AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I nod, knowing now more than ever that we can’t be too careful.
“So, what can you tell us then?” Orion asks.
I can feel the tension coming off Salem in waves. But before Zig or I can say anything, Crew jumps in. “How about you back off for a minute? You have no idea what they’ve been through, Salem in particular. Let them eat their fucking pizza.”
Everyone shuts up at that. Salem looks over at Crew and offers him a grateful smile.
“Fuck. Sorry. I can leave the MC at home, but being president means I take the asshole gene with me everywhere I go,” Orion admits, looking ashamed, making Luna laugh.
Salem coughs and clears her throat. “It’s okay,” she tells him softly. “I understand wanting to protect your family. I’m just scared that when I bring everything to light, you’ll be in more danger than if I left you in the dark.”
Orion watches her, tilting his head as if trying to read her. “Alright, how about this, we take Crew’s advice and eat, then you tell us what you’re comfortable with?”
She nods. “Okay.”
“You should know that these guys aren’t that different from my brothers back at the MC. They’re a family—a family stronger than blood because they chose to be. And if Oz and Zig care about you as much as they seem to, then they’re your family now too. And, sweetheart, I can tell just by looking at you that that’s what you need right now more than anything.”
She holds his eyes as a tear runs down her cheek before she turns to look at the other guys in the circle. I watch them watching her and see the same protective urges rise in them that rose in Zig and me. Salem is an odd mix of fragile and broken and strong and defiant. Men like us are drawn to this mixture like moths to a flame.
We all dig into our food as quiet chatter resumes. Zig looks over at me. He’s been surprisingly quiet since we sat down—actually, since we’ve been back. Maybe it’s because I’ve been so used to it being just the three of us that I’m noticing it now.
“You good?” I ask him quietly.
He nods, looking over at our men. I get it. He doesn’t want to leave. We will if we have to, but if we can find a way to make it safe to stay, that’s what we’d rather do. Orion is right. Salem needs a family. She needs more than just two people at her back, and with our ties to Carnage, she’ll get a hell of a lot more brothers than she ever expected.
“I forgot how good pizza is.” Salem moans between us.
I take a bite of my own pizza and groan in satisfaction. “Oh, my precious, how I missed you,” I whisper to the cheesy goodness.
“Would you like a minute alone with it?” Halo asks with a straight face.
I sigh and shake my head. “I wouldn’t want my girl to get jealous.”
“You do what you’ve got to do. Your girl totally gets it,” Salem replies around a mouthful of pizza, making everyone laugh.
Everyone relaxes a little more until all the pizza is gone, and Salem looks like she’s about to slip into a food coma. “I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to walk again. Though I could use a drink.”
“I’ll grab one for you,” Greg offers. “We have soda, water, milk, OJ, mango juice—”
“Anything but mango juice.” Salem shudders. “I think I might be done with mangos for a while.”
“I sense a story there,” Luna says.
Salem nods before looking at me. “Should you go first or me?”
“I’ll go first. You can jump in when you want to,” I offer, giving her a little time to get herself together.
She slips one hand into mine and the other into Zig’s.
“We got a government job. A retrieval from the cartel. They told us that Salem Harris worked for them and was trapped within the confines of the cartel and unreachable.”
“You work for the government?” Orion frowns at Salem, who shakes her head.
“No. Definitely not.”
Orion doesn’t look convinced.
“You’re welcome to leave, Orion. Like you pointed out, it’s not really your business anyway,” Zig snaps at him, having obviously caught the same look I did.
