Being this close to the flames, isn’t fun. It’s the only way I could think of to destroy all this shit. I want nothing but ashes left. I know my decision is right, when I feel the way Hayden relaxes into me. I doubt Hayden would be as relaxed if she knew that the fire that just jumped inside the clubhouse is leading to the death of the preacher. I won’t tell her that. Some things are better left unsaid. I almost wish I could watch the fucker burn, but it’s better this way.

“Hey, Sunshine!” Devil calls out.

I close my eyes. I may have to kill that boy. I rub the back of my neck with a grunt.

“How has Diesel let you live this long?” I grumble.

“It’s been a near thing a time or two,” Crusher says.

I slap him on the back of the head. “Asshole. You should have kept the women away from here. And I won’t even start on how you let Hayden ride on the back of a bike—on another man’s bike.”

“You try arguing against two stubborn females, man. It’s a fucking wonder I’m not mouthing gibberish and rocking back and forth in a corner somewhere.”

“You sad-fucks couldn’t get along without me. What do you want done with this thing?” Devil asks, bringing my attention back to him.

“With what?” I ask confused.

“This damn dog cage,” Devil mutters. “Why you had to bring it out here, I’ll never know.”

I feel the minute Hayden’s body tenses up. I know that she realizes what he’s talking about. Son of a bitch. I give her arms a squeeze and pull away from her. “I got it,” I tell him, picking up the sledgehammer. I make it over to him, before Hayden comes out of her trance and takes off running to me.

“No!” She screams, and it sounds like it’s ripped from her very soul. I look up just as she stops beside me. I’m almost ready to swing when her hand grabs hold of my wrist. “No!” she yells again, softer in tone, but still loud.

“Hayden, sweetheart, I want to—”

“Don’t you touch it!” she cries. “I don’t want you to touch it!”

“Damn it, Beauty,” I growl, having no idea how to deal with an irrational woman. This has to be done. It has to be done for my sanity. I don’t know why she’s opposed to it.

“Don’t touch it, Michael!”

“Fuck, I’m glad I’m single,” Ice grumbles.

“Can’t fucking argue with that,” Devil agrees.

“Why’s she so fucking crazy over a dog kennel?” Crusher asks, and that’s when I realize all of us are standing around the damn cage.

“Because it’s not a dog kennel,” Dani whispers. She comes up to stand by Hayden, and I watch as she reaches out to hold her hand. Hayden jerks her hand back and takes a couple of steps away from her.

Instead, Hayden puts her hand out and finds mine. Something moves inside of me, and I have to swallow to keep from choking on emotion. Her gray eyes are as round as saucers and panic is shining in their depths.

“Please don’t touch it, Michael. I don’t want you to touch it. I…I don’t want you to touch it,” she whispers, her body shaking.

I keep our hands joined, but use my free hand and cup the side of her neck. I let my thumb brush back and forth along the bone of her jawline and chin. “Why don’t you want me to touch it, Beauty?” I ask her, my heart physically hurting from seeing the tears falling from her face.

“Michael…”

“Tell me why, Beauty and we’ll forget this and move on. Remember my promise? So much good there’s no more room for the bad memories. Give this to me.”

“I don’t want you to touch it because…I don’t want you to…” she starts and a violent shudder moves through her body.

“Maybe you should just let it go,” Dani whispers, but I ignore her.

All of my focus is on Hayden.

“Tell me, Beauty. Tell me and then we bury it in the past—just like the rest of it. Tell me.”

“I was an animal. They joked, and mocked me. Sometimes they’d grab my hair through the metal and pull my head against it. They’d spend time telling me what they were going to do to me, and sometimes, they’d promise me freedom, if I just agreed to whatever they wanted. God help me…sometimes I wanted to give in. Just to be done with it all and say what they wanted to hear, so I could get out. There were times they would leave me in there for days, and when they finally let me out, my legs wouldn’t work from being folded up for so long, and I smelled…I…They’d throw food through the holes and I’d grab it up to keep from starving. I should have been brave enough to starve. I should have…Oh God, Michael I was so stupid and weak. It was so bad…I don’t want to remember it. I don’t, but it’s there and if you touch it…if you touch it, Michael that memory will always be there too. Please,” she begs, the tears falling harder as she pleads, her hand tightening around mine so tight it feels like she stops the blood flow.

“I don’t want that. I don’t want your memory anywhere near…that…Please,” she whispers, completely broken.

I pull her deeper into me, shielding her with my body. I kiss the top of her head, wishing I knew magic words to mend the pain she’s hiding inside her.

“Motherfucker!” Crusher screams and Hayden and I both jerk up to watch him. He’s kicking the cage over and over until it begins to collapse in on itself, a bent mess that is in three separate pieces. “Motherfucking-Son-of-A-Bitch!” he yells out, as he picks up each piece and throws it into the fire.

Once he’s done, I pick Hayden up and carry her back to my bike. The others follow us and we only sit there. Ice, Devil, and Trace are quiet, looking straight ahead. Crusher has Dani in his arms. Dani has tears that make sad, silent tracks down her face. Hayden is in my arms, her head resting in the curve of my shoulder. I kiss the top of her head, keeping our joined hands close, as we watch the clubhouse burn to the fucking ground. I’m thankful the roar and heat of the flames, the crackling of the wood and the sounds of the clubhouse crashing in on itself is enough to hide the preacher’s screams from Hayden. Maybe the smoke got the fucker before the flames did, but I find myself hoping not. I wanted him to anticipate every second of pain before his eventual death.