She spins around so quickly it gives me whiplash. Her glare firmly planted on me. “Get. Out.”
I raise my hands in surrender, ignoring the amused smirk Ryder is darting my way. “Listen, it’s not safe. You… you know that, right? I just want all three of us stationed here until we can get you back home. Then we can—”
“This is my home,” she snaps, staggering a few steps back. “God! What the hell makes you think I’d want any of you here? You shouldn’t even fucking behere!”
Ryder frowns slightly, and I think a thought possesses him.
But all I can focus on is this beautiful, fierce woman who I never in a million years would’ve thought could talk like this.
I’m… gone.
“I get it, Charlotte,” I say softly. “But you need to understand you’re not safe here. Not with her back. Please, you’ve gotta know that.”
I see conflict and reluctant understanding dawning on her face. She lets out a slow, heavy breath. “I’m not stupid. I get it. But I’m… too wired up to make decisions.”
She looks up at Ryder then, who’s giving her a look I don’t like. A softness she’s never experienced from me, and I feel ruinously left out.
“Let’s just… talk tomorrow,” she says, her voice trembling. I can see the adrenaline crash taking over her.
“You sleep, love.” The bastard caresses her shoulder, nudging her toward her bedroom. “We’ll be here to talk next steps tomorrow.”
She nods numbly, dazedly making her way to her room. All while a raging, jealous heat climbs up my spine. He can call herlovewithout her scowling. He can fucking touch her without her flinching.
The moment Charlotte’s bedroom door clicks shut, a strange silence falls over the apartment. Too loud. Too fucking heavy.
I hear boots shuffle behind me, her main door locks. Wolf. He drops my keys into my palm. “Is she okay?”
I close my hand over them. “She’s… yeah. She’s fine.”
Ryder mutters beside me, arms crossed. “Physically, at least.”
The words hit like a slap, even if they’re said softly.
I grit my jaw, eyes dragging to the door she disappeared behind. I should’ve known, should’ve fucking caught myself before scaring her. That look on her face, that flinch. I don’t even realize I’m clenching the keys until they dig into my palm, biting through skin.
Wolf exhales, rubbing a hand over his face like he’s trying to scrub guilt from his pores. “What all did she tell you?”
“Everything Glory said,” Ryder says, rubbing his jaw absently. “And how she’s probably colluding with another club.”
“I swear to fucking God,” I growl, shoving my hands through my hair. “If any of them show up again—”
“Another club?” Wolf cuts in with a frown.
Ryder sighs, his jaw working. There’s something in his face that makes me pause. That edge, that dread.
I turn slowly. “What aren’t you saying?”
He blows out a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “The patch she drew. From memory.”
My heart stutters.
“I thought it was vague at first,” he says, tone grim. “But… I think I recognize it.”
Wolf lifts his head. “Who is it?”
Ryder meets my eyes, then Wolf’s—like he’d rather eat glass than say it. “It looked like Hell’s Army.”
Silence. Like something cold slithered into the room and took root in our lungs. I feel the blood drain from my face. My fingers go numb.
