It was done. Those three words echoed in my mind, over and over and over, and still I couldn’t believe them. The tears slid down my cheeks, a downpour of raw emotion that I couldn’t escape.
I didn’t know how I’d done it, how I’d faced Vendetta at all, never mind with the words that left my mouth. How I pretended that nothing was wrong, that my entire body wasn’t wracked with fear as I faced him and said words I’d never thought I would voice out loud. I wasn’t sure how I pulled the trigger, but I had.
Diesel had listened to T-Bone and agreed on my plan. Sniper had hidden in the closet upstairs, and there were numerous men posted outside waiting. They hated the thought of me facing up to Vendetta, even if I was wearing a Kevlar vest.
I thought when Pike pulled the trigger I’d feel relief, but instead I fell apart. It was like everything I’d held inside me for the past few years rushed out. I was still sitting on the sofa watching as Pike spoke with his club brothers. It felt like I was outside looking in.
It was over. Three years of nightmares had ended.
“Come on, Chloe. We should get out of here,” Pike said, his voice pulling me back to the present.
I nodded, pushing my feet into the ground to get to my feet. I let him guide me towards the door but when he tried to shield me from what was left of Vendetta, I stopped and refused.
“You don’t have to, Chloe.” His jaw clenched tight, but his eyes burned with a silent desperation, asking me not to look.
But I had to. I needed to see this, to know that finally it was done. I looked at it all, absorbed the sight and the smell of his blood, of death. It was the face of the man who wanted to kill my daughter, and he was no more. The man who took Ashley from this world far too soon.
My hands balled into fists until my nails dug into my palms. I looked at his dead body until my eyes burned and then my vision blurred. I didn’t realize I was crying until Pike turned me to face him and I couldn’t see his face because it too was blurry.
“Come on.”
I nodded, letting him guide me out of the cabin. I stopped abruptly at the sight of so many bikers everywhere. Almost a dozen bikers lay dead on the ground, some with bullet wounds, others with their throats slashed, the blood soaked into the dirt making them a part of the land. Above them stood so many Steel Demons looking wary and badass with hands shoved in pockets, arms hanging loose at their sides and others with their weapons at the ready.
Just in case.
A breath caught in my throat as I took in all the death and all the destruction. It was all because of me. These men were dead because of me. It didn’t matter that they deserved it because they wanted to kill a sweet little girl who had a kindheart, what mattered in that moment was that they were dead and it was all my fault. The tears fell, hot and unstoppable.
It was a lot.
It was too much.
Pike pulled me close and I cried against his chest while one big hand rubbed circles on my back, and the other held the back of my neck. “You’re okay, Chloe. You’re safe, babe.” He kissed my head again, which only made me cry harder.
“You did it.” Diesel’s voice was deep. The pride in his voice forced me to tear myself away from Pike’s chest and look at the confident, powerful man. He flashed a sympathetic grin. “It was risky as fuck, but you did it. You pulled that shit off.”
I nodded as more tears spilled over my cheeks. “It had to be,” I started, stopping as a sob clogged the words in my throat. “I couldn’t let anyone else…” The words trailed off as the tears flowed and Pike held me close once again, supportive and strong.
He was the rock I didn’t even know I needed.
Diesel held his hand out and I took it, shaking it as firmly as I could. “Thank you,” I told him when I found my voice and then I looked around at the rest of the men, the bikers with their gazes trained on me. “Thank all of you for coming here to help. It means the world to me.” I shook my head, swiping away my tears. “I’m sorry I’ve been such a mess,” I said, which was, let’s be honest, a massive understatement. “And I am truly sorry for all the trouble I brought to your doorstep.” For a moment when I was waiting for Vendetta to arrive, I thought maybe I could stay in Steel City. Possibly with Pike.
But I realized how foolish that was. I’d caused too much trouble for these men and their families. Seeing me would only be a reminder of that.
“I’m sorry, but I will be eternally grateful to each of you.” I looked away, unable to take the kindness and pity in their eyes.
T-Bone stepped forward, a confused expression on his face. “You’re family,” he said, shaking his head. “This is what we do. We show up for each other however we can.”
His words literally knocked me back a step. I couldn’t believe it, hell I almost couldn’t understand it. These men were so different from the Ghost Riders MC in so many ways. Family meant something to them, it was important. It was how they were able to operate the way they did. They did what they did in the name of family and the fact that T-Bone, that the MC considered me one of them?
It tore me apart in an entirely different way.
Because T-Bone loved Faith, that protection extended to me and to Gemma. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Think about it,” Pike whispered in my ear. “And tell them later.” He kissed my temple and tugged me to the black van that idled at the cabin driveway. “Ready to go home?”
Home. I didn’t know what that was anymore. For three years I’d been living life under the radar. I didn’t have an address or a phone, no online presence, no friends. No life.
And now that had all changed. The ride back to Steel City was a blur of emotions and jumbled plans I’d never truly thought I’d get a chance to follow through. My body ran on fumes at that point, my brain was stuck in my other life where I was a victim and then a woman in hiding.
