“Goddamn it, Sunshine, get back here.” He said to her as she was retreating, “I didn’t mean…”
She whirled around. “You always mean what you say. Own it, Sebastian.” He was taken aback by the icy tone she used when she spoke his name; it made him feel unwell.
I want you until I’m dying from it. He wanted to yell. But she’d never believe him now.
If he’d kept his trap shut for the next year until she was of age, he could have confessed everything he’d been holding back. And now he’d fucked that clear through the skull.
Sighing, he faced the brick wall of the outside club, and he reared back a fist, hitting it repeatedly while yelling. “You fucking idiot.”
* * *
THE PRESENT
Seb inhaled the last of the smoke and tossed the butt into the fire, coming out of his thoughts with the same sick feeling he’d felt back then.
He’d broken his hand that night, and Sunny’s heart.
His hand had healed within six weeks, but he hadn’t been able to heal the rift between him and Sunny. No matter how many times he’d attempted to explain, she’d only looked through him like he no longer made her world move.
The adoration had vanished from her eyes.
But he missed most how he’d be the first person she’d go to. Happy, sad, and all the emotions in between. The days were agonizingly long without her, each second a reminder of his slow death.
Having started the efforts to get her back, and even if he had to bulldoze his way back into her heart, there was one thing Seb could promise: Sunny would belong to him soon.
Or she could deal with the consequences of his utter fucking insanity.
He rose from the foldable chair. During his deep dive into his misery, Alpha sent the club groupie back inside, and he came to their gathering. He was laughing with Saint as Seb turned to head inside.
But then they caught the increasing sounds of rapid pops! Pop! Pop!
Everyone dropped to the ground, seeking cover from the apparent gunfire that was coming from somewhere across the field near the fence.
“What the actual fuck?!” spat Alpha. “Who the fuck has the balls to shoot at us?”
Two good questions, and while the quick gunfire continued, Seb reached into his back pocket, tapped out a number, and alerted the gates to flood the area with lights.
The gunfire ceased when the lights flipped on and the group sprang to their feet.
They’d trained for this.
Their fathers had gotten the new brothers battle-ready, though they never expected a war to come to them. As a formation, Seb and his brothers pulled out their concealed weapons and headed for the fence line. Alpha barking orders like the Prez he was preparing to be.
NINE
Sunshine
The sound of quick gunfire brought Sunny out of a deep sleep, and she all but fell out of bed like she was attached to adrenaline-spiked springs.
An hour later, she rubbed her tired eyes as she discreetly watched Sebastian talking with her father. However, arguing without raised voices was more accurate.
Everyone was up. The older members had been called in, so the clubhouse was buzzing with activity.
From what she could glean from all the back-and-forth conversations, Seb and the other boys had given chase, like thoughtless idiots. Who gave chase to your attackers? They’d caught the guy, who turned out to be just a young boy, and now he was crying in Rider’s office, being interrogated by Lawless, the enforcer.
Though she was worried they had a shooter in their midst, it wasn’t the detail she was concentrating on, not when the two most important men in her life were having a head-to-head discussion, full-on scowls included.
“That’s not happening.” Her dad insisted, looking like he was seconds away from losing his shit.
