Page 157 of I Will Revel in Glory (Death by Daybreak MC 3)
Grainger walks off, and I move a little closer to Reba. When she hears my footsteps, she gestures me over and I kneel beside her. She clasps our hands together as ash filters down around us like morbid snowflakes.
And then she prays, and I sit patiently beside her and listen.
When we head back down to the clubhouse and Reba offers me one, last heartwarming hug, I squeeze her to me as hard as I can.
“I love you,” I whisper in her ear, and she chokes on her words. But she’s already told me so many times that I don’t have to hear it again to know that it’s true. “When you get the chance, call me. I know you don’t have a phone …”
We part reluctantly, and she nods.
“Will do, sugar,” she says, her drawl making me think of Beast and how they’re both from Tennessee, and I wonder if she wouldn’t be able to visit someday with us. Nuns can take trips, can’t they? Just … maybe not ones associated with the mafia.
Reba kneels down to offer Fem a hug, and then she’s grabbing her duffel bag and disappearing up the steps into the bus. It’ll be driven to the airport with a full escort. I’m not worried.
We’re past small snipes and guerilla warfare.
Tomorrow, come what may, we’re going to war.
Grey and I just need to find a way to stop it.
I’m sure I’ve already figured it out, but I don’t want to put words to it.
In order to halt two armies, what do you do? You cut off their fucking heads. Literally, if necessary. So … Giulia. Alvise.
But also … Cat.
I exhale and swipe my arm across my face, rubbing away tears and ash.
“I’m going to check in with the other wives and see what they need from me,” I tell Grainger, and he nods, his gaze distant, like he’s already in the process of doing something else. “I want to make sure Nellie takes Fem with her when she leaves for Seattle.”
My mother’s being shipped up north with most of the remaining club wives and children to stay with the Seattle chapter of DBD. My dog will go with her.
“Don’t leave the clubhouse without letting me know,” Cade commands, and off he goes. I head inside to find Nellie, helping her to load bags into SUVs and cars and minivans. All of the remaining families on the compound have decided to take the risk and obey the evacuation order, heading out the way they came.
Instead of returning home, they’re all leaving town until the fire danger passes.
Or … consumes the entirety of Ashbury.
By then, we’ll have moved forward with this war, one way or another.
I work for several hours, and the business and the chaos help chase away my sadness over Reba. I make myself be happy for her. Happy that she lived. Happy that she’s leaving.
Eventually, when my nausea starts to get the better of me, I grab some orange juice and head out to the back deck, looking for a quiet place to relax.
Grainger’s voice is what draws me down the steps and around the corner.
I don’t expect to see him with a woman. One of the club whores, specifically. One of the prettiest, curviest, bustiest club whores to be exact.
She steps close to him, reaching out to put her palm on his chest.
I feel a surge of violence shoot through me, but I stay where I am, watching quietly. Hoping. Choosing to believe in him.
He doesn’t disappoint. He grabs her wrist and forces her back a step.
“Don’t touch me,” he says, his voice sharp, edged with a bit of a threat.
“You can’t possibly be satisfied being her whore, can you?” the girl scoffs, and even though I don’t know her name, I recognize her. She’s been hanging around the clubhouse for years. One of Amber’s friends, I think. “You need a woman to yourself.”
Cade laughs at that, pushing her back another step with the pressure on her wrist. He leans down and lifts the edge of his lip up in one of his signature sneers.
“Even one-fourth of her is worth a hundred times the whole of you.” He releases her and she frowns at him. “Get out of here and go find somewhere else to stay for a while. If I were you, I’d bail while I had the chance.”
He turns to leave when he sees me standing there.
I walk right up to the pair of them, reach into my back pocket, and pull out the remaining cash that I stole from the guys while they shamelessly let me win at poker; Reba truly didn’t want or need much of it.
“Here.” I put the money in her palm and meet her eyes. “Catch a ride from one of the other women and go.”
The girl looks at me like I’m a crazy person, flicking her attention to Cade once more, and then off she goes with a huff, heels clacking across the cement. I turn back to my (possible) baby daddy.
