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Closing my eyes, I kept my mouth shut. I always believed him when he said he had things under control. But for once, I couldn’t help wondering if he really did have this. Things were bad right now. Worse than I’d ever seen them in my entire life. This wasn’t like when Westcliffe revolted and Jet went to prison. People I loved were getting hurt, were dying. Fontana was out for blood, and he was getting it at the expense of innocents.
“Baby?”
“Hmm?” I muttered, pressing my forehead against his massive arm.
“Just trust me for a little longer. I’ll make them all pay.” He shifted, moving the arm I was leaning against around my shoulders and pulling me against his side. Placing my head on his chest, I listened to the soothing beat of his heart. “I’ll deal with Fontana and the rest of those motherfuckers.”
“I do trust you,” I assured him. “And I know you’ll take care of them. I’m just worried how much more blood will be spilled before then.”
He inhaled deeply and slowly released it. “I don’t know, babe. I can’t predict what their next move will be. All I can do is promise that you and the kids will be safe.”
Kissing the spot on his cut over his heart, I pushed to my feet. “Right now, you can’t promise that, Bash. Look what happened to our daughter. Last night, we could have had three bodies in the morgue if Rory hadn’t acted so quickly. I don’t want more promises. I just want this all to be over so we can actually live our lives again.”
Grasping hold of my wrists, he pulled me down onto his lap. Lifting my chin with his forefinger and thumb, he made me meet his gaze. “I’m making the promise, Raven. You and Lexa and Max will be safe. Because I’ve got this. And I’m going to end it. Soon.”
“Bash—” I started to argue, but his mouth crashed down on mine, stealing my breath and my ability to think rationally.
When he lifted his head a long while later, he was breathing just as hard as I was, but the look in his eyes broke my heart. My big, strong beast of a husband was close to the brink. Tears he refused to let fall glazed his magnetic blue eyes. I felt the slight tremor that ran through his body as he pressed his forehead against my own. “I love you, and I will do everything within my power to make sure the three of you are untouched by this shit.”
“I want to help you. Let me do something. Anything. Big or small, I don’t care. I just need to be able to help in some way.”
He brushed another kiss over my lips, this one softer, sweeter. “You staying where I know you will be safe is all you can do for me right now, baby. Please, just do that for me. I’ve got so much else to worry about right now, don’t make me stress over you too.”
I pressed my lips together, unable to promise him that. I wasn’t going to lie to him, but he didn’t need to know what I had planned for when Bubbles and I had our reunion. I knew he and Spider wanted to deal with her, but she was mine. After nearly taking Max from me, the bitch was going to pay at my own hand and no one else’s.
“Okay. I’ll stay out of your way where this is concerned,” I assured him after a moment. “Just don’t go getting yourself shot or dead. Because if I lost you, I don’t know what I would do.”
He squeezed his arms around me. “Nothing and no one would dare take me away from you, Raven. Even the devil is afraid of you, baby.”
A laugh escaped me, and I buried my face in his cut. “I really do love you.”
“I really do love you too, Rave.”
We sat like that for a long whi
le, soaking up the feel of each other, savoring a moment in time that was just ours. We didn’t let ourselves think about the events of the night before or what might happen in the coming days and weeks. My eyes became heavy, and I started to drift off, only to be jerked awake when I heard my brother calling for me.
“Raven?” Jet yelled. “Where the fuck are you?”
Groaning, I touched my lips to Bash’s neck and then pushed out of his arms. “Over here,” I called, getting to my feet.
As soon as I saw Jet’s face, I knew something was wrong. I moved so fast, Bash jumped up, following right on my heels as I met my brother halfway. “What’s wrong?” I demanded, my eyes scanning over him, looking for any possible signs of harm.
“It’s Felicity,” he bit out, his jaw clenched to hold his emotions in check. “She’s crying, and I can’t get her to stop. Can you come talk to her? Or something? Fuck, anything. Just make those sounds coming out of her stop before I start tearing this place apart.”
“Where is she?” I demanded, already running toward the clubhouse.
“In our room,” he called after me, following behind. “She’s killing me with those little sobs. I didn’t know what to do but get you.”
I sprinted through the clubhouse back to the bedrooms, trying to avoid colliding with anyone in my way. Most saw Jet and me coming and rushed to get out of our way.
“What’s wrong?” Aggie cried out.
“It’s fine,” I told her, unsure if I was lying to her or not.
I could hear Flick crying before I reached their bedroom door. Opening the door, I found my best friend lying across the bed, holding one of the pillows to her chest as she sobbed so hard her entire body shook from it. Seeing her like this, I could understand why Jet was so upset.
Flick never let go like this, which wasn’t a good thing. She kept things locked up just as much as I did, but she was more of an emotional person than me. She needed to express herself, show the world what she was feeling. Otherwise, her heart wilted and broke too easily. It was what had cost me so much time with her. Why she had run away to live with another family and none of us knew where the fuck she was for so long.
