That would be bad.
She’s made her decision. She’s made her choice. Contracts have been drawn up, and they’re being signed tomorrow. I shouldn’t get in the middle of any of this. It would be betraying my club. It would be causing problems and drama.
It would be bad…
But it would feel so good.
As the party continues, pizzas are ordered and massacred. Thankfully, Lainey begins to smile, and I see a semblance of the girl before she was kidnapped. I still want to have a conversationwith her about what happened last night. Because I have a feeling something went down. I can feel it.
Walking over to the fridge, I open it and look around to see if there’s something inside that I want. I’m not hungry. I had half a fucking pizza. I’m just looking for something to do to keep me from dragging her away and locking her up in that bedroom.
“You good?” a voice asks.
Straightening, I close the fridge and look over to see Zadie standing just a few feet away from me, her hip leaning against the counter. She’s been so busy, having twins and doing her own damn thing, I haven’t even talked to her in a while.
Got no reason to, really; she’s Maverick’s woman, and I like her, she’s a friend, but as much of a friend as any of the old ladies, nothing more.
“Absolutely not,” I snap.
She laughs softly, but it’s not because she thinks I’m being funny. It’s because she’s uncomfortable. I shouldn’t have used that tone, and honest to fuck, I probably shouldn’t have told her the truth.
“I don’t want her to go,” she whispers. “Not that I think anything bad is going to happen to her or anything, but Lainey is ours,” she says. “Lainey-Rose Bakery is ours. It’s where we all met. Where we hang out. It’s home.”
“Yeah,” I grunt.
That tracks.
Lainey, who hardly showed her face around the club five years ago, is now the center of the whole girl gang. It’s nice. We’ve never had a tight-knit group of old ladies before now. Most of the original charter women were either struggling with their own shit, didn’t want a damn thing to do with the club, or left early on.
I can’t remember many old ladies like these—good women who had children, wanted them, and loved their men and thelife. Although, to be fair, I can’t remember many of the men being as good to their women as the ones now.
Now it’s like the club has the whole goddamn package, and I’m going to let mine walk away.
LAINEY
I don’t want them to leave. I can’t help but feel like this is a goodbye. I know that I made it clear in my contract that I was going to be able to see my people here whenever I wanted, and they could see me, but I also understand reality.
Millie and Axton are the last to leave, but Axton doesn’t really say much. I don’t think he’s happy with my choices, and I can understand why. I’m a bit on the fence as well, and I’m the one who pushed and facilitated it.
Millie wraps her arms around me in a hug, her lips against my ear as she whispers to me. “I just want you to know you can call me anytime, about anything.”
I know I can.
But it’s sweet that she’s reminding me that I can always go to her. She’s where I want to be anyway. She’s my sister, the one I never got to have. And, granted, that means she’s married to my brother and might spill my secrets to him, but it’s worth the chance.
She takes a step backward, then another, turning her back to me as she moves out of the kitchen and toward the door. Axton doesn’t leave yet, though. He stands in front of me, watching me, his eyes searching mine for a silent moment.
“I’m not going to say a fucking word about it,” he begins, clearly about to say afucking word. “I know you’re a grown woman. You can make your own decisions. And you’ve told me why you’re making this one. But I want you to know that youcan change your mind. Whatever that contract says, I don’t give a fuck. I will figure out a way out of it.”
Well, those words are okay.
“Thank you, Axton,” I whisper.
He winks, then takes a step backward before he turns around, and I watch as he and Millie leave my place. Viking is standing near the door. He tells them goodbye and closes the door behind them, flipping the dead bolt in place.
I haven’t spoken to him since I walked away and got into the back seat of Paul’s car. I don’t know how this is going to go. Does he want to rehash things? Does he want to tell me how stupid I’m being? I’m not sure. I am also tired, so I don’t know how much more I have in me tonight.
I start to open my mouth and say just that when he clears his throat while taking a step toward me. His eyes darken, something that I didn’t even know was possible. He doesn’t just close the distance between us; he doesn’t just walk toward me… he stalks me.