He takes a step back and lifts his chin defiantly, “You’re not in charge of shit, Rager,” he says as his hand moves to his back waistband. Almost before I realize what’s happening, he pulls out a gun and points it at Nova.
I don’t even hesitate. In one smooth motion, I pull my own gun from my leg holster and draw down on him. Aiming at his chest, I squeeze the trigger before he can get a shot off.
The shot catches him center mass. He goes down and struggles as a pool of bright red blood spills out beneath him. I move forward, with my gun still trained on him and watch him try to sit up with a look of absolute disbelief on his face. Within seconds he’s flat on his back, staring blankly up at the ceiling. He thought he had it all figured out and he sure as hell didn’t see this coming.
My old man squats down, as my club brothers move into a tight circle around me. He closes the older biker’s eyes and murmurs, “Sleep well, Darkness. I never meant to make you my enemy, you brought this on yourself.”
There is a moment of silence for this broken fallen man before Flint hands my old man a bed roll. My father uses it to cover his body. Respectful to the end, that’s always been his way, even with someone like Darkness.
Suddenly, Nova is pressing against my side. “I can’t believe he tried to kill me,” she says.
I pull her closer and murmur, “You’re safe now, darlin’. I’ve always got your back.”
Cray jerks his chin at me, “I got this, Mica. You take care of my niece.”
“Thanks,” I say. I turn Nova away without glancing back down at the man we couldn’t save from himself. We all move outside, leaving Cray and his crew to secure the cave. It should be an easy task since all our enemies are zip tied.
I stop just outside the entrance to give Weaver instructions. I can tell he’s too shaken to realize I just gunned down the man he was too terrified to disobey. I can see the fear he had for Darkness transferring to me in real time.
“Call this in. Report the weapons, the drugs, and the suspects you have in custody.”
“What about how I got here? How do I explain that?”
“You followed a tip, arrived on scene, and realized we were here trying to get my wife back. You witnessed Darkness try to shoot Nova and I was forced to shoot him in order to protect her. Don’t embellish the story. Keep it clean and stick to the exact same story no matter who asks. This isn’t complicated shit, Weaver.”
“Yeah, I get that. I’ll do exactly what you said and hope for the best.”
“We don’t fuck around hoping for the best. We create the success we want. If things go sideways, your one call needs to be to me. We have a club attorney to help sort shit out for you. Remember, you work for me now. That means we have your back for as long as you’re useful. Are we clear?”
“Yeah,” he whispers, nodding. “We’re clear.”
“Good. If we need to, we can come to the station later and give a statement. Or you can come to the clubhouse. Tell them Nova was too upset to stay. They won’t like that, but they’ll believe it.”
“They’ll believe it, mostly because it’s true,” Nova adds.
We walk out of the cave, and the night air hits us clean and cold. Nova tips her face up towards the sky and takes a deep breath. I keep my arm around her and let her have the moment.
“I’m taking you home,” I tell her.
I guide her to my bike, and we head out with my father, brothers, and cousin at my back. Her arms tighten around my waist, and she lays her cheek against my back.
My mind is conflicted about discovering my family are apparently victims of our own success in the biker community. I never would have thought that in a million years, because it feels like we’ve fought for everything we got in life. Darkness’s words about our family being successful echoes Cray’s reasoning for approaching my family for an arranged marriage with Nova. Family ties got the wife of my dreams but got her targeted for death as well. Success and danger are two sides of the same coin. I file that lesson away for future reference.
Chapter 16
Nova
The ride home is quiet. I press my cheek against Mica’s back and hold on. My mind is still blown by everything that happened. It feels impossible that Darkness would take out his hatred towards the Sons of Rage on me. It’s clear that his jealousy has been building for years before I came along.
If my gramps were alive, he’d be furious at Darkness for dragging old ladies into disputes. He always said that real men solve their problems face to face. I wish my gramps were still alive. I miss him so much.
As if he can sense what I’m thinking, Mica reaches around and rests his hand reassuringly against my leg for a brief second. I can’t help but think about how much my gramps would have liked Mica if he’d had a chance to really get to know him.
Mica’s club brothers peel off in different directions, but his family surrounds us in a traditional biker escort all the way to my grandfather’s house—which I realize now is mine.
Now the danger is over, it’s time to get on with life. After everything that happened, I felt it was important to see my grandfather’s legacy.
On the ride over, Mica’s family are all stone-faced, probably still confused and angry about all the hateful things Darkness said back at the cave.
