Page 108 of Grim

Sophia swallowed hard. “I want to see it.”

He nodded once. “Okay.”

They walked across the gravel together. The crunch under their boots sounded too loud in the quiet yard. The Saints were scattered around the property: Brick hauling lumber, Ghost sweeping debris, Vandal sorting through salvageable tools. All three paused when they saw Sophia.

Not staring. Not pitying. Just softening.

Lacey spotted her first.

“Sophia!” she called, jogging over with a blanket still draped around her shoulders. Her eyes were glossy, her smile trembling. “Come here.”

Sophia didn’t hesitate. She stepped into Lacey’s arms, letting the other woman hold her tight. Lacey smelled like strawberry lotion and laundry detergent, warm, familiar, safe.

“I’m so glad you’re home,” Lacey whispered.

Sophia’s voice cracked. “Me too.”

Grim looked away, jaw tight. He wasn’t used to seeing Sophia held by anyone else. It did something to him, something he didn’t have a name for yet.

Lacey pulled back, brushing Sophia’s hair behind her ear. “Come sit with me. You don’t need to be around all this noise.”

Sophia nodded, letting Lacey guide her to a bench near the clubhouse wall, far enough from the chaos, close enough to feel included.

Grim watched her settle, watched her tuck her legs under herself, watched her eyes track every sound like she was cataloging threats.

He hated it. He hated what they’d done to her. He hated that he couldn’t take it from her.

Stone’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“Calling Church.”

Grim tore his eyes from Sophia and followed the others inside.

The meeting room was half-gutted: scorch marks on the walls, a missing section of the floor, the table covered in ash. But the chairs were still there. The gavel. The patches on the wall.

The heart of the club was still beating.

Stone took his seat at the head of the table. Grim sat to his right. Havoc, Rook, Fish, and Ledger filled the rest as the other members followed in.

The room felt different now, quieter, heavier. Not with uncertainty, but with the weight of what they’d done. What they’d lost. What they still had to face.

Stone didn’t waste time.

“We need to talk about what comes next.”

The words settled over the table like dust.

Rook leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “We hit them. Hard. Spider’s dead. Half their crew is gone. They won’t recover from that.”

Havoc’s jaw flexed. “Switchblade got his justice.”

A low rumble of agreement moved through the room, not loud, not triumphant, just honest.

Fish’s voice was quieter. “Justice doesn’t mean the threat’s gone.”

Ledger tapped a folder on the table. “He’s right. The Reapers weren’t running this alone. They don’t have the manpower or the brains. Someone else is backing them.”

Grim’s jaw tightened. “Viper.”