Rattle Some Cages (Battle Crows MC 3)

Yet, on the other hand, now I would never have to worry about Cole, the fuckin’ nutcase, ever hurting Sabrina again.

“I had to kill him for his own good,” DS disagreed. “He would’ve kept going and going until he made her life impossible to live. This was proof. Now, I can die happy knowing that Cole won’t ever hurt her again. I should’ve been more honest with her in the beginning of my misgivings regarding that piece of trash.”

“Shouldn’t someone call 911?” Sabrina asked in a shaky voice.

I couldn’t help it.

I laughed.

This day just kept getting weirder and weirder.

“They won’t do a thing to me,” DS said, answering something that Daniel had asked that I hadn’t heard. “They’ll try, sure. But they won’t be able to do much more than that, because I literally only have about two weeks left to live. At least, two good weeks.”

That’s when reality smacked me upside the face.

DS would hurt Sabrina.

Badly.

And if he only had two weeks…

• • •

DS was right.

They didn’t do a thing, mostly because when Wilhelm responded to the call, he was able to easily ascertain what had happened. He was competent and knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was self-defense.

The help of a neighbor, who apparently was sweet on DS, was definitely a plus.

The only problem was, now we were at the end of the day, the puddle of blood in the street had been washed away down the street like the gutter trash Cole was, and I was left staring at Sabrina as she walked up the length of Daniel’s driveway.

“It’ll be okay, son,” my dad said from where he was standing beside me looking at my wrecked bike. “You can afford to buy a new one. And she’ll only be here until the end. That’s not that long. The fact that she asked to be alone isn’t something that should offend you. She just wants to soak it all in until…”

Until DS was dead.

I looked from my bike, which was trashed, to my dad. Then back to Sabrina, where she was now closing the door to her dad’s house.

“Come on. Let’s head home,” he urged when I didn’t respond.

“I don’t want to,” I denied.

“The life you want is on the other side of the shit you don’t want to do,” Dad told me.

I sighed. “You’re just hilarious, aren’t you?”

Dad laughed, and we both got into his beat-up Chevy and drove away.

But the farther that we got away from Sabrina, the harder it was for me to breathe.

There was a consistent ache in my chest that let me know rather quickly that I was making the wrong decision.

Which was why, after my father drove away from my place, I got into my truck—which one of my brothers had retrieved for me—and drove right back to where my girl was.

After knocking on the door, Daniel opened it and rolled his eyes. “Both of you are so stubborn.”

I shrugged. “She in bed?”

He shook his head. “Out like a light on the couch, out on the porch next to my dad. We were wondering how the hell we were going to get her inside.”

I grinned and walked past him, cuffing him on the shoulder as I did before heading to the back porch.

When I got there, it was to find DS sipping his coffee, a bag of half-finished cookies on the table between him and Sabrina. Sabrina, who was very much asleep, in a very awkward ball.

“Good,” DS said as he gestured with his cup toward Sabrina. “Get her to bed.”

I grinned. “Yes, sir.”

After picking her up, Daniel held the door for me to walk inside, then told me where her old room was. Which only held a full-size bed.

Tonight would be tight, and tomorrow I’d be purchasing a king for the room, but we’d make it work.

After I laid her down on the bed, I pulled her shoes off, shucked her jeans, then tucked the blankets around her before heading back out to the living room.

I found the two men exactly where I’d left them on the back porch.

After shaking both men’s hands, I said, “I want you to know, no matter what happens in the next few months, I’ll take care of her. She’ll never want for anything. I’ll always make sure to put her first. And if she needs me, I’m there. That goes for y’all. If y’all need me, and I can’t be here for some reason, I’ll get one of my brothers here to help. So don’t hesitate to call and don’t be stubborn assholes.”

DS snorted. Daniel grinned.

“You’ll take care of her,” DS said. “And when you have your first son, don’t name him Daniel. Name him something fuckin’ cool, like Hercules.”

I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back and laughed.

Daniel chuckled as well, and after listening to the laughter for a few extra seconds, I said my good nights and headed back inside.