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Before Teagan and Elio got married, she overheard a conversation between two men who were talking about offing ‘the boss’. She had no idea who ‘the boss’ was or who the men were even talking about, but she heard enough that the men were worried and saw her as a threat to their plan. Teagan was then on their radar. They tried running her down, poisoning her, shooting her at her apartment when Nell died, and again this evening.
We still don’t know who the men are, but we have narrowed it down to five men. It’s not going to take us much longer to uncover which one of those assholes is responsible.
Elio has his foot on the accelerator, and his hands are tightly gripping the steering wheel. As much as he likes to pretend that Teagan is revenge, she’s not. He cares a fucking lot about her.
The moment he pulls into the drive of his rented house here in Chicago, he’s out of the car and sprinting inside. I wait for Jade and Rocco, knowing that when my brother sees his wife, he’s going to want alone time with her. Something I fully respect, so I will give them space. My brother’s just had the shock of his life. He needs to know his wife is okay.
Jade and Rocco pull up, and they’re both looking beyond pissed. This person has eluded us for too long.
“Dario,” I hear Elio yell, his voice cracking. I don’t hesitate. I turn on my heels and run into the house, my heart pounding as I put one foot in front of the other and push hard. “Call the fucking doctor! Now!”
Shit, did those assholes get to her? Where the hell were the guards? They’re still outside, still at their spots, watching.
I call the doc, listening to him tell me he’ll be here within minutes. He was on his way to Roc’s house and is now on his way here.
I come to a skidding halt as I enter the ensuite bathroom. Elio’s on his knees, and there’s fucking blood on the floor and in the bath. Teagan. Christ, Teagan… She’s got blue lips, her eyes are closed, and she’s not moving. My brother’s holding a towel to her wrist, a bloody kitchen knife on the ground.
God, Teagan, what did you do?
I’m dumbfounded, shell shocked, as I stand rooted to the spot, watching as Jade pushes past me. “She’s alive,” she says, her finger pressing against Teagan’s throat. I can hear Rocco’s shocked curse. “We need to get her medical attention right away. Her pulse is faint, but it’s there.”
Christ. Oh God, what the fuck happened? Why did she do this?
“The doctor’s on his way,” I tell Elio as I run further into the bathroom, hoping I can do something to help. “What happened?”
“Let’s put her on the bed,” Jade says as Elio pulls in a ragged breath. She’s got tears falling down her face. “Elio, keep your hand on her wound. Hopefully we can staunch the bleeding until the doctor gets here.”
Christ. He needs to be here now.
I follow Elio into the bedroom and see there’s a note on the bed. I reach for it as he gently lays Teagan on the mattress. I’ve never seen him look so devastated before. He’s been through a fucking lot, especially with having his chest set alight, but nothing has gotten to him. Until now.
I move out of the bedroom and begin to read the letter. It takes me less than a second to realize it’s a suicide note. I grit my teeth and read it, my heart heavy with guilt as I read the words she poured from her soul as she said goodbye to my brother.
I caused this. I’m the one who told him she was alive, that she was Bear's daughter. I’m the reason as to why he went looking for her for revenge. Had I done some more digging, I’d have uncovered something that would have stopped me from putting her name forward. Instead, I didn’t. I saw that she was alive and was Bear’s daughter, the kin of the man who set my brother’s chest alight, and ran with it. I saw her as an opportunity to get revenge for what happened to my brother.
I finish reading the letter and my stomach rolls. God, I never knew someone could be surrounded by people and feel so alone. How did Elio not see this? How did he not manage to see that she was drowning?
I’m angry. So fucking angry. Teagan Mitchell was the daughter of Bear, but she was pure and kind. I saw that in her the moment she married my brother. I could see that she didn’t have an evil bone in her body. She was so fucking pure that she made my brother smile. I thought she had Elio rethinking his vengeance plan, but I was wrong. But the anger I feel lands solely at my own feet. I caused this. I’m the reason she’s here. I fucked up. Again.
The doctor arrives and hurries into the room, but I don’t breathe a sigh of relief. Is there really a way back from here? Can she survive the pain she’s in? Will she even be able to live with what happened? My head is spinning. I know she deserves the best help she can get, but will having Elio and the rest of us around her help or hinder her?
Jade takes the letter from my hands and reads it. I hear her pull in a sharp breath and know she’s feeling every bit of what Teagan wrote down. Jade’s tears tumble down her face thicker and faster. “God,” she whimpers. “Why did we not know she felt this way?”
I don’t answer her. The truth is, we should have. Every single one of us should have seen that she wasn’t okay. Instead, we were all so self-involved that we didn’t even care.
Elio enters the living room with Rocco on his heels. Jade steps in their path, pulls her arm back, and lets it fly, socking Elio in the chest. She does it once again and hits him in his nose, managing not to break it. Which is some feat.
She starts to shout. She’s beyond pissed. She’s raging, and right now, none of us can blame her. We all failed Teagan, and we deserve everything Jade’s throwing at us. She then tells us about how she met Teagan, something that Elio and I had no idea about. Teagan was held captive by her own family in the basement of the MC clubhouse. She was repeatedly beaten and raped by the men who lived there. She suffered so much before she managed to escape. She finally managed to be free—until Elio came along and forced her to marry him.
“When did it become okay for you to abuse your wife?” she asks Elio.
Guilt unlike anything I’ve ever experienced hits me hard. Bile rises up my throat. I shake my head and leave the room, needing a few minutes to compose myself. I’m a motherfucking asshole. I deserve to be in the seventh circle of Hell and held there.
I guess I’m a fucking lot more like my father than I realized. This is something he would have done, and he would have let it continue with a smile.
“I’m staying here,” Jade says. “I don’t trust you around her. She’s too vulnerable right now. I’m not arguing about this. I’m staying.”
“So am I,” I say as I re-enter the room. “I read the letter, and so did Jade. She feels alone. She feels as though she doesn’t have anyone. She shouldn’t feel that way. She’s your wife, Elio.” I shake my head. God, this is my fault. I’m a fucking bastard. “I think you should call Portia.”
