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“Why didn’t you kill this son of a bitch back then, Rocket?”Sting bit out.“Fuck.He’d rather keep his fuckin’ secret than protect his daughter.”
“Because it was done in the heat of the moment.And I wasn’t ready to give up on him.I still needed him.”
“Not good enough!”Sting snapped.
Rocket looked thunderous.“I had my reasons.While I didn’t condone what he did, the fact remained that Madina broke her vow to Claw.Hammer was just as guilty because he knew she was Claw’s woman.While neither of them deserved to die, it was done.I couldn’t bring Madina back any more than I could take away the affair.”
“And now?After this?”
Rocket sighed.“He’s my friend.We all make mistakes.”
“He killed his wife, Rocket!He sold out his daughter!If you don’t end him, I’m going to.”
“He has three daughters he’s raised all on his own!You don’t get to tell me what to do in my own club, Sting!What about Warlock?No one leaves the Tzars.Right?”That last was said with a mocking expression I was certain Sting didn’t appreciate.
“They do when El Diablo demands to take them in.”
“But you didn’t want to kill him even though you should have.”
Sting clenched his jaw but said nothing.
“Shoulda known this would happen.”Rocket muttered, scrubbing a hand over his face.“Hammer didn’t seem to want the girls, but this was about revenge for Claw killing Madina as much as Claw taking Hammer’s girls as his own.All to keep a fuckin’ secret.”
Then, Claw did something I never expected.“I’m so sorry, Scarlet.But you should know, I’m so very, very proud of you.I love you.”He stepped back another couple of steps, raised the .45 to his head, and pulled the trigger.
Chapter Twelve
Mars
I wasn’t sure what I expected after Claw offed himself.I thought maybe Scarlet would break down or grieve or… something.She didn’t.She would later, I was sure, but right now, the woman was pissed to hell and back.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”She stared at the remains of her father.And really, there wasn’t much left of his head.My instinct was to take her out of there.Now.Yesterday.But Scarlet was having none of it.
“Holy.Fuck.”Lemon looked like this might be more than even she could take, but she held on to Scarlet’s hand like both their lives depended on it.
“Christ.”Rocket quickly stepped in front of the women to block their view of Claw.“Can’t someone get the women the fuck out of here?”
“Why?”Shit and piss.And fuck it all to fucking hell.Bellarose spoke up, her gaze hard when I glanced over her.Atlas was by her side and looked like he’d been trying to take her out, but the woman was having none of it.Neither was Serelda.Winter averted her gaze but came up behind Scarlet and Lemon.She put her arms around both women and spoke softly to them.“You think just because we’re women we can’t handle the hard shit?”Bellarose had changed since she’d lost her baby.Atlas had too.He was more protective than ever of Bellarose, but also more indulgent with her.If she wanted to be here, by God, she’d be here.Atlas would also protect her with the viciousness of a rabid Doberman.“We’re here to support Scarlet.She needs us here, so we’re here.Seems like supporting each other is something Grim Road has a fucking problem with.”
Everyone stared at her, and I could see Lemon and Scarlet were both in shock.It was almost like they hadn’t expected Bellarose to speak up and stand with Scarlet like she did.I hadn’t either, but she really had changed.All our women had after that incident.It hadn’t happened immediately, but over the last several months, it was like they’d banded together and decided they were in charge of keeping the kids and each other safe.A last line of defense as it were.It wasn’t a bad thing.But I’m pretty sure none of us expected them to be part of something like this.
“Rose, honey,” Atlas tried to plead with her gently.“Let’s go.We can take Scarlet with us.”
“Only if that’s what Scarlet wants,” Bellarose said.Her voice was strong and clear, her head held high.“If not, we stand by her.”
As if Bellarose had given some kind of signal, all the women surrounded Scarlet.I was surprised Winter was still there.The woman hated blood in any form.I noticed she kept her gaze on anything but the gruesome scene before us -- Claw and Hammer were both a mess -- but stood firmly where she was.
Rocket took a breath, looked around, and found Sting.“Are all your women like this?”
Sting shrugged, looking for all the world like this happened every day.I wasn’t sure if he was pissed and hiding it or just going with the flow.“They’ve been through a lot this past year.And they are part of Iron Tzars.No wimps here.”
Rocket was silent but moved his gaze to fix on Scarlet.He just stared hard at her, as if he were sizing her up.For her part, Scarlet held his gaze with an equally hard one of her own.
“I’m sorry, Scarlet,” Rocket said softly, never looking away from her.“You didn’t deserve any of this.”
“I got it anyway.Are you saying this was all about Hammer getting revenge for Claw killing my mother?”
“Looks that way, kid.”
