Page 51 of Finn's Future

Everyone was already there.

Keno leaned against the wall, jaw tight. Riot sat motionless beside Link while security footage played across the laptop screen. Reaper stood at the head of the table, arms folded across his chest.

The tension in the room hit like a fist to the throat.

Reaper didn’t waste time. “Car’s been spotted circling the block a few times.” His gaze locked on me. “Same sedan me and Lucy saw yesterday when we took Kate and the kid into town.”

Heat rushed through me.

“We think it’s her parents.”

Kate’s bruises flashed through my head. The way she’d flinched that first night. The fear in her eyes whenever somebody knocked unexpectedly.

Nowhere is safe.

Rage hit so hard, my vision blurred and before Reaper even finished talking, I was moving. The war room door slammed open behind me as I stormed through the clubhouse.

“Finn,” Reaper barked after me. “Stand the fuck down.”

I ignored him, I couldn’t stop, fury pushed me forward. The prospect at gate duty looked startled when he saw me coming.

“Open it,” I snapped.

He barely got the gate moving before I shoved through it.

The sedan sat near the curb outside the lot, its engine idling quietly. I saw them immediately. Older. Worn down. But their eyes were cold. Cruel. The kind of eyes that left bruises people learned to hide. I stormed toward the car before I even realized what I was shouting.

“You think you can come around here?” I roared. “Think you can touch her again? Touch that kid?”

The man behind the wheel stiffened. The woman grabbed his arm, and the sedan lurched forward. Tires screeched against the pavement as they tore away from the curb. I grabbed the nearest rock and hurled it after them, but it fell short. It didn't help the rage burning through me either. My chest heaved as I stared after the disappearing car. I wanted to chase them. Drag them out through the windows and make them understand exactly what they’d done to her.

Boots pounded behind me.

Reaper.

Keno.

Riot.

“Goddammit, Finn,” Reaper snapped the second he reached me. “You storm out here like that again and you’ll start a war before we even know who we’re dealing with.”

I barely heard him. All I could see was Kate, scared, bruised. Trying so damn hard to believe she was finally safe.

A cold promise settled deep in my chest. Nobody was putting their hands on her again.

Nobody.

“Finn,” Reaper barked, “take five and cool the fuck off.”

I dragged both hands over my face roughly and forced myself to turn away before I punched something.

“Check the perimeter,” Reaper ordered the others. “Make sure they didn’t circle back.”

I headed around the side of the clubhouse, needing space. Needing quiet. The second I was alone, I slid down the brick wall and dropped my head into my hands. I could still see their faces. The dead look in their eyes. My fists clenched tightly. Then Kate's bruises flashed through my head again. Dark marks wrapped around pale skin. Finger-shaped. Violent. They did that to her.

A slow burn spread through my chest until it felt impossible to breathe around it. They didn’t get to walk away from that. Didn’t get to keep breathing like nothing happened.

I’d make sure of it.