“Good. Now go get me information that will destroy that fucking club.” He walks over to the door, pausing with his hand on the handle. “You’d do best to remember how understanding I’ve been in all this. It won’t happen if you try this again.”
At that, he swings the door open and strides out.
A moment later, an agent steps inside with Charlie in her arms, and I run to her. Charlie is crying, her mouth searching because she’s hungry. I wrap her in my arms and hum until she settles. But there’s no relief.
No hope.
To protect her, I have to destroy her father.
I have to destroy myself.
22
Soul
The roar of motorcyclesnears, but I don’t take my eyes off the federal facility ahead of me. They’re in there, but I can’t get to them. I promised Emery I would protect her and Charlie, and the second I left the compound, Zane sent his fucking friends after them.
Chaos rolls to a stop beside me, cutting his engine as Venom stops at my other side.
“Figured this is where we’d find you.” Chaos hangs his helmet on his handlebars, dragging a hand through his hair. “So what’s the plan? We storming the Feds?”
“I’m down.” Venom chuckles, climbing off his bike. “Always figured I’d go out in a shower of bullets anyway.”
“Amen, brother,” Chaos agrees.
“They’ve had eyes on me since I pulled up.” I tip my chin toward the two agents guarding the door. “I hate that they’re in there, and I can’t fucking get to them.”
I’ve been sitting outside the building since Tanner arrived at the compound and cut off all hope. He lectured Steel on why we can’t do anything about them taking Emery, saying we needed to wait and see how this plays out. Those words lit a fire in my veins. I couldn’t sit still any longer, so I left.
At least here, Emery and Charlie are close.
My family.
This is exactly why I never saw myself having one. To get to the club, they always go through our families. Emery is Zane’s niece, but she’s my wife. I put this target on her back.
I press my palm to my chest, but it does nothing to ease the knot. I’m fucking unraveling.
“I’m surprised Steel let you follow me,” I say, trying to think about anything other than the assholes watching from the building. “You realize if they decide us being here is a problem, there’s nothing stopping them from locking us up for as long as they like.”
“It’s not going down like that today; I promised Willa I’d come home to her,” Chaos says, sounding more certain than I feel. “But I’m not leaving you out here alone either. So we’re figuring out something else. Besides, I brought backup if someone needs to play the hero. We all know it’s his favorite thing.”
Venom chuckles. “Someone has to be a fucking hero if you assholes won’t do it.”
“Looks like we’re about to get our chance.” My fingers clench as a familiar figure exits the building.
Zane’s grin is as smug as ever. He fixes his tie, then brushes his hands down his perfectly ironed suit. Guards surround him on both sides, with two trailing behind him. If I had to guess, there are more we can’t see, watching from a distance.
He doesn’t go anywhere unprotected, and he had to know we’d be out here waiting for him.
Instead of walking to his car, where his driver is waiting, he heads our way. I hate that his arms hang relaxed at his sides. Like he didn’t just have his buddies take my wife and child away from me. Like none of this fucking matters to him.
It probably doesn’t.
Emery isn’t his family—she doesn’t mean anything to him. She’s a pawn in this game. And today was proof he still has the upper hand, whether I like it or not.
“No Steel today?” Zane pauses, assessing us.
I’m tempted to pull out a blade and shove it through his carotid, but I resist for my family’s sake.
