Bella smacks him.
I laugh again. It comes easy. Natural. Unforced. And as I sit there, surrounded by people who have seen me at my worst and still made space for me without asking me to shrink or change or explain myself, I realize something quietly. I’m not watching anymore. I’m not analyzing. I’m not waiting for the moment this stops feeling real.
I’m just…here.
Existing. Part of it.
I’m not visiting.
I’m here.
The thought doesn’t scare me. It settles.
Cobra shifts again across the room. I feel it without looking. Anchor. Constant. I don’t need to check that he’s still there. I know.
I’m not leaving.
Not because I can’t.
Because I don’t want to.
And for the first time since all of this started, that choice doesn’t feel like something I’m trying to justify.
It just feels right.
Logan calls when Olivia is laughing.
That’s the first thing I notice. Not the phone vibrating in my pocket. Not the way Shadow’s head lifts across the room like he knows before anyone else does. Not the shift in the clubhouse air when a president’s number lights up a brother’s screen.
Her laugh.
Olivia sits on the couch with Mac, Kya, Brooke, and Emma, one leg tucked under her, one of the toddler gang’s toy cars in her hand because Mason shoved it at her like she’d been appointed keeper of all important things. Her hair is loose over one shoulder, her face turned toward Kya, mouth curved in a smile that looks more natural every day. She fits here now. She knows it too, even if she doesn’t say it much.
That makes the phone in my pocket feel heavier.
I answer before the second buzz finishes. “Yeah.”
Logan doesn’t waste time. “Supply warehouse got hit.”
I straighten from the wall. “What kind of hit?”
Olivia’s gaze flicks to me immediately.
“Not theft for quick cash. Selective. They knew what to take and what to burn.”
My eyes cut to Shadow. He’s already moving. “Connection?” I ask.
“Possible. Dom pulled overlap from one of the shell companies tied to the pipeline. Warehouse sits on a route cluster.”
That sharpens everything.Not a random hit. Not some asshole crew looking for parts. A move. Maybe against us. Maybe against the investigation. Maybe both.
Logan says, “Need eyes on it before cops or locals start sniffing.”
“Who’s coming?” No pause. No questions about why me. No question about whether I’m needed. I already know.
“Shadow, Joker, Hammer. Blaze is on standby here. I want you there because if there’s overlap, you’ll see it.” Logan’s voice lowers. “Cobra.”
“What?”
