Ink leaned against the countertop, eyes cast down. “Yeah. Don’t worry about it.”
“Stop it. Don’t fucking tell me to not worry about it when your face looks like I should worry about it.”
“Neon, relax.”
“No.” I inched back, suddenly not giving a fuck who heard us. “I will not relax. I get you have this stupid rule of not discussing club business with us, but this isn’t just club business. This is my fucking business.Youare my business. So, if you have a fucking plan, I need to know about it now.”
“Neon,” Onyx called, and I turned to face him. Standing behind Wraith with both his hands on her shoulders, it almost seemed like he was towering over her to protect her. “There ain’t nothing happening to Ink. You have my word.”
The determined look in his eye echoed his promise, and every part of me wanted to burst into tears right there and then. Around here, a man’s word was worth more than anything else, and I immediately trusted that. I trusted Onyx, and I trusted this club—this family—to make sure my man remained unharmed.
With a simple nod, I acknowledged his promise, and Ink wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling my back against his chest, leaning his chin on my shoulder. I closed my eyes as I reached out and cupped his cheek in my hand, his beard rough against my palm. This man who used to annoy the living shit out of me had now managed to become larger than fucking life to me. He was everything, and now the mere thought of not having him here with me was worse than being turned inside out by a bunch of animals.
Alyx wiped at her nose with a tissue, her eyes red and tired. “And Dutch?”
Granite placed a chaste kiss on her head. “We’ll start making arrangements for his funeral once things have settled.”
And by things, he meant the shit with Crow and his ill-placed sense of justice toward Ink, who did nothing more than trying to make things right for me.
I glanced at Wraith, my heart breaking for her even though her brother was the man who took from me what I’d never be able to get back. “What about Slither? What did you do with his body?”
Wraith looked up at me with surprise, her face pale and eyes swollen with grief. Onyx shifted behind her, and I knew I was stepping out of place by bringing up business that had nothing to do with us. But this wasn’t just our enemy; it was Wraith’s brother. And Wraith was one of us now.
Onyx cleared his throat. “It’s been taken care of.” He squeezed Wraith’s shoulders, and she reached up, taking his hand. “It’s been a long day. I think we should try to get some rest.”
“Hey,” I glanced around, “where’s Manic?”
Ink stiffened behind me, and as if the atmosphere around us weren’t heavy enough, it was like my question just slammed a ten-ton truck right in the fucking middle of the kitchen.
“Come on,” Ink blatantly ignored my question, “let’s get some rest like Onyx said.”
If it was any other time, under any other circumstances, I would have planted my stubborn ass right there until I’ve gotten some decent answers out of them. But not now. Not tonight. Not after everything that had happened.
Everyone started going in separate directions, the room void of the usual laughter, banter, and snide remarks. It felt empty and laden with a sense of grief that had the power to drown out even the tiniest sliver of joy. What was supposed to be a moment of victory, all of us celebrating the death of a man who had made all our lives hell for years, was overshadowed by a great loss of our own. And something told me it wasn’t over yet.
* * *
Ink
The second Iclosed the bedroom door behind me, I expected Neon to slam me with a thousand and one questions. On our way here, I was wracking my brain, trying to think of answers I could give her without upsetting her. But when we were finally alone within the confines of her bedroom walls, there was only silence around us. Sitting on her bed, she looked up at me, and my chest ached when I saw the defeated look in her eyes, as if she had aged years within the last twenty-four hours. “This is all my fault.”
“What? No.”
“Dutch is dead. Crow wants war, and it’s because of me.”
“Babe, no.” I crouched in front of her, placing my hands on her knees. “None of this is your fault.”
A rogue tear slipped down her cheek, her chin trembling as she struggled to keep control. “If you didn’t have Slither hidden away, none of this would have happened.”
“Exactly.” Hot air rushed out of my lungs. “Me. I had him hidden away. Me. Not you. Me. So, this is my fault. Not yours.”
She eased her head to the side, violet strands touching her shoulder. “Because of me. Everything you did was because of me.”
I shook my head, falling back flat on my ass. “It’s not like that, Neon.”
“Ink, look at me. Look me in the eye and tell me that if it had been any other woman, you still would have gotten involved the way you did.”
I licked my lips before grinding my teeth.