My spine straightens, and I realize I said my thoughts aloud. I turn to him, my eyes wide, and he frowns as he watches me for a moment. His gaze searches mine, and I am fucking frozen.
“You didn’t do shit,” Piggy continues. “Paul fucking did this to himself, and Lorenzo backed him on some very fucking questionable shit, plus his vetting system is completely fucked. Now he knows it for sure. Not only did Paul pull this under his nose, but he also got three of his men to do it. Which is a mess in and of itself. This is on the Front Mob Family, not you, not Lainey, not any of the Reapers.”
Piggy’s right. I know he is, logically. But I still feel like I’m to blame for some of this. I open my mouth to tell him about Lainey, but then snap my lips closed. This isn’t the time or place. I don’t know when there will be a time or place to tell him that I’m in love with his sister, but standing at her reception site, the flowers still everywhere, the cake untouched, and a bloodied body being cleaned up in the corner, I imagine this isn’t it.
The other brothers slip away, Bullet having called them to gather whatever was left behind that could possibly link anything to us in this space, but I don’t move, and neither does Piggy.
We both stay looking straight ahead, and I try not to shift from side to side on my feet. I’m nervous but not overly so. He could tell me to fuck all the way off and that he won’t support me and Lainey. Then we’d have to fight about it, and that’s not something I want, not after today.
“Do you love her? Down to your fucking marrow, do you love my sister?”
“Yes.”
“Would you kill for her?”
“Yes.”
“Die for her?”
“Absolutely.”
The questions he’s asking me are the easiest questions I’ve ever answered in my life. I would do just about anything for Lainey-Rose. Anything. Whatever Piggy asks, I would fucking do it.
“Would you betray the club for her?”
That is where I pause. Turning to face him slightly, I cross my arms over my chest and dip my chin slightly to look down at him. I cannot fucking believe he’s seriously asking me that goddamn question.
“That’s not a fair question.”
He lifts a brow. “Is it not?”
“No,” I snap. It’s his turn to face me, arching a brow in question when he does. I continue, and when I do, I don’t hold back.
“It’s fucking not. I would be sorely fucking disappointed in both Lainey and the club if anything ever came to that. I would never do anything to have her or myself be put in that position, and you fucking know it.”
Piggy stares at me for a moment, then he lets out a chuckle. “Welcome to the fucking family, in every sense of the word. You have my full blessing to claim Lainey, if that’s what she wants. At the end of the day, that’s up to her, too.”
My lips curve up into a smile. I try to keep it a grin, maybe even a smirk, but I fail, and it turns into a smile that takes over my entire face.
“Just to add, I would have been cool with this weeks ago. I just want my sister to be happy and at home. I fucking want her in Thunder Rock.”
And Thunder Rock is where she’ll goddamn stay, especially if I have anything to say about it. Piggy and I shake hands before we decide to go back over to the rest of the men.
Now I realize they were leaving us alone to have a conversation, but now that it’s over, I’m ready to get on with everything. And by everything, I mean go back to the clubhouse to my woman, to officially announce the fact that I’ve claimed her.
LAINEY
The girls get me out of my dress, and between the clubwhores and the clothes in my friends’ closets that they keep here, I’m able to put something on that isn’t a wedding dress. Scar and Heidi are huddled up together, talking to one another. They look deep in conversation and have been for a while.
The three new girls, the ones who were in the back of that box truck, are sitting on the sofa against the wall, but Screamer has pulled up a chair, turned it around, and he straddles it as he faces them. They’ve also got some different clothes on. Likely scrounged up the same way that mine are.
I don’t ask any questions, and everyone is drinking and animatedly talking around me. Thankfully, I don’t have to join in because I wouldn’t be able to hold a conversation right now.
All I can think about is Gunnar and Paul.
Well, really, all I can think about is Gunnar. I don’t care what happens to Paul. Gunnar is who I care about. His coming back here to me, my brother accepting us being together, and then our future—that is all I care about.
Because I love that man.