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King stood and glared down at Ronin. “There might not be a spot in heaven for me, but I know there’s one in the deepest pits of hell for you.”
The gunshot was so damned loud it caused his whole body to jerk. He couldn’t breathe as he watched his brother’s body fall to the ground. As he watched the blood splatter all over the gravel.
“What the fuck, Ares?” Someone snapped.
“What? King was obviously trying to talk him to death. I got tired of waiting.”
Jace didn’t know he’d made a sound until everyone jerked around to look at him. He was stuck staring at Ronin. Or what was left of him.
Ares stepped in front of him, cutting off his view of Ronin’s body.
Jace jerked his head up and staring into those dark blues hurt like hell.
He couldn’t…
Was this who Ares truly was? Where had his Ares gone? How could he kill so easily? How could he…?
“Jace,” Ares said in a soft, almost pleading voice as he took a step toward him.
He couldn’t talk. Couldn’t get out the words. It just… it hurt too much.
He shook his head, hating the defeated look in Ares’ eyes. He felt tears filling his own and turned on his heels, running to his bike. He dug the key out of his front pocket and got the bike started. He took off without looking back because he wasn’t sure he could make himself leave if he did, and he needed to go. He needed time to make sense of it all.
It hadn’t happened the way he’d thought it would, but he was truly free from Ronin now. Ares had set him free. He just wished that it had been different. He wished… he wished for a lot of things to have been different.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Ares
HE’D DONE it. He’d actually done it. The Henchmen were no more. Ronin was dead. They’d established a new club. They were now the King’s Disciples Motorcycle club. He should be celebrating, but he couldn’t. Not when Jace was gone.
When Jace had seen him kill his brother, he’d taken off. He’d gotten on his bike, and he’d run away. Ares couldn’t blame him.
Jace hadn’t been hard to find. It wasn’t like he’d gone far. He was working in a small diner in a town less than an hour away.
Ares watched him from across the street, leaning back against his bike. His gaze stayed on Jace as he moved through the diner, walking from table to table with a coffee pot.
The smile on Jace’s face was polite but not fake. Not like it had been so often back when Ronin was around.
He wished he could regret killing Ronin for Jace’s sake, but he couldn’t. Killing that asshole had been the easiest thing he’d ever done. That was a life he would never feel bad for taking. His only regret was hurting Jace by doing it. Despite the shit Ronin put Jace through, he was still his brother, and he’d killed him. He understood why Jace would run away from him.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. Griff, most likely.
He ignored it, keeping his eyes on Jace. He wanted to take in as much of him as he could. He needed to see as much of that smile as possible, because he knew he’d have to leave soon. His brothers needed him.
When they’d taken out the Henchmen, they’d lost a brother. Pope. He’d left behind his old lady and their little girl. Pope’s best friend, Texas, was a complete mess, but he trusted Diesel to pull him out of it or ask for help if he couldn’t.
Roadkill had nearly bitten the bullet, too, but Doc had patched him up and he’d be just fine. He’d added a few more scars to his body but that was nothing new. He’d gotten that road name for a reason.
In all honesty, he wasn’t sure he was much better off than Texas. Not with Jace gone. He had to keep his head high and be strong for his brothers and his club. They had much to do. They needed to build their new club almost from the ground up.
The door to the diner opened and Ares couldn’t breathe as he watched Jace step out. His hair was longer, blowing around in the wind. His cheeks were red, and he was smiling. He looked over his shoulder at the man and woman following him out the door and whatever he said made them all laugh.
He was too far away to hear it.
What he wouldn’t give to just hear Jace’s laugh again, but he knew he couldn’t. He needed to stay away. For Jace’s sake. Skinner had told him to let Jace go. To let Jace be the one to come back to him. He wasn’t sure if he even wanted that. Jace deserved more than he could give him. He deserved a life without crime and murder. He couldn’t just fuck up Jace’s life even more than he already had, especially not when he seemed happy.
He would leave Jace to find his happiness even if there was still a part of him that hoped Jace would someday come back to him. That he could be the one who made Jace happy.
He turned around and got on his bike, driving away from Jace and the farther he went from him, the bigger the hole in his heart became.
