Her lips parted softly in shock, her eyes wide and unblinking. “They really did that? Even knowing what it could cost them?”
“Yeah, they came through for you.” I leaned closer, cupping her cheek gently, forcing her to hold my gaze. “It doesn’t fix what they did or how they raised you, Hadley. But it proves there’s some small part of them capable of truly caring about your safety. Even if they can’t accept the life you want to lead, they’re putting your life first, at least this once.”
Hadley released a shaky breath, her eyes glistening, a storm of emotions swirling behind them. “I don’t know what to do with that. They bought me and raised me in a lie. How am I supposed to reconcile it?”
“You don’t have to forgive them, baby. Hell, you don’t even have to fully understand them.” I brushed my thumb across her cheek, grounding her. “But it’s okay to acknowledge that there’s some fragment of love beneath all the bullshit. They showed that tonight. Doesn’t mean your relationship won’t always bestrained, if you choose to have one with them going forward. But they cared enough to do this, knowing it could ruin them. I thought you deserved to know.”
She nodded, tears spilling down her cheeks. “I appreciate it. Really, I do. But it doesn’t change where I want to be, Thayer. I don’t belong with them. I never really did.”
I cupped her face gently between my palms, tilting her head back so her lips were lifted toward mine. “Where do you belong, baby?”
She smiled through her tears, her voice steady and certain as she reached up to hold my wrists, anchoring herself to me. “Right here. With you. Always with you.”
“Damn straight.” I leaned in and brushed a slow, possessive kiss over her lips, claiming her softly but completely. “You’re it for me, Hadley.”
She breathed a quiet laugh, the sound both relieved and tender as she whispered against my mouth, “Good. Because you’re it for me too. I love you, Thayer.”
My heart slammed against my ribs, emotion roaring through me like wildfire. I tightened my hold, dragging her flush against my chest and catching her mouth in a kiss that wasn’t gentle.
“I love you too,” I murmured roughly, my voice unyielding against her lips. “No matter what happens next, how many people try to interfere, or what truths we must face, nothing will change that. I won’t ever fucking let you go.”
She sank into me, her arms wrapping tightly around my neck, holding me as if she never intended to let go. Every part of me burned for her, and I knew without question—this woman was mine, now and forever. No lies, secrets, or outside threat would ever fucking change that.
17
CAGE
The heavy rumble of my Harley echoed off the cracked asphalt as the brothers rolled in formation behind me, our headlights slicing through the pitch-black night. I parked at the edge of the industrial district, feeling the familiar, adrenaline-spiked tension in my gut. We’d tracked the bastard here—the hired gun who thought he could put Hadley in his crosshairs and still breathe another day. Big fucking mistake.
The boys dismounted around me, their heavy boots hitting the ground in quiet thuds, lethal determination radiating off each man. Nitro was at my side instantly, his eyes narrowed. Edge moved silently into position beside Kane, his face set in a lethal mask, but a smirk twitched on his lips, betraying the slightly psychotic part of his personality.
“You sure this asshole’s here?” Edge drawled, a knife flipping easily through his fingers. “I hate leaving my woman’s bed in the middle of the night if we’re not about to spill some blood.”
Kane shot him a flat look. “Good to know you’d drag yourself away from Callie if I was dying.”
Edge shrugged. “Long as I’ve finished and she’s satisfied.”
Nitro let out an amused grunt. “Glad you got your priorities straight.”
Before another word was said, Jax stepped out of the shadows, his eyes cold with purpose. “Bastard’s here. Tracked his comms to this location ten minutes ago. He’s meeting someone for the money handoff.”
“Then we’re taking them both,” Kane decreed. “No loose ends.”
We moved forward in silence, spreading out as we approached the warehouse. I mentally replayed every threat they’d made against Hadley, and rage surged like molten steel through my veins. But I channeled it into calculated movement, every muscle ready.
The side door gave way beneath my boot with a satisfying crash, and we poured inside, guns drawn, eyes sharp and alert. Surprise flashed in the hit man’s face, an expression that quickly twisted into terror as he scrambled for the weapon on the desk. But he didn’t make it far. Nitro slammed him onto the concrete floor, driving a heavy knee between his shoulder blades, his gun pressed hard against his skull.
“Going somewhere?” Nitro taunted softly.
The hit man wheezed, frozen beneath the icy promise of violence radiating off Nitro.
Edge grabbed the other man, pinning him against the wall, his knife pressed casually to the bastard’s throat. “Nice to finally meet you in person. Too bad it’s about to get messy.”
“You don’t know who you’re fucking with,” the man spat, his eyes wide with fear he was unable to mask with false bravado.
Edge smiled coldly, pressing the blade a little harder, a thin line of blood trickling down the fucker’s neck. “Funny, I was about to tell you the same damn thing.”
I crouched beside the hit man, gripping his chin roughly to force his eyes up to mine. “You put Hadley in your sights.Thought you could threaten someone who belongs to the Redline Kings and keep breathing. Let me clear that up for you.”
