I shoved the thought down hard, curling my fists tight enough that my nails bit skin.
Maria draped a warm blanket around my shoulders and pressed a glass into my hand but didn’t let go. Her dark eyes scanned me, steady and unflinching. “Drink,” she said softly. “Then breathe.”
I obeyed without thinking. The whiskey scorched down my throat, but the warmth of her hand was what steadied me. She studied me like a nurse, like a mother, like a woman who’d patched up more cuts and bruises than she could count.
When she finally turned to Jay, the shift in her tone was subtle but sharp. “Sit. Shirt off.”
He grumbled, but he obeyed. Maria pulled out a battered first aid kit, and as she cleaned the graze where the bullet had caught him, I froze at the sight of his blood and his hiss of pain. The sight of him bleeding made my hands shake even more.
It scared me worse than the gun that had almost killed him. Because for one terrible second, I thought I’d lost him too.
Finn came across slowly, looking to Jay before he approached me, and handed me another glass. “Drink.”
“Thanks,” I muttered, not looking at him, “but I need to get back to find a motel.”
Jay’s head turned sharply, and his stare pinned me in place. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Excuse me?”
He closed the space between us, the smell of smoke and leather clinging to him, the heat of his body radiating into mine. “It’s not safe. Word’s out you’re asking questions. They’ll come again.”
My throat closed. “I don’t have anywhere else to go.” Softer than I meant, barely audible under the hum of the room. But he heard. He always did.
His jaw flexed, his hand curling into a fist like he wanted to put it through a wall. “Then you stay here,” he said.
The room went dead silent. Brothers traded glances, some curious, some surprised.
“At the clubhouse?” I asked, half in disbelief.
His eyes locked on mine, cold and certain. “You think I’m letting you out of my sight after what happened? No one touches you under my roof. No one.”
A sharp laugh cracked the silence. Gabby leaned against the bar, red lips twisting. “Oh, this is rich. We running a shelter now, Reaper?”
Tension coiled like barbed wire. Jay didn’t even spare her a glance. “Shut it, Gabby.”
She smirked, stepping forward like she’d been waiting for this moment. “Careful, Reaper. Strays bite. Maybe she’s why you’re distracted. Maybe she likes the attention.” Her gaze slid over me, slow and poisonous.
My blood heated, fists clenching, but Jay moved first.
He was in Gabby’s space in a heartbeat, looming over her, his voice loud and lethal. “One more word about her, and you’ll be spitting blood and teeth on this floor.”
Gabby’s smirk cracked, only for an instant. Her eyes darted, calculating. Then she rolled her shoulders back, masking it with an eyeroll as she stepped away. But the damage was done, and the brothers saw it.
Jay turned back to me, the storm in his face softening for the first time all night. His voice dropped, meant only for me.
“You’re staying here,” he said again, quieter but unshakable. “That’s final.”
Chapter 38
Lucy
Icurled up on the sofa in the corner of the room, needing to get to bed but unsure which room was mine. Maria had brought over a cushion, and I’d let myself drift off, happy with the knowledge that I was somewhat safe in the club with Jay watching over me. It wasn’t long before I was awoken by shrill laughter coming from Gabby’s table. I scrubbed at my face and looked around, Jay and Riot were perched at the bar, talking low, though his eyes were on me. Maria came across with a coffee, touching my arm gently. I smiled gratefully.
Across the room, Gabby was watching. Her lips curled into something between a sneer and a smile. “Touching,” she drawled loud enough for the nearest tables to hear. “Guess some people will take pity on anyone these days.”
A few of the other women glanced over, though not with the same poison, but with a flicker of curiosity, maybe even sympathy.
“Pity? That’s rich coming from the woman who sold me out to the Fangs. You wanna sneer, Gabby? Maybe tell the boys here how many times you’ve whispered into the wrong ears andspread your legs in the wrong rooms, just to hang on to scraps of attention from men who’ll never claim you.”
