“Things are volatile right now.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Please,” I beg again. “Don’t say it.”
My shoulders tremble, sobs taking over my body.
“Baby,” he soothes, but even his attempt at calming me won’t work right now. “You asked me weeks ago if you were worth dying for.”
I cry even harder, the tears rushing down my face so fast I don’t even bother to wipe them away.
“You are, Molly. I’d die a thousand deaths to have you, to keep you safe.”
“I am safe.” If he starts in on that shit about hurting me again, I’ll lose my fucking mind.
“I’m not.”
The two words chill me to the bones.
“Lynch?”
“He’ll never allow it, and I can’t stay here and not have you.”
He is leaving. The determination in his voice is surer than the day he paced at the foot of my bed after kissing me in the hallway.
“We can run together.”
“No.”
“I can’t stay here without you.”
The threats of self-harm come to mind again, but I’d never do that to Briar, and as much as being without him will hurt me, I’d still never hurt myself.
“It’s not for forever.”
My body stills.
“I’ve got to get away, find someplace that’s safe for both of us. I’ll send for you,” he vows, and for a split second I almost believe him, but I know better.
He’s preparing me to wait forever, because the alternative, what’s really going to happen is unfathomable. He’s trying to spare me the grief.
“He’s going to kill you.” I fight his grip on me until I can turn in his arms. His eyes are squeezed tight, his lips a flat line even when I reach up to kiss him. “He’ll have to kill me, too.”
His eyes open, blue pools filled with resignation and pain staring back at me.
“I’m leaving.”
“You’d never leave the club. It’s your life.”
“You’re my life. I don’t need them if I have you.”
Even in his warm arms, cold seeps into my soul.
His words are blasphemous. If any Ravens Ruin member heard him speak those words, Lynch wouldn’t bat an eye before stringing him up in front of everyone for the betrayal. Even if there’s a good chance he’s made the same vow to Zoe, he’d never give anyone else the same allowance.
“He’ll kill you for that.”
He doesn’t flinch.
“He’ll kill me for what we’ve already done. Leaving tonight is our only chance. I’ll send for you.”
His lips brush my nose before he draws me in closer. I listen to his lies. I try to convince myself that things will be okay, that Lynch won’t send every member of the club after him when he rides away.
In the darkness with his arms holding me tight, I let sleep take over. Little do I know he’ll never even make it off the property.Chapter 34Briar
I lied to her last night, and I can’t help but feel guilty as I brush my lips against her cheek. Leaving her like this is the hardest thing I’ll ever do.
I expect the pain washing over me and the burn in my gut telling me to turn around and hold her just a few minutes longer.
What I don’t expect, is a fist to make contact with my face the second I step out of her room.
Well, that’s another lie. I knew this day would come, I’d just hoped for a little more time.
I don’t even fight them as they wordlessly fit a bag over my head. They don’t make threats. Intimidation and fear will come shortly. I already know how this day will end.
After they drag me down the stairs, the cool morning air engulfs me only for a minute before another set of stairs lead me to my fate. The dank basement always smells like bleach tinged with copper. The DEA would have a year’s worth of work if they ever came down here with their magic spray and a couple of black lights. So many people have died down here that they’d be hard pressed to separate each set of DNA left behind. Mine will only add to the problem.
I’m lifted, hands tied behind my back before the mask is removed.
“You don’t seem shocked, Brother.”
TJ’s cold, dead stare penetrates me as Lynch wraps his heavy rope around my neck.
“Aren’t you going to explain?” TJ asks.
“Will it make any difference?”
Lynch’s fists slam into my stomach, and it takes all I have not to teeter off of the wooden crate and end things before they even begin. The pain shooting through me makes me aware that the fist outside of Molly’s room was TJ’s. No one hits as hard as Lynch, and he’s got the fury of a man betrayed when he strikes me again on the chin.
“I told you she was off limits.”
TJ’s chuckle echoes around us when Lynch pulls back, giving me only a moment’s reprieve before hitting me again.