Page 72

I thought she would keep asking—I had a fuck ton of ink all over me—but she just kept touching, slow and soft, tracing all of them like she was memorizing them.
This was the calmest I had ever seen her.
And then she rolled over, baring her back to me. She moved her long blonde hair aside to show her own ink on the back of her neck, right over her spine.
The patch of the Wolverines—a snarling wolverine with blood on its teeth.
I all but growled. The sight of it made something black and feral coil in my gut. I wanted to claw it off her skin with my own bare hands. I wanted to make her new again.
Free.
“I fucking hate it.” Caroline’s voice was so quiet I barely heard it. “I want it gone. I don’t care if I have to burn it off myself.”
I carefully rolled her over to face me, then took her hands in mine and kissed her knuckles. “You’re not your ink, Caroline.”
Her lower lip wobbled. “I feel like I am.”
I caught her chin between my fingers, pulling her close for a lingering kiss. “You don’t have to anymore. You’re not his. You’re not their property. You’re not anybody’s but your own. Fuck anyone who thinks otherwise.”
“Knox…”
“Call me Nate.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. No one else is allowed to but you.”
Caroline hesitated, searching my eyes, then gave the smallest smile. “Okay.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead. “I’m gonna make sure Bates never breathes the same air as you ever again, Care. I’ll put him in the fucking ground myself, with my bare hands if I have to. I won’t lose this.” I held her tighter. She pressed her cheek to my chest. “I won’t lose you. I’ll be fucking damned if I do.”
We were quiet for a long time.
Then she whispered, “You’re right. He needs to die.”
She had alluded to her father’s death before, but hearing her say it straight up was still jarring. “Really?”
“Yes,” she said fearlessly. “If I don’t see him die with my own eyes, I’ll always be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life. I’m tired of being defined by him and his stupid crew. I want to be what you want me to be. Yours. Free. I want Reno to be free. I want the Devils to be free.”
“Caroline…”
She sat up to look at me. The moment had so much gravity that I wasn’t distracted by her perfect tits.
“They’ll never trust me. Will Jackson kick you out of the club if he finds out I’m still here?”
I scrubbed my face, not wanting to think about it. Caroline was the priority over Jackson’s personal vendetta. “Maybe.”
Caroline lay back down just to curl up in on herself. “What about Gabriel?”
I hated seeing her make herself small when she was too badass for that. “They’ve definitely gone back for him. They’re planning a funeral. I have no idea where I left my phone, so I don’t have contact with them.” I paused, then smirked. “Otherwise I’d be scrolling for the first laser treatment I can find.”
She smiled halfheartedly. I scooped her ass with my arm, pulling her closer. She buried her face in my chest again. “It’s my burden to figure out, Knox—Nate.”
I squeezed her hip. “Oh, I meant for myself. Time to get this stupid barbed wire gone.”
That made her snort a laugh and shove at my chest, which made me chuckle. “That can wait, you cocky bastard. Right now, we need to plot my father’s demise.”
“Oh, I’ve been waiting to hear those words for months, baby girl. Let’s do it.”