“The county is locked down tight,” Cub says, right before tipping his beer to his mouth. “And there hasn’t been a Scorpion in sight.”
I patiently wait for him to take a drink and then another. “Quit stalling. Tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“What do you know?”
“Not much.”
I cross my arms over my chest and lean back.
He sits forward. “Listen, man, it’s best to forget about her. We’ve had eyes on Savage and …”
He pauses, and there is a huge part of me that doesn’t want him to continue, but I need to know. Have I been betrayed or not? Was my intuition wrong? I still feel aligned with her, even though she’s not by my side. It’s like a string has been tied between us for centuries, and I’ve somehow just noticed it’s there.
“She showed up at their clubhouse the very next day,” he continues, rubbing his hand over his chest.
Somehow it validates my pain. He’s truly empathetic about the news he’s delivering.
“Anyway, she went home with her brother after that. He’s got a place in the country outside of Greeley. His mother lives there too.”
My teeth ache as I bite down my frustration. Why would she go back to that? Why? She said she chased peace. She knows they’ll never change.
“I’m sorry, brother.”
I look over at him. “I have to get her out of there.”
He jerks his head back. “Did you not hear what I just said?”
He’s looking at me like I’m crazy. “I heard you.”
“Then why are you talking about getting her out of there? She’s one of them, Rage. I’m sorry, but I have to be honest with you here. You don’t think clearly when she’s involved. Serenity isn’t good for you.”
“She’s not one of them. She’s like me. Like you,” I tell him.
He shakes his head sadly. “No, she’s not. She chose to go back to them. She’s an adult, Rage.”
“You’re right,” I say, knowing that if I continue to argue, he’ll have me confined. It’s something we do for our brothers. If you’re a threat to yourself or the club and have a heart worth saving, we’ll do whatever is necessary to protect you from blowing up your life. Be it alcohol, drugs, gambling … or toxic women.
“Some of us make it out and some don’t.” He leans forward and cups his hands together. “Even if she is somehow innocent in all of this, at the very least she’s weak. You and Mila deserve better than that. If he deceived her, and she’s sleeping under his roof …” He shakes his head.
He knows it doesn’t make sense. The only logical conclusion is that she was and is loyal to her brother. That she’s one of them. But I somehow know she’s not.
His eyes bounce over mine. He’s worried about me. He thinks I’m blinded by my feelings for her.
Or is it that I know on a deep level my soul belongs with her. It vibrates at a different frequency when she is near. It is an addiction. I want more. I want to climb higher and higher.
“I just need to focus on Mila,” I repeat the phrase that has been told to me over and over since we discovered who Savage really is.
He nods, but I see his hesitation. He’s still not sure I’m thinking clearly.
If I were him, I would feel the same, but I saw something in Serenity that he didn’t. He thinks I’m clouded by lust or that my head is in the sky all gooey on love, but that’s not where I’ve been. I’ve been in the trenches with her. The night I spent with her in my bed, we stared at each other, not touching but communicating so much more. I finally let someone see me, and I saw her.
She wouldn’t go back to that place … it terrifies her.
She wouldn’t go back.
I turn away from my friend to order another beer. Wolfe looks at me over the rim of his glasses. “Everything okay?” he asks.