I tried to tell him with my eyes that I was alive, that I was okay, but when I moved my mouth nothing came out.
He patted me down desperately. “Did the bullet get the vest?”
I looked up into his anxious eyes. I couldn’t breathe but I nodded to him. He swallowed thickly, and I could see the relief spread across his face. He loosened the vest and pulled it away so he could survey the damage. He pushed my shirt up and relaxed further when he saw the red bruise already forming on my skin. There was no blood. No mortal wound. Relieved, he sat back and caught his breath.
“Is she going to be okay?” Noah cried.
Bull nodded. “Yeah, kid. It’s all over now. You’re both safe.”
“You need to leave,” Bull said.
We were outside, standing in the shadow of a giant oak tree in the garden. Bull had carried me through the house, eager to get Noah away from the carnage inside, and sat me down in a small garden so I could catch my breath.
I glanced over at my brother sitting on the wall of a water fountain at the edge of the driveway.
“What’s going to happen?” I asked. I had gotten my breath back, but it still hurt to speak.
“Caleb is on his way. He’ll take you and Noah home.”
“What about Alex and Martel?”
“I’ll fix it. I’ve already called the sheriff. We’ll work something out.”
“You called the police?”
“He’s been working with the Kings for as long as I can remember. He’ll help us clean up this mess.”
I thought about Alex lying dead in the kitchen.
We were finally free.
But in my quest for freedom, I had found and lost the man I was crazy in love with. It was tough to accept.
Now he looked at me like he didn’t even know me.
His voice was cold and lacked emotion. He stood next to me but felt a world away.
I had lost him.
I thought about last night and how tender he had been with me, and my heart ached, longing to know he still felt the same.
But he didn’t.
I could see it on his face. Hear it in his voice.
“Will you ever be able to forgive me?” I asked before I could stop myself.
He tried to hide it, but his face tightened with inner torment.
“You got what you want, Taylor. You and Noah are free.”
“But what about us? Do you think there’s any chance we—”
He cut me off. “You need to take Noah home and make sure he forgets all about this.”
I wanted to reach for him. To feel his warm skin against mine. To feel his heartbeat against my cheek as he wrapped his strong arms around me.
But those days were gone, and my stomach twisted with the agony of losing him.
“I love you.” The words spilled out in a desperate whisper and Bull’s expression rippled with longing. With agony.
He paused to look at me. “Take care of your brother.”
And with nothing else left to say, he walked away.
TAYLOR
Over the next few days, I hibernated with Noah, desperate to protect him from what he had seen. We talked about it. About what had happened.
Fortunately, he knew very little and never understood the kind of man Alex really was. All he knew was that he spent the night with his godfather, and that his godfather’s business associate had done some terrible things to Bull’s family, and that Alex had helped.
One day, when he was older, he would learn more about what happened. Who Alex was and the things he had done. A bad man who hurt people, who wasn’t the charismatic grandfather he pretended to be.
It also meant he would learn more about me. Who I was. What I had done. But by then, he would have the maturity of mind to understand, and I prayed he would forgive me.
All I could do now was protect him, and hope he had a beautiful childhood.
After a weekend of binging on Netflix and eating junk food, he was itching to go back to school. His world had looked up when Bull had ridden into his life, and he had made a lot of new friends once he had his confidence back and felt accepted by his classmates. Now he couldn’t wait to get back to them. I was astounded by how well-adjusted he was in light of what we’d been through.
Whatever happened between me and the club, I wouldn’t take him away from Destiny. Not now. He was finally settled. He had friends. Went to birthday parties and sleepovers.
Destiny was our home now.
With or without Bull and the Kings of Mayhem.
I didn’t speak to anyone in the days that followed. Chastity rang a few times, but I couldn’t face her or the rest of the club, not until I had everything untangled in my head.