The touchable chaos at the club is merely superficial, the dried blood that coats the floor and the smell of death that smears the air around us doesn’t lay as heavy on my heart as it should. It is the turmoil you can’t physically touch that makes my breastbone crush my heart. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I don’t care about the men who lost their lives yesterday, I do, so very much. But it’s the sense of dread in my husband’s eyes, the anguish that makes him gnaw on his lower lip, and the desolation in the way he keeps picking at his fingernails that makes me take his hand tenderly in mine.

“We’ll find her. I promise.”

He nods and smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

Scorch is pacing up and down, frequently pouring a new shot of Patron into his glass whenever he passes the bottle that sits nearly empty on the bar. His mood is sour, and everyone is leaving him alone, wary of prodding the beast that resides inside him. It’s clear how he feels for Rhiannon, and I wonder if Slade is aware just how much his best friend adores his sister.

Slade has surprised me, he hasn’t touched a drop of alcohol. The comfort it usually brings him is now replaced by the support I can give him instead. He hasn’t stopped touching me and has refused to leave my side. I’m thankful that he takes whatever I can give him.

My neck stings and subconsciously I press my fingers to the bandage covering the wound.

“Do you need some painkillers?”

I blink up at Slade in confusion, then realizing what I was doing, I shake my head and smile softly. “No, thank you. It’s not too bad.”

“I can’t believe the bastard cut you. Hurt you. I’ll make him pay, Princess, I can promise you that.”

“Just concentrate on you for now. I’m fine. Apart from my neck, there’s no harm done to me. You need to focus on finding Rhiannon.”

More worry infiltrates his gaze with the mention of her name. I only wish there was something I could do. When the Cutters had taken her, I’d had more of a chance to bring her home, maybe appeal to a side of my father I wasn’t even sure was there. I was his daughter at the end of the day, and perhaps just once he would have done something for me. However, now she was in the hands of Buzz, a man I didn’t honestly know much about, I couldn’t see a way any of us could take control of the situation. I only had to hope he wouldn’t hurt her. But, was Buzz in the right state of mind? He’d lost his brother, and to him, retribution only came in the life of another.

And him and his brother had a nickname for a reason, they’d already played their sick games on Jenna.

Jenna.

I search the bar and focus on the now clean area where she bled out right in front of me. I failed her so badly; I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself.

My mind wanders to Dean. He is still alive. That brings a small smile, a touch of relief in all the misery.

God, how can I tell Jenna’s family about her death? Where did they put her body? Panic seizes my chest, and I place a hand there to rub away the ache. She doesn’t deserve to be dumped in the ground somewhere, in a cold unmarked grave. No. I can’t do that to her.

Slade is watching me with suspicion, and I gobble down my thoughts and focus on him once again. I will talk to Tank about this when we have Rhiannon home. And Brenner has paid for all his acts. Bastard, I hope I get to be there when he meets his maker.

“Is there anyone that Buzz might go to?” I ask.

“Not that I can think of. Tats was his only family. He used to be close to Bullseye, not any longer.”

“I’ll kill the cunt myself if he hurts her,” Tank growls, making me jump. I’d forgotten the Lilith’s Army president was even in the same room as us because he’d been so quiet, so lost in his mind as he conjured up different ways to bring his daughter home.

“But surely he wouldn’t hurt Rhiannon. She’s the club Princess, and I doubt, from what I’ve already gotten to know about her, that she’d ever harm anyone.”

“Her soul is gentle, but don’t be fooled by her innocent eyes, Princess. Beneath that quietness is a roaring strength,” Slade states.

I smile. She’d need to be strong. I knew exactly how terrifying it was to be taken, to be imprisoned by someone on the edge of their own sanity – Brenner was proof of that.

“The only comfort about all this is that I have to think she’s safer with Buzz than with the Cutters. They’d be out to hurt her as much as she could physically take.”

Giving his hand a squeeze, I gulp down my nerves and voice what I had been considering since all this shit kicked off. “Slade.”

He turns to me, the crease on his brow indicating he knows what I’m about to say will be something he doesn’t want to hear.

“I think I should go back.”

Confusion narrows his eyes. “Back home?”

Swallowing, I brace myself. “Back to my father.”

For a moment a stunned expression covers his face, but the gulp of his throat alerts me to the fury he’s trying to hold back. “Are you fucking kidding me?”

“Hear me out…”

“Absolutely – fucking – not!”

“Slade…”

“No!”

Damn stubborn man. “It’s the only thing that will stop this war that you know is coming, Slade! My father won’t stop until he’s killed you all. Do you understand that? He’s not right in the head. He will say it was you that called the police to get Rhiannon out of their club. To him, you’ll be a snitch and would have humiliated him in front of his club. He won’t let that rest!”

Slade grips the tops of my arms so tightly that I wince, I know he doesn’t realize just how much he’s hurting me. “I don’t care! You belong to me, Avery. Not because you’re a freaking possession that I own, but because I love you. I fucking love you. No one will ever take you away from me. Ever. And any man wearing a cut, Lilith’s or Cutters know I’m not a fucking snitch.”

I wish I could explain just how evil my father is. But I know he couldn’t ever understand until he witnesses it. My father won’t stop until every single Lilith’s Army brother is wiped off the planet. Me included.

“It won’t be long before fucking Bullseye’s transgressions are leaked though, if they want to put blame somewhere he’s a good place to start. Whatever happens, it’s going to come to war.” Tank shakes his head, running his hand through his beard. He looks worn out, like he needs to sleep for a week.

“I have brothers coming in from other chapters. I want everyone out there looking for my little girl. Buzz is a clever little bastard and tracking him via GPS will be futile, but they gotta eat, gas up his truck,” Tank barks. He winces and looks down at his wound bleeding through his shirt.

“You’ve busted your stitches.” Slade groans.

“I want you to stay by your phone. If she is going to reach out to anyone it will be you,” Tank tells him.

Slade sighs in defeat. He feels like he’s failed at being her big brother. But we Princesses know the life we’re born into. Some things can’t be predicted.

* * *

Hissing at the sting when Slade gently wipes the swab over the lesion on my neck where my tattoo once sat proudly, he grimaces and apologizes for the hundredth time.

It was so good to be home. As much as I knew Slade needed to be at the club, he’d refused to leave me when I had said I was exhausted and needed to sleep. Although I’d argued with him, and told him I’d be alright home alone, he’d point blank refused. He was such an obstinate man, the compulsion in him to protect me endeared me to him more and more.

“I’m so sorry, Princess.” He agonizes and comes to crouch down in front of me.

“Stop freaking apologizing. It isn’t your fault, and I’m a chicken when it comes to pain.” I wink, and his smile brightens a little.

Lifting his hand, he gently places it on my cheek and tenderly strokes his thumb across my jaw. “How did a man so evil create something so utterly perfect, a woman so insanely clever and beautiful.”

“I wouldn’t say I’m clever,” I chuckle, “But I’ll take the beautiful.”

His laugh lightens my heart. I lean forward and place a soft kiss on his full lips. His large hand spans the back of my head, and he holds me in place so he can kiss me hard, his lips bruising mine. When he sinks his teeth into my bottom lip, I slide off the edge of the bed and settle over his lap.

His hardness presses against my already throbbing pussy and I moan into his mouth, matching the passion in his kiss with an intensity of my own. He’s the only man that will ever drive me this wild with desire, I know that in the very core of me. Every fiber of my body is alive with energy, every hair on my body alert to the current coursing through my veins.

“Avery,” he whispers into my mouth as his hand slides under the back of my tee and his fingers flick the hook of my bra.

My tits bounce free, and I press into him, eager for his touch on my hard nipples. He doesn’t make me wait. Slowly lifting my shirt over my head stretching the collar so not to hurt my wound, his mouth is on my breast before he’s even slung the material aside.

My head falls back as pleasure floods me and I grip the back of his head for support. His caress becomes firmer when I writhe on him, desperate for some relief, frantic for a small bit of respite to the heaviness in the pit of my belly.

Scrambling with the button and zip of my jeans, he tugs at the denim until he’s torn them from my legs and then works on his own freeing his swollen cock. He thrusts into me so far that I yelp at the intrusion. He’s so big that I swear he could tear me in two. We both groan at the exquisite gratification. The bliss that takes over the both of us makes Slade still inside me while we find our bearings again.

“You know I’ll never let you leave, don’t you?” he whispers as he peppers light kisses over the shell of my ear.

I nod. Once, a while ago, I’d have taken that statement as sinister, his vow haunting the deep dark depths of my mind. Yet, now, his promise excites me. I’m not sure if that tells me something about myself, or about Slade. Even so, I’m not willing to dissect my thoughts right now.

Moving slowly, I slide up the length of his rigid cock and unhurriedly sink back down. His face is tight, the pleasure making every muscle in his body tense.

We give ourselves over to the high, taking from and giving to each other what we need at this very moment. For Slade, I know that is to forget. To forget the brothers he has lost and to push aside the anxiety over his sister. Just for a little while.

I take his pain as my own. I carry the burden that lays heavy on his heart and I bury the fear that suffocates his soul in the abyss of my own. I give him love and rapture, and I give him myself. All of me. My heart and my soul, and my ultimate promise to love him forever.

My husband bestows the very same in return. With just the tenderness in his eyes and his touch, I know in my soul that he will love me forever. As long as we’re together, I will own his very soul. That is the ultimate gift, and it is all I’ll ever need. He will heal me and sooth over my sorrow, and I’ll do the same for him. All this chaos and death won’t touch us when we’re like this, when we’re together, when we’re home.