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Her eyes widened a fraction. She seemed surprised. “You need to check what out? You don’t believe what I told you?”
A headache clamped down over my skull. Too much shit had happened today, and I had a lot more to deal with now that I’d had this conversation with her. Ivy and I had history—a fuckload of it—but that didn’t mean I would simply take her word for this. I may have loved her once, but I’d learnt a long fucking time ago not to let love get in the way. These days I ran on distrust and gut instinct. “Did you ever know me to be a man who didn’t check shit out? Not even you could make me roll the fuck over and blindly believe something.” I yanked her arm. “Now move!” I barked as the pain in my head intensified.
“God, you’re a bastard!” At least she’d stopped resisting me and had taken a few steps towards the attic ladder.
“You already knew that. Were you expecting something different?” I wasn’t the man she’d known. Not anymore. And if she thought I was a bastard back then, she had a lot to learn about who I was now.
She chose not to answer that. Instead, she gave me one last filthy glare before following Hyde down the ladder. When I reached them a few moments later, he had her by the arm.
His eyes met mine. “You want me to take Ivy back to the clubhouse?”
My natural instinct was to keep her as close to me as possible, but I fought that. I needed to be smarter here. I knew if she stayed with me, it would likely fuck with my thinking. “Yeah, brother. I’ll meet you there. And can you send Nitro over to Nik’s to bring her back to the clubhouse?”
He nodded and headed outside. Ivy didn’t put up another fight. And she didn’t look back at me. She simply allowed Hyde to direct her movements.
Everyone had cleared the house, leaving me alone, which was a good thing. I fucking needed the space.
I sucked in a long breath and exhaled it harshly. Fucking Tony Romano. I’d never suspected he was behind all the shit going on. I’d heard the stories about his and Ivy’s marriage. That they were a volatile couple. It hadn’t surprised me, though. Not with the history she and I shared. But what she’d told us seemed extreme. Fuck, Tony ran an empire; he didn’t have time to be fucking around on a revenge mission.
Pulling out my phone, I dialled my sister Skylar. It went to voicemail. Fuck. She had a habit of missing my calls. Or fucking ignoring them.
I dialled her again, my chest tightening with the need for her to answer.
Voicemail again.
I stabbed at the phone to try her again.
She finally answered. “Jesus, King, I’m in the middle of studying for an exam here.”
I ignored her attitude. “And I’m in the middle of trying to save your
fucking life, Skye. Pack your shit up. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes to pick you up and take you to the clubhouse.”
“Ah, that would be a no. I have too much studying to do.”
I massaged my temple where my headache kicked at my head. “This isn’t up for negotiation. Take your books with you.”
“Why?”
Skylar’s twenty-four years were her downfall. She was too young and too sheltered to understand the darker parts of life. That was entirely my fault because I’d raised her that way. I’d fight every fucking minute of every fucking day to keep her sheltered, but the sooner she grew up and realised I knew best, the easier my life would be.
“Because I said the fuck so,” I barked, unable to keep my frustration in any longer. “Be ready when I get there.”
Without waiting for her reply, I ended the call and dialled my other sister, Annika.
She picked up straight away. “Hey.”
“Nik, I need you to pack up the kids and wait for Nitro to swing by your place. Some shit is going down with the club, and I want you all safe with me at the clubhouse tonight.”
Silence for a beat. And then—“Is this you being overprotective or is it for real?”
“Fuck, between you and Skye...,” I muttered. “I’m being deadly serious. Nitro is on his way. Be ready for him. I’ll see you at the clubhouse.”
Again, I hung up before she could attempt to argue with me. Today wasn’t the fucking day.
Images of Jen crumpling to the ground after that motherfucker put a bullet in her flooded my mind. Her eyes would haunt me forever.
The way they came to mine in disbelief.
