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I rolled my eyes at Dante’s response.Expressing himself, my ass!

Not a second later, I heard them both burst out in a terrible rendition of the song—mine and Gabriella’s song—followed by hysterical laughter and bangs against the door.

“Come on out, lover boy!” Macbeth called.

“Don’t keep us waiting. Not when Vienna waits for you!” Dante cheerfully piled on, earning himself a cough filled cackle from his brother.

“Did someone say Vienna?” Crash called from down the hallway. Great. Just fucking fantastic. This was all I needed.

“No one said anything about Vienna!” I yelled back, shutting off the shower completely and stepping out, wrapping a towel around my hips as I did so.

“Oh, but he did. You should have heard him, Crash. Belting it out he was,” Macbeth said, and when I heard scuffling, I ripped the door open, only to find Trent and Chris slow dancing and screeching the song.

“I hate all of you,” I muttered, all the familiar faces of the club piled in the hallway to mock me.

“Whoa, whoa, slow down you crazy child,” Dante said, holding his hands up as though to ward me away.

“Fuck off,” I grinned.

“Tell me, Luke, if you’re so smart, why are you still so afraid?”

That was it then, every single one of them grabbed a partner and began singing at the top of their lungs, swinging eachother about in some ridiculous, fucked up version of ballroom dancing.

If you can’t beat them…

Whipping my towel off, draping it over my head like long hair, I jumped on Macbeth’s back and belted out the next lyrics. “But you know that when the truth is told, that you can get what you want, or you can just get old…”

“Get your fucking dick off my back mother fucker!” Macbeth screamed, bucking like a bronco.

I clung to his hair, refusing to be bucked off, clinging on for dear life as I sang the next line, screaming over his head. “You're gonna kick off before you even get halfway through, ooh when will you realise Vienna waits for you?”

Macbeth lurched backwards, knocking us both into the wall and the air straight out of my lungs. I fell to the floor in a messy, naked heap, glancing up at the rest of my club members.

“Well, brothers,” Dante said, pushing to the front. “Looks like Luke is dead. All hail… Vienna.”

Chapter 30

Gabriella

Now

The worst thing about this place was that it never truly settled.

There were moments where everything would go still, and for a few fragile seconds, you could almost convince yourself that peace had found its way in through the cracks. But it never lasted. The silence here was not gentle, not comforting, not the kind that invited rest. It was the kind that made the back of your neck prickle. The kind that felt like a held breath before something ugly happened.

Under my father, the clubhouse had never been warm, exactly, but it had been organised. There had been routine and a certain rhythm to the days that meant you could at least predict them.

Nico had taken that away. Since he stepped into power, everything felt wrong. The walls felt different. The air felt heavier.

I sat on the edge of my bed for a long time, staring at the dark window and trying not to think too hard about the fact that it had been empty again tonight. It was ridiculous, really.

After all these years, after everything that had happened between us and everything that stood between us still, I should have welcomed the distance.

Instead, I had found myself noticing every missing piece of him as though my body had built itself around his presence without ever asking my permission. And now, with him gone, I felt empty.

Even after the wine, even after the phone call, even after the way he had appeared at my balcony and looked at me like sin itself had taken human form, I had not been able to settle. My skin still felt too tight for my body. My thoughts kept circling the same dangerous places. His voice. His hands. The way he had said my name. The way he had looked at me as though he had every right to ruin me.

Eventually, I gave up on sleep entirely and slipped out of bed, wrapping my arms around myself as I moved quietly across the room and out into the hallway.