Page 22

I sob harder.

“Dammit, woman.” He hands me off to Powers, who wraps me up in his arms.

When I can finally catch my breath, I turn to Circus, who looks at me with such a tortured expression, it’s like a blade running across my stomach. “I’m not mad, okay? I just miss him.”

He leaves before I can say anything else, which is just as well. I’d likely dissolve into a puddle of tears again.

“He’ll be okay,” Kruger assures me, but I don’t know if that’s true or if he’s saying that to try and make me feel better.

“We’d better go before the cops get antsy.”

I nod and wipe my eyes, looking up at Powers. “I’m sorry, I’m always crying all over you.”

“What’s the point in having shoulders like these if not for a beautiful woman to cry on?”

“Excuse me while I go vomit.” Kruger gags, walking ahead of us. It makes me chuckle, which, given what I’m about to face, surprises me.

“Thank you, Powers, for everything. If I don’t get the chance to tell you later, know I loved being yours, even if it was only for a moment.”

He frowns, his grip tightening on me. “Why does it feel like you’re saying goodbye?”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen. I just know that it haunted me last time, never getting to tell you how much you meant to me, how much I’d wished I could have stayed. If this is it, I never want you to question that.”

“Fuck that. You aren’t going anywhere,” he snarls before his hands are in my hair and he’s kissing me almost brutally for daring to say such a thing. I wish I could promise him I could stay. I’d love nothing more than to figure out what this is between us. Something tells me it really could be epic. But fate has never been kind to me, and I don’t expect it to start now.

“Um, guys, Havoc wants to know what the holdup is. Cops are getting twitchy, and nobody likes a twitchy cop,” Con says reluctantly.

I pull away and put on what I hope is a brave face, though I feel like a lamb being led to slaughter. “I’m coming.”

I grip Powers’s hand as he leads me through the saloon and out the door. We make our way down to the gates, my heart racing like crazy. Sensing movement behind me, I turn and find Kruger and Midas following, and behind them are Dice and Kruger. I turn back around, tucking that feeling of not being alone away for later. Hopefully, it will keep me warm in those colder moments that inevitably seep in.

When we pass through the warehouse that holds the bikes, I brace my shoulders and lift my head, refusing to cower in defeat, regardless of how freaked out I am.

Havoc and G are standing there with their arms crossed, looking pissed off, when they turn to me.

“Lil, this is Officer Smith and Officer Jacks. They want to ask you a few questions.”

“Down at the station,” Officer Smith says, looking smug. And he would. This isn’t the first run-in I’ve had with the guy. He knows my role—or old role now, I guess—within the club, and treated me like I was a whore because of it. If he thought he could arrest me for solicitation, he wouldn’t have hesitated.

“You said nothing about going to the station,” G snaps.

I move closer, gently touching his arm to let him know it’s okay. The last thing we need is G getting arrested. Amity would lose her damn mind.

“What seems to be the problem, officer. Is this regarding my attack?”

“Attack?”

“Yes, I was attacked and left unconscious. If it wasn’t for a couple jumping in to help, I’m not sure I’d be here talking to you now.”

“Be that as it may, that’s not what we’re here to talk about. We are here to question you in conjunction with James Taylor.”

I flinch at his damn name again, unable to help myself. “What about him? I haven’t seen that odious man in years.”

“Yes, well, we’d like to question the accuracy of that, what with you being his wife and all.”

“I hate to break it to you, Officer Smith, when you seem to have so diligently done your homework, but he was never my husband.”

“Funny, we have evidence to prove differently. Now, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way.”