We have your dog.
Me: What do I need to do to get her back?
V leaned over to watch my phone as those three dots danced.
Unknown: Be at Harley’s shop in one hour. Come alone. Well, you can bring V, but yeah… your little dog’s survival depends on you following these steps.
V started giggling. “Is that one of your brothers?”
Was it? They were still my brothers, weren’t they? They fucking waited for me, and more than that, they brought me back. They fucking dragged me right back to where I maybe belonged a little.
Harley’s shop looked dimlylit, the only business with the sign still lit up at this time of evening on a Friday evening, so we walked hand in hand to the door.
“If they wanna smack me around a bit, babe, just stand back and let them. It’s all part of club life, I promise.”
She laughed. “I’m not stopping a damn thing. You’re still on my shitlist too.”
I side-eyed her as we approached the door, and I used my free hand to grab the handle.
“What’s a guy gotta do to get off your shitlist? I’m assuming you have other lists?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but the lights flicked on inside the shop and we both fell silent.
There was a whole group of my brothers, and in the centre, was Caroline. She was cuddling Nixie, and looked perfectly at home surrounded by men who’d have terrified her not so long ago.
V
Ihad a feelingshenanigans were afoot here, but I followed Rocket inside, and pulled the door closed behind me. I couldn’t see Harley anywhere, but I recognised many faces, including Henley, Has-Been, Stag, and Micro. A sound behind me made me spin on my heel, and there was Harley, locking the door behind us. Uh oh.
There was something sinister in the air, and I didn’t like it. Hewasgoing to be welcomed back, right?
“Uh… is there a ransom for getting my pup back?” Rocket asked warily, and Caroline nodded serenely, backing up out of the circle, as Harley moved around the men to join her, tugging her back against his chest, ever protective.
“He was going through some stuff, so if you want to blame someone, blame me,” I said firmly, stepping almost in front of my man, as several of his brothers smirked at me.
“Yeah, we know exactly what was going on, love,” Has-Been said, smoothing his hands down the front of his cut. I saw a few of them doing similar things, almost like they were making ashow of their one item of their wardrobe that Rocket didn’t have anymore.
“You walked away from your club, man,” Grease said, shaking his head at Rocket, who had somehow put himself between me and his brothers again. Stubborn asshole.
