NINETEEN
I WAKE up to the sound of a scream and then a gunshot. I sit up and listen, confused as to what I am hearing. Is someone in the clubhouse? What is going on? I rush out of bed and hide in the corner of the dark room, behind the cupboard just as the door is slammed open. The light is turned on, and I can see a young man quickly scanning the room. He’s dressed in all black, a gun loosely held in his right hand. I hold in my breath until he leaves, thinking no one is in here. When I think it’s safe, I crawl on my hands and knees to the drawer where Dex keeps one of his guns and pull it out with trembling fingers. I take in a few shaky breaths. What the hell am I going to do?
I swallow hard and know that I need to keep my shit together right now.
Panicking isn’t going to help.
I grab my cell phone and send Dex a quick message. I also forward it to Tracker and Arrow just in case Dex isn’t near his phone. Making sure my phone is on silent I leave it on the bed and walk to the door.
I wish I could say I am one of those badass girls who knows how to use a gun, but I’d be lying.
I have no idea how to use it. Surely it isn’t rocket science.
I could see now that it was a mistake on my end, and if I make it through tonight, one I am going to rectify at my first opportunity.
What I did know was that the safety was on, and I needed to turn it off, which I do with a flick of my thumb. Aim and fire, right? How hard could it be? I swallow hard when I think of the baby. What could I do? If I hide I’d never be able to live with myself. I open the door and walk down the hall, trying not to make a noise. I hear the loud bang of a door. I run into the living area, where I see all the women sitting there, looking terrified. Allie has black mascara smeared down her cheeks from crying, and Mary’s lips are trembling something fierce. The poor girl is scared out of her mind. All of them are crouched on the floor, in front of the couch, huddled together.
In front of them stand four men. All wearing cuts.
Bikers from an enemy MC, I assume.
Their eyes immediately go to me as I enter the room.
“Looks like we missed one,” the leader says, grinning at me with an evil look in his eye.
“Who are you? And what the fuck do you want? Do you take pleasure in scaring innocent women?” I ask, lifting the gun and aiming it at him. I fake my confidence, like I’ve done many times before.
Don’t let them see your weakness.
He laughs. “And she has claws. Put down the gun, princess. I could kill all these bitches before you even shoot one bullet.”
“Who says you aren’t going to kill them anyway?” I ask.
My mind races with how this is going to play out. How do I save everyone?
The pressure!
The leader smirks. “Guess you’re going to just have to wait and see. You’re at the mercy of the Wild Men now, princess, so shut up and do as you’re told, or we’ll have to kill you first.”
The Wild Men.
What did these assholes think they were doing?
Cindy stares at me, the only one of the women not crying. Her eyes are trying to tell me something, but I can’t read them. How did this happen? This is supposed to be my safe place.
“Wh-what do you want?” I stammer, swallowing hard. I don’t take my eyes off the men. The wrong move could cost us our lives.
The leader sneers. “Revenge. An eye for an eye. Wind Dragons killed two of ours. Now the Wild Men will take what’s due.”
Revenge.
“They really should have left you better guarded. . . .
Although, to be fair, we made sure those fuckers thought we were out of state,” he says, laughing like a hyena.
Okay, think, Faye, think. Four men, armed with weapons not drawn.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I need time. I need to stall. “Where are the prospects?” I ask, pulling in a shaky breath.
“Those two dumb fucks are bleeding out outside,” he says, smirking. Fucking asshole. Wait, he said two.
A small movement flashes in the corner of my eye.
Vinnie.
Maybe that’s what Cindy was trying to tell me. I look to her, and she nods slightly. She gets it. I get it. Now it’s up to me to make my move.
“Put the gun down,” he commands.
“Faye!” Vinnie hollers, appearing from the other door and shooting the leader in the head. I block out the man, block out the screams as I aim and fire at one of the other bikers. I get him in the chest, and he goes down. My hands shake. I don’t have time to consider the fact that I’ve just killed someone, because it’s not over yet. We aren’t safe yet. The other two have their guns drawn and start shooting. Vinnie is able to take out one of them, then turns to the other. The final man standing shoots at the women twice more, who are in the process of exiting the room, then turns to me. His gun trained on me, he smiles, letting me know that he’s not afraid of death and that he’s going to try to take me down with him. Vinnie shoots, and so does the man. He gets taken down but not before a stray bullet flies past me. I duck, crouching in a ball on the floor.
Then, silence.
Please, let everyone be okay.
Too scared to move, my whole body trembling in shock, I stay like that until Vinnie comes and sits next to me. He puts a hand on my shoulder, making me flinch.
“It’s over. You really handled yourself, Faye,” he says, his voice unsteady.
I lift my head, tears dropping down my cheeks like raindrops. “Who made it?”
That’s not what I wanted to ask. What I wanted to ask is: Who did we lose?
His face crumples. “Liam and Trev are dead. I’m sorry, Faye, but she didn’t make it—”
Prospects dead. She didn’t make it? Who didn’t make it? One of the women died?
His phone rings, and he walks off to answer it. I stand up and place my palms on the wall, too scared to see the damage these men have caused. Swallowing hard, I wipe my eyes with the back of my hands and wrap my arms around me.
My baby is safe.
Taking a deep, relieved breath, I walk to the table where the girls were all hiding during the gunfire. I see Cindy okay, hugging Jess. I see Allie there, crying, but alive. I look around for Mary.
Where is she?
“Where’s Mary?” I ask in a shaky voice. The women all cry harder, except Cindy, who hasn’t shed a tear but has devastation written all over her face.
“No,” I whisper, my eyes going behind them to the dark-haired woman lying on the couch. Blood drips from her chest. Her eyes are closed. I walk to her, falling to my knees and run my fingers through her hair and kiss the top of her head. Why Mary? She was the sweetest, kindest person I’d ever met. She didn’t deserve this. All she did was love Arrow—that’s why she was here. She would never harm a soul.
I start to sob inconsolably.
“Faye, Dex is on his way. He wants to talk to you,” Vinnie says gently. I shake my head and continue to stare at Mary.
“She needs you right now, man,” Vinnie tells him, his eyes going red when he looks at Mary. “She’s fine physically, but I don’t know,” he says into the phone.
He doesn’t know if I’m fine emotionally. Well, I’m not.
I sit there with Mary until the men arrive. For the rest of my life, I will never forget the look on Arrow’s face. Never. He ran inside and dropped to his knees in front of her. He buried his face in her hair and cried. He cursed, he swore, and he kept asking why over and over again.
Why her?
In that moment, I know that Arrow loved Mary. I wonder if he only just figured it out himself. Doesn’t matter if he did—now it’s too late.
Dex wraps me in his arms, his body trembling, shaking with fear and rage.
And relief.
He takes me to our bed and just holds me. “I was so worried,” he whispers. “I’m so fuckin’ sorry, sweetheart.”
I can see his face in the moonlight, his pained eyes tearing through me. They hurt to look at, so I squeeze my own shut.
I’m just about asleep when he says, “I need to go help the others. I will be back as soon as I can.”
Help must mean take care of the dead bodies.
I killed a man today.
I killed someone.
And I lost someone.
I think of Liam and Trev, and I feel sad, but when I think of Mary being gone I feel a pain in my chest.
The good die young; the saying must be true.
Dex joins me back in bed early that morning. He smells like soap, freshly showered. I explore his smooth chest with my hands, then place my right hand against his heart.
I feel it beating.
“I love you too,” he whispers to me. “I wanted to say it to you face-to-face.”
He kisses my lips once, then we fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.