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“Shit. That must have stuck in your craw, huh?” Copper asked with a smirk.
“Well, he nearly raped me, and the only reason it didn’t happen was because Maverick pissed him off enough to divert his attention. And that ended up with King burning the fuck out of Maverick’s arm, so yeah, I guess you can say it stuck in my craw, asshole.”
Whoops. Perhaps not the best time to get all snarky and belligerent.
Instead of reacting with anger or violence like she’d half expected, Copper chuckled. “Feisty, ain’t ya? Think I’m starting to see what Mav saw in you.”
She narrowed her eyes and bit her tongue. Past tense again.
Assholes.
“Here’s my real question. You could have ended this shit two months ago. You were right here in this fucking room. A fed, witness to a murder. You didn’t say a fucking word to the FBI then and obviously haven’t said anything since. Why?”
It was time to get real and admit she’d left the world of black and white months ago. “Two reasons. First, because he deserved it. He was responsible for the deaths of three teenage girls, and he’d have walked on those charges.”
Another chuckle. “That’s one of the reasons I had him killed. Hard to believe a fed would feel the same. Ain’t you supposed to believe in the system?”
A heaviness came over her. “I used to. Shit’s happened to change my mind.”
“Huh.” Copper leaned forward again. “And the second reason?”
She cocked her head and stared at him, pressing her lips into a thin line. It seemed too personal to voice.
“Ahh,” he said. “Guess I should thank Maverick for being so good with his cock.”
She flinched. Of course Copper would reduce it to that, reminding her all the women who’d been on the receiving end of Mav’s cock. “It was more than that,” she said through clenched teeth.
Copper studied her for a few moments before giving her one curt nod. “Yeah, I’m starting to think it might be. What happened after you went back to DC?”
“I was debriefed. For hours on end. And I lied. Then the bureau gave me two months off to heal. When I returned, I was told to come back here.”
“And like a good little fed doggie you trotted right down here, huh?”
She was getting sick of his attitude, which was ridiculous because, if that’s all that was hurled at her, she was pretty damn lucky. “If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else. Would you have preferred that?”
Copper grew quiet, studying his feet for a few moments. “You continued to lie since you got back here, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she answered in a small voice. Every answer was like admitting how much she loved Maverick only to have that love tossed in the trash like a bag of garbage.
“Guess in some twisted way, I owe you a thanks. Feds snuck anyone else in here, and I’d be sitting in a four-by-four cell right now.”
Was this a trap? Copper saying thank you seemed like the least likely thing to ever happen.
“Ain’t gonna give that to you, though.”
Ahh, there it was.
“Loyalty’s the most important thing in my club. That goes for the ol’ ladies, too. Lying ain’t loyalty. I want you gone. Your purse and suitcases are already in your car.”
Her heart stuttered. “Y-you’re not going to k-kill me?”
“No. You earned that for lying to your boss. And I can’t do that shit to Maverick. He’ll be fucked up enough as it is. Go straight to your car and get the fuck out of my life. Leave my boy the hell alone so he can get the fuck over you. You hear me? No calls, no texts. I want you to be nothing but a bad memory.”
The relief of being allowed to live was overshadowed by the tremendous pain of never seeing Maverick again. For the rest of her life, she’d regret the way this ended. Would he always wonder if any part of their relationship was real? That seemed almost as cruel as dying. “Will you…” She cleared her throat. “Will you tell him something for me?”
Zach scoffed while Copper grunted.
As good of a yes as she was going to get it, seemed. She looked Copper straight in the eye and spoke with as much conviction as possible. “Please tell him that he made the right choice all those years ago. And that he’s ruined me for anyone else.” She gave Copper a small smile and stood. “I’ll go now.”
With her heart still on the floor in The Box, just waiting to be washed down the drain, she climbed the stairs, walked through the woods, and right to her car.
She hadn’t realized she was crying until the clubhouse was no longer visible in her rearview mirror. The flood of tears made it impossible to drive safely, so she pulled over about three miles from the clubhouse.
