AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I take a deep breath and close my eyes tightly as I finally force the words out. “If it’s that simple, why hasn’t she just forgiven him yet? You said it yourself, he’s proving it every day, so why is she still struggling so hard and looks so damn lost every time I see her?”
He chuckles dryly. “Revenge is easy. Looking at someone who hurt you, accepting their faults and still choosing to forgive them, care about them, let them back in and give them the power to hurt you again. Well, that is a hell of a lot harder. You have to do work yourself. Let go of your own pain and anger. Accept that they weren’t perfect and put yourself on the line all over again. Look at how hard it was for you to forgive Scar after she left us.”
I drop his arm as his words resonate through my skull. Knocking every notion and feeling I had about this around and reconfiguring it all. It isn’t easy for me to just accept, but at least I have something to think about.
Ryder hops out of the truck and I take another moment before following suit. We still have a lot of work to get done before we can make it back home. I wonder if Scar would let me climb into her bed tonight. I smirk at the thought of her reaction.
Ry arches a brow, catching my moment of levity. “What’s so funny, Big Guy?”
“Just imagining how Scar would react if I climbed into her bed when we get home.”
His responding cackle lightens some of the load off my shoulders. “Girl will definitely be out for revenge. You’d wake up hogtied for sure.”
I shrug as I open the back doors to the club. “Worth it.” He nods his agreement as we make our way upstairs and into Rachel’s office. Even with coming here several times a week, it feels like every day we come, there’s more work than the day before. It’s all piling up in Rachel’s absence. But neither of us can complain about it when we know exactly why she can’t bear to be here.
We work side by side, mostly in silence unless there’s something we need to discuss. We’ve gotten into a fairly simple routine when we work here together. It keeps the business running smoothly even if we don’t have the same amount of time that Rachel and Alec had been dedicating to it.
It’s a few hours later when Ryder gets up from his chair and stretches while yawning. “How is it she doesn't have anyone else to count on within her own business?” he questions as the door once again closes behind a couple of Rachel’s underlings after we gave them their orders and resupplied them.
I shrug, not because I don’t think the answer matters. It’s just not something that I’ve never fully understood about Rachel or Alec either. Scar has always been closed off, but Rachel gives a whole new meaning to keeping her cards close to her chest.
“I’m surprised she’s even letting us help her,” I admit. We’ve gained a lot more intricate understanding of how her business operates through this whole ordeal. If there was any doubt about if she trusted us or not, there isn’t anymore. Our empires have crossed past being allies and are close to being merged at this point. Though I know both Scar and Rachel will always keep a clear line drawn. You can’t have two powerful women that get along as well as those two do without clear boundaries.
I look down at Rachel’s desk as Ryder begins organizing the papers to take to her to keep her apprised of the decisions we’ve made.
Ryder clears his throat. “Strange to think how far we’ve all come since we first met.”
I chuckle with him. I never would have expected for us to end up here. When I reconnected with Scar, I saw it as my second chance. A chance to be what she needed this time. A chance to have the life I never thought I deserved. I just never pictured it would lead us here. Running a drug empire while our ally was in mourning. Rachel had always seemed as untouchable as Scar to me. That nothing would ever get to her.
This bloody war just proved how wrong I was about that. Now I can’t imagine how Scar would be if she lost one of us. Would she walk away from this whole world completely? It’s not like she hasn’t done it before. Create a new identity and try a new life and hope for happiness to find her in the third try? I don’t think so.
Rachel is pouring her everything into revenge, that’s exactly what Scar would do too. She wouldn’t stop until she got it. The difference is Rachel doesn’t need this part of her empire to get it, she just needs Scar. So at Scar’s side she will remain until they both get their vengeance on the man behind both of their downfalls. If Romano wasn’t such a piece of shit, I may even feel bad for the guy for what he has coming.
Chapter Seven Scar
“I brought coffee,”I announce loudly before pushing in through Jade’s bedroom door. It’s always a risk, but there’s no way those idiots didn’t hear me coming. I made more noise than should be humanly possible as I let myself in.
If I do catch them unaware, Ian will spend the next forty-eight hours straight in intensive training. I might just move in too. If he’s that inept at keeping her safe, he could use my help.
Ahh, alas. Everyone is clothed and not at all surprised to see me. Though Jade only grumbles when she sees me, hardly even opening her eyes as she makes grabby hands for the coffee. I put mine down on the side table so I don’t drop any of the three drinks before handing hers to her. Another dark head of hair pops up from the covers where she was leaning against Jade’s shoulder.
“Sorry, Ian. I guess no coffee for you,” I say.
He flips me off. “Don’t act like you ordered that for me anyways. We all know it's an extra hot caramel macchiato with more espresso than should be legally allowed to sell.”
Someone is grumpy in the morning. “Well, you could have had it if Rachel wasn’t here.”
I hand the other cup in my hand to her and she gives me a grateful smile. We all ignore her puffy and swollen eyes and the fact that she can barely stand to be in the home her and Alec shared for so many years.
I grab my iced coffee and start crawling into bed on Rachel’s other side. Jade pushes against Ian to make room for me. He grumbles the whole time about how it’s too early for this many women to be in his bed.
Jade scoffs, “You’ve never complained before.”
He pinches her side before rolling over and pulling the covers over his head and ignoring us as he tries to fall back asleep.
Good luck with that.
Rachel scooches up into a semi-sitting position and both Jade and I take it as an invitation to rest our heads on her shoulders. We stay silent as we consume our coffee and I let both of them wake up a little bit before going into more pressing matters.
