Is that club something I want to be involved in?
Every step they took, it reminded me of all the decisions my father had made with his life. And look how that fucking turned out. The idea of losing Bender—of burying him—broke a piece of me inside that I didn’t understand to exist. I gripped my heart, wailing out my pain as the wind kicked up from the ocean. It swallowed my sobs, muting my pain from the rest of the world as if to protect me.
As if to give me a safe space to crumble.
“God, I hate this so much,” I choked out.
The club was exactly the kind of crew that had gotten my father killed. That gang life took him from me. It took away the one man that mattered most in my life, and the thought of bringing another man into my world that I adored only for him to be ripped away from me stirred up a sort of frustration that made it hard to breathe. I sat myself up. I tried to catch my breath as I pushed my way onto my feet. And after straightening my back, I reached my hands up to the sky to try and open up my lungs.
Because the last thing I needed was to pass out on the side of the road.
“Come on, you’ve got this,” I whispered. “You’re stronger than this, Aria.”
However, my phone ringing in my car caused me to make my way back to my seat.
“This is Aria,” I said listlessly as I picked up the phone, allowing the call to flow through my speakers.
“Can you fucking believe them!?” Nadia shrieked.
I winced at the pitch of her voice. “Uh, come again?”
“I just—who the hell do they think they are? Rambo? The Avengers? Who the hell told them that any of this was necessary?”
I closed my eyes. “You gotta give me a second to catch up. What are you talking about?”
“Have you not talked to Bender? Do you not know what they’re about to do tonight with Heist!?”
And that was when it clicked. “Your hook-up with one of those guys wasn’t just a hook-up, was it?”
Hearing my sister cry caused me to slam my door closed and ease my way back onto the road. “Why are they doing this? I don’t get it. They own, like, six other clubs in Twin Bays alone. Who the fuck cares if it’s their moneymaker?”
I snickered as I got myself turned around. “Are you at the shelter?”
She sniffled. “Yeah. In my office.”
“I’m picking up milkshakes and I’m on my way. But you’re right. You have every right to feel the way you do because I feel the same way.”
“It’s just Dad all over again. I mean, does this mean I have to burn his fucking clothes before roasting marshmallows just to make myself feel better?”
I barked with laughter. “Damn it, what the hell are our lives?”
And as I took a hard right to get onto the main road that ran right by the shelter, I drew in a deep breath.
“How did the hooking up start? If you don’t mind me asking,” I said.
Nadia groaned. “Honestly? It started after you left for school. Him and I actually dated for a little while.”
“Before…?”
“Yeah. Before my marriage. And it was this same sort of thing, right? I saw the signs. I saw all of the shit that reminded me of my past and Dad and I just… bolted. I didn’t want to deal with it. I simply couldn’t. I was tired of attracting that kind of person into my life.”
“Hey, no one can blame you for that.”
She sniffled. “I know they’re good men, Aria. I know that the Steel Scorpions are good, or even great, men. But Dad hurt. Burying Dad hurt like a bitch. Watching him get hauled off in handcuffs is something that will forever be emblazoned into my memories. And you mean to tell me that I can’t even get away from that shit in my love life?”
I pulled into the first fast-food joint I came to. “It makes total sense.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry, I just—I didn’t know who else to call.”
