She bit her lip. “I don’t know if I can go inthere.”
I put my hand over hers. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I can have Crickett and Collin come to ourplace.”
She shook her head. “If Crickett needs us there then it is only right that we respect her wishes. Dad would have wanted us to all be in that houseanyway.”
We sat in the driveway in silence for a few minutes as Raine stared at her childhood home. “Did you know my mom and grandma were murdered here by mygrandfather?”
I knew the general story of what had happened to Raine’s family when she was a baby, but I didn’t know the smaller details like that. “Abel left that part out when he explained thingstome.”
Raine laughed. “He didn’t tell me either. I figured it out.” She blinked a few times before continuing, “How did Rave and Abel stay here after something sotragic?”
“Memories,” I answered. “All the wonderful memories they had there. You can’t let one tragedy define anything, not evenahome.”
“Explain,” shecommanded.
“Think about it, Raine. You had your first steps in this house. Abel probably snuck out of his bedroom window when he was a teenager to go meet up with your mom. All the family Christmases, birthdays, laughter, happiness—it all was contained in these four walls. It probably made him feel better knowing he would have all those memories with you as yougrewup.”
“We should move back in,” shestated.
I shifted in my seat to look at her more directly. “Are you sure?” The thought of all the money we had dumped into our home renovations was a little overwhelming, but I wasn’t going to fight her on this. Wherever Raine wanted to live was fine with me as long as I was byherside.
“No…I don’t know. It could just be the hormones. Fuck if I know.” She threw her hands in the air before yanking them through her long darkcurls.
“How ’bout we don’t make any rash decisions right now? Let’s just take this one day atatime.”
She gave me a weak smile. “Sounds like a plantome.”
Chapter9
Raine
We decided notto have a funeral for my dad; it wasn’t what he would have wanted. He would have done exactly what we did: went to the bar, took seats at the old bar top, and drank in his honor. One by one, each member of my father’s beloved club members took a shot and toasted to the memory of one of the most amazing men to ever wear the Unacceptables skull on his back and over hisheart.
I hated that he would have told us that enough blood had already been shed and that our thirst for vengeance shouldn’t be quenched, but he would have been right. It was the truth. Even though most of the guys didn’t agree, Ryder and Holt made the executive decision to not continue the war with the Sinners. If they came anywhere close to one of our members, they could do something about it, but our guys were not to pursue any more vigilante justice for the timebeing.
It was a fucking hard pill for me to swallow. I wanted to kill each one of them myself, but there was a time and a place for violence, and while honoring my father’s memory when we were not in danger was not the fucking timeforsure.
I sat behind the bar with Crickett like I had done ever since I could remember. We were mostly silent, talking to the guys now and then as they all paid their respects. Even though we didn’t say much, it was all right. We knew we were there for each other, two pillars of strength, united just like my father would have wanted ustobe.
While fighting back tears, Crickett grabbed my hand. “Do you remember the first day we met?” she asked, and Inodded.
I laughed a little thinking about my five-year-old self and how silly I had been that day. “I gave you a daisy and asked if you could be my new mommy.” I hadn’t thought about that memory inyears.
“I hope you know that very moment was when I saw the love and kindness in your father’s heart. I saw him lift you up high in the air and twirl you around as we picked you up from school, and right then I knew your father was special and loved you unconditionally. I fell in love with your family instantly. It wasn’t just him that stole my heart, it was the entire package, you included. I have never once felt like you weren’t supposed to be my daughter, and I don’t think I have ever truly expressed thattoyou.”
I sniffled, pulling my stepmom to me. “I love you, Mom.” They were four words I didn’t say often enough. I couldn’t even remember the last timeIhad.
“I love you too, my sweetRaine.”
Ryder
responsible for the entire situation.I had been so blinded by my own anger that I hadn’t seen what was obviously right in front of me. Of course it was too easy to find Raine. Of course one of Bear’s guys was in on it—it was entirely too easy to track where she was, to tail the transport vehicle. The first location wasn’t even on our radar in the beginning, so there was no need for the Sinners to move Raine. I should have fuckingseenit.
But it wasn’t just that. It went back to the time in the garage forever ago when a Sinners member came into the shop looking to buyHolt’sbike.
Red and Jesse were sitting off in the corner of the bar. I walked over, taking a seat next to them. With the whirlwind of the last few months, I had barely spoken to eitherofthem.
“How’re you holding up, kid?” Red asked before taking a shot of whiskey. They had about ten shot glasses lined up on the table, continually taking them and filling them back up. There was no way to know how many they had each thrown back at that point, but it was surely enough to kill ahorse.
