Aries comes up to me next and hugs me. I bury my face into his chest and squeeze my eyes shut. “Thank you for coming straight away.”
“You don’t need to thank me. I’ve got your back, always.”
I let go of him, and Atlas all but carries me into my car and takes me home.
“Well, that was a big day,” I groan when he lays me on my bed. Also, remind me to take Joan off my Christmas card list.
“You could have died today,” he says, climbing into bed next to me and holding me.
“Your Taser saved my life. I think I might put my gun back into my handbag, though. Seems like I’m going to need it.”
“They better lock his ass away,” he finally grits out, and I can tell how upset he is about the whole thing. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Natalie. I’m also grateful that you are so badass you managed to get yourself and your boss out of it.”
“I wasn’t ready to die, that’s for sure,” I murmur, rolling over to face him and touching his cheek with my fingers. “And I knew that you were coming.”
“I love you,” he whispers, pressing his forehead against mine. “I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to you today. I’d probably be in prison.”
“I love you, too.”
We fall asleep like that, and I for one am glad because I was ready for this day to be over.
Tomorrow is a new day, a new beginning.
And I can’t wait for it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Atlas
Pacing around the clubhouse, I finally let out all the anger that I’ve been hiding from Natalie, who is currently in my room.
“Enough is enough—we need to do something now,” I tell the men.
I feel like we’ve had this same conversation over and over again. We can’t just keep waiting and be walking targets. I knew there was a possibility Marko would target Natalie, and now he has, sending Cole to do his dirty business for him.
“We have a lead,” Rhett says, handing me a piece of paper. “Felix got some information out of Cole. The other guy might have been able to keep his mouth shut, but Cole definitely did not.”
I read the paper, where Felix has jotted down notes. “So Cole met Marko at a few different locations for legal meetings. We should go and check them out.”
“Already on it,” Rhett replies, glancing around our clubhouse. “And I didn’t tell anyone in the Wind Dragons other than Dice, so no information will be leaked.”
Fuck. I keep forgetting about this leak, but it affects all of us and it needs to be handled.
“Did you bug the cars?” I ask.
He nods. “I feel like shit, but yes, I did, and I’m waiting for something we can use to pop up. I’ll let you know if we get anything. Now I better get home—Con is alone and freaking out about what happened to Natty.”
She’s not the only one.
I made Natalie come to the clubhouse with me because I didn’t want to leave her alone. She actually listened this time, either because she’s scared or because she didn’t want to upset me any further, but I’m happy she’s not being difficult. I’m also sad that she’s been put in this position.
“Tell Con she’s okay, and I’m not leaving Natalie’s side.”
“Will do.”
He heads off, and I go into my bedroom to find Natalie still watchingEncantoand eating a giant bowl of popcorn.
“How good is this movie?” she states, smiling widely. “I feel like I need to call up Cara and thank her for carrying the heavy burden that is being the older sister.”