Ryder
I refused to relive the brief moment in time when I believed that my prez and VP were dead. So instead of delaying my answer to Braylen’s simple yet devastating question, I answered. Her face fell because she knew what a blow to all of us Breck’s death had been.
Smiley, on the other hand, while upsetting that he’d died during the fight because he was a Knight, wasn’t as devastating to me. Not only because we didn’t really know the guy, but because I harbored a lot of anger toward him, even in his death. It was because of him and his phone that our initial plan of action had been ripped apart in the first place. Although, when I found out he’d jumped in front of Breck to try and save him being shot, a feat which ultimately hadn’t worked, my anger subsided a little.
We all knew the risks, each of us signing up to defend our club against all costs. Unfortunately, two members of Knights Corruption wouldn’t make it back to see their loved ones. Tripp called Cutter to tell him that his son had died, and he promised to bring his body back home for a proper burial. The nomad had filled me in on their phone call, although it’d been brief. Cutter hadn’t said much, but that wasn’t uncommon. He was a man of few words, but we all knew he loved his son and was undoubtedly shredded by the news.
“Are you ready to go?” Jagger asked, helping me to stand before I even uttered a reply. “We gotta get back and take care of everything.” He mumbled something else before propping me up with his shoulder under my arm, moving slowly toward the edge of the room we’d been staying in for the past two days. Braylen shrouded my other side, ready to assist me if I needed her help as well. Kena followed behind all of us.
As we walked, I was able to finally lay eyes on the rest of the guys. Stone was leaning against the wall, fiddling with the bandage wrapped around his ear. Adelaide was beside him, slapping his hand away and yelling at him not to touch it. A few feet to the left, I saw Marek lying on a steel table, much like the one I’d been resting on. As I hobbled along, I saw Sully hunching over him and crying.
“Are we sure he’s gonna be okay?” I asked Jagger, pointing toward Marek.
“Yeah. The doc Rabid, or whoever he is, brought in said he’s gonna need some time to heal but he’ll pull through.”
Still walking slowly, we rounded the corner and down a hallway too narrow for the three of us to walk side by side, so Braylen stayed close behind, walking with her sister. A short flight of steps and two empty rooms later, we finally hit the outdoors, the California sun doing its best to offer some warmth.
“Where the fuck are we?”
“A twenty-minute ride from where all hell broke loose. Rabid had us load everyone up and come here. I don’t know whose it is or what the place is used for, but it did the job, so I’m not complaining.”
The guy who’d essentially saved our lives had taken off shortly after he’d revealed who he was, sort of. He never said another word to any of us before he disappeared. Months later, we’d come to find out that Michael Chase, aka Rabid, was an undercover NSA agent assigned to dismantle what was later referred to as one of the biggest cases the organization had ever been involved in.
Hey, what can I say? They had their informants and we had ours.
Up ahead, Tripp and Reece were leaning inside one of the other vehicles. As we passed by, I saw they were keeping watch over Riley and Kaden. No doubt Reece had volunteered for the job, and I knew there was no way Tripp would leave her side, not after everything that had happened. When he backed out, holding a crying Riley in his arms, he saw me and shrugged. Sully and Adelaide were still in the basement of the building, but they wouldn’t leave their children for long, so I had no doubt they’d be appearing soon enough. Until then, Reece tried to soothe Kaden, who had also started to fuss.
When we finally made it to the SUV I’d be traveling back home in, Kena opened the back door while Jagger propped me against the side of it. Braylen took over and helped to brace me so I wouldn’t fall. I put all of my weight on my good leg because I had no doubt my woman wouldn’t be able to hold me up otherwise. I’d crush her.
As I was trying to carefully situate myself in the back seat, I saw Salzar, Etch, and Stone carrying Marek the best they could. Sully was right behind them being comforted by Adelaide. That poor woman had been through enough, we all had, and I prayed this was the end of the fuckin’ danger surrounding all of us. After the men had laid Marek across the back seat of another SUV, Sully said something to Miles before walking toward Tripp and Reece.
Once Kaden was placed in Sully’s arms, he calmed, and she seemed to do the same. Miles had apparently been asked to grab one of the car seats and transfer it to the truck that her husband had been placed in. And because Stone refused to leave his best friend’s side, Miles made another trip back to grab the other car seat for Riley, Adelaide refusing to leave her fiancé’s side.
Nash and Cass, two of Salzar’s other men, the ones who had driven Braylen, Kena, and Reece to us, helped carry Breck’s and Smiley’s bodies. Even though the men were dead, they made sure to treat them both with the utmost respect as they carefully laid them in the back of the vehicle they’d be riding in. It was their job to transport the fallen Knights back with us.
Everyone was en route back to our clubhouse, which thankfully wasn’t too far away. Our Laredo brothers would only be staying with us until the morning, making sure to get the rest they needed before making the long drive back to Texas, transporting Smiley back with them and taking care of his burial.
Cutter had been the first one in the lot as we all pulled in. As I managed to climb out of our truck, I watched everything unfold as Nash opened the back of the SUV where Breck’s body was lain, stepping aside to allow Cutter the space he needed to see his son. Trigger and Hawke exited the building and gathered around Cutter, offering him solace as they helped him carry Breck toward a patch of land behind the clubhouse, the same place where we ended up burying Zip. Cutter had already arranged for a coffin while he waited for us to return, and he laid his son to rest that evening. Whoever was well enough to attend, which was everyone except Marek, paid their respects before Cutter put him in the ground.
Over the course of the following week, Adelaide checked on Marek, who had been set up in the room designated for him whenever he had to stay at the club. She watched over him to ensure he was healing properly and staving off any sort of infection. And because his woman was keeping close watch over the Knights’ leader, Stone set up in his room, caring for Riley whenever Adelaide’s attentions were otherwise diverted.
I’d chosen to stay with my brothers, not completely convinced we were out of harm’s way. But after countless nights passed without retaliation or the police knocking down our gates, I’d made the decision to recoup back at my house with my woman.
Finally putting the last piece of the puzzle into place, completing the picture of the future I wanted.
No . . . the future Braylen deserved.