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Sighing, I resign myself to complete honesty. “I don’t know exactly what the boys told you, but when we were attacked, it was pitch-dark in the room. We were outnumbered, and they had Dally and me on the floor so fast that I could barely wrap my head around what had happened before I was being struck from every angle. I knew if I didn’t act quickly, I would probably black out, leaving me completely helpless and jeopardizing the boys’ safety.” Swallowing hard once again, I study Winter’s face, looking for any shift in emotion. “The moment I saw a window of opportunity, I pulled out my ankle knife and stabbed the guy who was kicking me in the back. When he fell backward, that gave me a window into the larger picture. We were outnumbered, and I wasn’t sure if Dallas was even still alive. I could see that Knuckles was trying to fight off two people at once, so I just… I stabbed the person nearest me.”
Winter’s eyebrows press together in an expression of deep concern.
Shaking my head, I drop my gaze. “I stabbed him in the neck. I knew it would kill him, but all I could think about was how, if I didn’t do something, Knuckles might end up dead. He easily could have, too, if my thick head hadn’t gotten in the way of the other guy he was fighting. I think the guy was intending to hit Knuckles with the pipe, and my face just happened to be in the wrong place. The next thing I knew, I was sprawled on the floor, and Knuckles was staring down at me. I… I killed him, Winter, the man I stabbed in the neck, and Knuckles killed the one who hit me with the pipe.”
Suddenly desperate to make her understand, I look deep into her eyes. “But it wasn’t the same thing as what happened with Mac and the others we had to execute. This was self-defense.”
“Oh, Gabe.” Winter’s soft hand caresses my cheek. Her eyes fill with emotion, and I feel as though all I’ve done this past week is make her cry. And every one of her tears makes my chest tighten painfully. “You were worried I would leave you over that? I know it’s not the same as Mac, but more than that, I see things so differently now than I did then. I understand it all so much better. I know that what you do, you do to protect your family. I wouldn’t run over either of those things.”
Leaning in, she kisses me fiercely, and the tension in my chest releases in a flood of relief.
Winter giggles, drawing back slightly to look me in the eye. “But maybe next time, don’t try to stop a pipe with your face. I know you have a hard head and all, but I kind of like it without a bunch of dents.”
I can’t help but chuckle, though my ribs groan in protest. “Deal.”
Wrapping my arms around Winter’s waist, I pull her to me as best I can in my weakened state. What I can’t manage, she makes up for by sliding closer until our lips meet. I still feel as though someone’s run over me with a truck, but I don’t care. It feels so good to hold Winter, to know she wants to be with me. Fire sizzles through my veins, clearing my head in a way no pain medication can. My fiancée, the mother of my child, and she’s right here for me to appreciate.
And then someone screams.
My blood turns to ice at the horrifying sound coming from the nursery. And without hesitation, I leap from the bed. “Stay in here!” I command Winter as I burst through the door into the hall, my eyes wild as I search the dark hallway for what would scare Starla like that.
Dallas is already standing at his door, the same crazed expression I wear marring his face. Flickers of orange light dance across his face, and my heart hammers in my chest as I realize what that means.
“The porch is on fire!” Starla yells as she flies from the nursery.
From the far side of her room, I can see the same haunting orange glow.
“Fuck!” I shout, turning in preparation of hauling Winter from our room.
She’s already right beside me, her eyes wide with fear.
“Get to the garage door,” I order. With the porch on fire, that’s our only means of escape.
Everyone bolts at once, racing toward the door on the far side of the kitchen. Dally leads the way, knife in hand, unwilling to be caught off guard again in case this is a trap. But no one’s in the garage, and I order the girls into Winter’s car as I open the garage.
Starla pulls out her phone, calling 911 as Winter backs out onto the street. Meanwhile, Dallas and I dive for the garden hose attached to the side of the house. We fight the flames licking up the front door of the house. Already the porch is in shambles, the wooden swing a pile of broken debris covering the porch floor.
The fire department arrives in what feels like hours but is probably no more than a few minutes, and we step back as they get to work, putting out the fire before it can ruin the entire house. As they aggressively go after the flames, Dallas and I join the girls, who clamber from the car to watch from the end of the driveway as the tiny structure we called home belches black smoke into the night. Several curious neighbors come out onto their front lawns to see what’s happened.
Finally, the fire department manages to put out the last of the embers. Still, they insist we stand back until they clear the structure for any more possible danger.
“Who could have done this?” Winter breathes, her eyes round with terror.
I pull her close to me, cradling her against my chest as fury pounds through my veins. I don’t know who would do this, but I’m sure it’s the same people who attacked the boys and me at the clubhouse and slashed Winter’s tires. And I could kill them with my bare hand, whoever’s coming after us. When I do find out, I plan to rip them limb from limb.
“You think… it’s another club in the area?” Starla asks, her voice trembling.
As if sensing her distress, Dallas draws her close, and she doesn’t hesitate to accept the protection of his arms.Poor Starla, why wouldn’t her thoughts go to that?It kills me to see her so terrified. But I don’t know how that could be. The closest club to us is nearly an hour away in Boston. And they’re not one-percenters like we are. They wouldn’t come after a club that hasn’t even encroached on the territory.
“I don’t think so,” I say, trying to sound reassuring, though, at this point, I have no fucking clue.
“You think it’s John fucking with us?” Dallas suggests.
I frown, ignoring the way my temple throbs with the expression. “Maybe, but I doubt it. He doesn’t seem like the type to fuck with a good business plan. And we’re making his job a lot easier by being here.”
“Could it be Athena and the Blackmoor heirs trying to get revenge on me for what I did?” Her voice sounds so small and scared.
I pull her closer to me. “I don’t think that’s it either. If they said we were free to go as long as we stay out of Blackmoor, they wouldn’t go back on it. They might be pricks, but I think it’s safe to take them at their word.”
