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I let her words take the hit on my chest. She’s angry and lashing out, but it doesn’t take the sting away. “We had to bring Mav in, he’s a business associate.”
“He’s more than that to me, Albert,” she yells. “At least, that’s what I thought.”
I trail my finger over her dressing table. “Where are you gonna go?”
She shrugs. “Away from this club. Away from you. I need a fresh start.”
“It won’t make the pain go away,” I tell her. “Love doesn’t just stop when you walk away.”
“He had younger siblings,” she mutters. “He helped to look after them. His mum needed the money he made to raise them.”
“Red, you’ve killed enough people to know most had families. If we worried about that before every kill, there would be a hell of a lot more bad people in this world.”
“I take down real bad people,” she spits angrily. “Rapists, Paedophiles . . . not Archer. Not men just trying to help their families. Not men like you or Mav.”
“Rapists and Paedophiles have families,” I argue. “Someone cares about them.”
“You know what I mean,” she hisses. “They’re hurting defenceless, vulnerable people.”
“Archer wanted to kill me and Meli.”
“In the beginning. He was just doing his job. But we gave him a better offer,” she yells. “He was on our side. You know what I think, Albert?” She looks into my eyes. “I think you were jealous and that’s why you did it.”
I hang my head and place my hands on my hips. “It was business.”
She moves closer. “So, you didn’t care I was fucking him?”
I look up, narrowing my eyes. “You weren’t.”
“Maybe I was. I guess you’ll never know.”
Anger burns through me as I clench my fists. “Is that why you sobbed beside his dead body?” I snarl. She grins, shoving more clothes into her bag. I slam my fist into the drywall, and it shatters into pieces, falling to the floor. She arches a brow, unfazed by my outburst. “So, what we have—”
She laughs. It’s cold, and her eyes are blazing with anger. “What we have?” she repeats. “Listen to yourself,” she sneers. “We have nothing, Albert. It was sex. Just sex. People like us, we don’t fall in love and live happily ever after. You’re kidding yourself if that’s what you thought would happen.”
I take a minute to process her words, then I compose myself, pushing the anger away. I nod. “You’re right.” Her smile fades slightly. “I was getting carried away.” I move to the door. “Arthur tells me you’re stepping away?”
“I can’t work with people I don’t trust,” she mutters.
“Makes sense,” I say. “We have Lauren now, and she’s got no kids to hold her back. Plus, she’s more . . . manageable.” I add a laugh. “Take care, Red.” And I walk out, closing the door behind me as calm as I can.
ROSEY
I stare at the closed door. This is what I wanted, to walk away, so why does it twist my heart so much? I shake my head to clear the thoughts racing there. I have Ollie to think about, and I can’t do that when Albert is taking up space in my head rent-free.
I finish packing and call Ollie. I’d left him a message already, telling him I have a plan, but this time, he picks up. “We’re leaving the MC,” I tell him.
“Where are we going?”
“I don’t know. We’ll find somewhere. A nice place where the air is fresher and it’s less . . . busy.”
“I don’t wanna leave London,” he snaps.
“Ollie, let’s talk about it face to face.”
“Fine. I’ll meet you at Nan’s place.”
I roll my eyes. The kid’s met her once, and now, she’s his go-to. “Fine,” I tell him, “I’m on my way.”
