I shrugged. “Any space they own in this town that invites people to come party gives them a shot at preying on their own clients in order to rebuild their stash, so to speak. We can’t let them have the most popular club in the area. It’s dangerous.”
She pulled away from my touch. “What you’re about to do is dangerous.”
“It’s one of our major sources of income, Aria. We can’t just leave it behind. Plus, if we actually let them have it, it’ll make Bullet feel as if he can just come after everything we own. We have to take a stand.”
“So, the fact that you guys made money doing illegal shit out of the back of some club is more important than your safety? Is that what I’m hearing?”
My head fell back with a groan. “Aria, please, don’t do this right now.”
“Is this what I can expect while being with you every time I turn around? You guys just charging head-first into bullshit you would never allow me to do?”
I snapped my head upright. “Don’t you dare play that card. You know that the life you lead is different from the life I lead.”
“Different enough to keep us apart? To keep me worried all night, every night, for the rest of my life?”
I cupped both of her cheeks and pulled her close. “This is my club. This is my family, Aria. And this is what we do. I want you in my life. I want you at my side. But I can’t do that at the expense of the only family I’ve ever known. What if I told you to take a stance against Nadia? Would you do it?”
She wiggled out of my grip. “That’s different. Nadia isn’t about to start World War III because of some club she wants to own.”
I already knew where this was headed. “Aria, don’t. Just listen to me for a second.”
“You know what? Fine. If you want to choose darkness and illegal activities over a relationship you know is good for you, then that’s on you.”
I watched her dip into her car. “I’m not turning my back on family. Not again.”
And as she cranked up her car, she rolled down her window. “Then, let me make the choice for you. Then, you won’t have any regrets about choosing pussy over bros.”
The venom that fell from her lips broke my heart. I was falling for her. Hell, I had already fallen for her. But as she kicked up dust and dirt backing out of the parking lot, I didn’t have the energy to go after her. She didn’t strike me as the kind of girl that wanted to be chased anyway, so I simply stood there like a fucking idiot while her car sped off into the horizon.
Leaving me standing there, wondering if I’d ever see her again.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Then, I turned around and made my way back onto the porch.
Because I had a mind to clear before I geared up.
TWENTY-FOUR
ARIA
“God damn it!” I shrieked.
I stepped on the gas and sped down the road, not even looking at the clubhouse as it faded quickly into the distance. Anger unlike anything I had ever experienced bubbled its way through my veins. I felt duped, deceived. I felt like I had given Bender a part of myself that he never once thought about returning. Memories of my father with blood on his hands and his shirts wafted across my mind. Images of burning laundry in the fireplace before Nadia and I convinced Dad to let us roast marshmallows made me sick to my stomach.
I had to pull over and vomit off a cliff onto the beach below just to keep my head on straight.
“Why?” I asked brokenly as tears poured down my face.
As I sank to my knees on the side of the road, the waves crashing along the shoreline below soothed my aching soul. I allowed my heart to get in the way of things and I had completely forgotten that this was the lifestyle Bender had chosen for himself. Just like my father had chosen darkness over light. He’d never change, just like my father refused to change, and one of these days he’d die in prison.
Just like my father did.
“I can’t do this again,” I whispered as I shook my head. “I just can’t.”
He had chosen his path and I had chosen mine. As I tried to turn things over in my head, I simply couldn’t rationalize it to myself. I laid down on the side of the road while cars blasted by, leaving me in a field of dust they kicked up on their way out of town. I allowed myself to cry. I allowed myself to be weak. And as I clung to the effortless feeling of being carried away by the same waves that crashed beneath me, I got my stomach to settle back down.
While one question filtered its way through my mind.
