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13

Acid

I bounce my knee as I watch my little brother like a hawk. His clothes are soaked, and the grief-stricken look on his face, fuck, it’s killing me.

I rest my elbows on my knees, linking my fingers before resting my chin on them, not looking away from my brother even as Steal sits beside me.

“She’ll make it,” he states firmly, and I nod.

We need to keep the faith, even if I lost mine years ago.

The moment I saw Natalie with my brother nearly six years ago, the way he was looking at her in the Huntsmen, I knew she’d be his but, fuck me, did he fight it. He fought hard against his feelings. In the end, his love for her won, only for her to be attacked as she was driving out of the gate. Our prospect, Adam, was killed before Nat was fucking dragged outta her car, and then thrown over Brooklyn Bridge, before Piston jumped in after her. I watched, with fucking horror, as he swam with her, trying to keep her afloat before giving her CPR.

The fuckers who did this, The Killers, are a nasty gang that have been trying to take our territory ever since their new leader took over, the same leader who targeted my sister-in-law nearly three years ago, wanting her to get info on the club.

Our fucking father.

I swallow hard. It doesn’t surprise me the fucker went down that route, but what does surprise me is the fact he’s keeping his identity a secret.

Everyone on the fucking east block knew what he was doing to me and Piston, so why hide in the fucking shadows like a pussy?

I sigh and sit back in the chair, crossing my arms over my chest, my eyes still locked on Piston.

“If he loses her, we’ll lose him, Steal,” I remind him.

There’s a reason he made Nat his “three-year fling” in college, trying to ignore his feelings. She centers him.

“He won’t fucking lose her; she won’t give up, brother,” Steal rasps as he leans forward, and I nod.

If I lose Piston, I’ll go off the rails, especially after losing Perrie. I fucking know I will. He’s the only family I have left. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I know there’s Canine, Holly, and Aurora, but Piston, he’s my brother, he’s the reason I continued all these fucking years, why I didn’t put a bullet in my head at fifteen, not able to handle the fucking dirt under my skin.

The door to the waiting room opens, and both Steal and I stand, expecting it to be Cassidy because, of course, shit couldn’t get worse than having he Prez’s ex-girlfriend as Nat’s doctor. Instead, I swallow hard when Perrie rushes in, her hair plaited, wearing her gym gear.

She’s training?

Where the fuck…? My jaw ticks when I notice the blood on her hands, and I step forward to call her out, but she ignores me and rushes to Piston, who stands and takes her in his arms, holding her tight.

Okay, that whole “I can’t live without my brother” shit? Starting to regret thinking that.

They talk amongst themselves, and Steal grabs my arm to stop me from walking over to them, from yanking her out of his hold, my jealousy pulling me hard.

“Acid,” Steal mumbles, and I shake my head.

“I know I have no right to feel this way, but fuck….” My words trail off as the door opens again and Cassidy walks in.

I’m grabbing Steal, who glares at me this time, but I just smirk.

Payback’s a bitch….

“Fuck,” Steal whispers, and I look to see Perrie slowly walking over to a tearful Cass. “Is this, fuck me, is this the first time they’re seeing each other?”

I go to speak, but instead, my mouth hangs open as Perrie slaps her sister hard across the face.

He repeats, “Fuck….”

“That’s on you,” I mutter to my prez.

He replies, “Prick,” under his breath just as Cassidy takes Perrie into her arms, holding her tightly, and my heart stumbles as the girl I gave it to breaks, her sobs echoing in the room.

I swallow hard, my hands fisted.

So much fucking pain is pouring from her, and I can’t do fuck all.

Andrea is still making waves, demanding to be made my old lady, threatening to go straight to Perrie if I don’t, and I can’t fucking slice her throat because she might actually be pregnant.

It’s not the kid's fault its mom is a crazy bitch.

I watch as Cassidy grips her sister in her arms as she looks at Piston and rasps, “Natalie’s surgery was a success, and her tests are still showing positive for pregnancy.” Fuck! “The next forty-eight hours are critical, and there is still a chance she could lose the baby. She, uh, she’s in an induced coma to help her heal.”

Piston nods, his body taut.

He made Nat his old lady when he was adamant about not settling down—she’d found out she was pregnant after they both called it quits as they agreed. A few weeks later, she claimed the test was false, and he accused her of being a patch chaser for years, only to find out she was, in fact, pregnant but lost the baby when our fucking father slammed her against her car. She kept it from him so he didn’t blame himself, and now, despite refusing to have any other children, she’s pregnant again, and could lose it.

And it will destroy her.

“Let me take you to her,” Cass says, and Piston nods, following as she guides Perrie out of the waiting room, keeping her arm wrapped around her where mine should be.

Steal tries to follow, but I grip his arm.

“She didn’t even look at me,” he complains, full of anger and hurt.

I sigh and reply, “You held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her if she didn’t leave town, ensuring she was scared for her sister’s safety, meaning today was the first time they’ve had any communication in four years. What the fuck do you expect, Steal?”

He growls, ripping his arm out of my grip before he runs his hands through his hair with frustration, and reminds me, “A brother is dead, a brother whose blood coated her clothes.”

I nod. “I know, Steal, but even you realize that you handled the situation wrong. You never even asked for her side of things. You believed Faith, the girl working for your patch, within seconds, instead of the girl you wanted to spend the rest of your life with.”

I shake my head as he drops his.

“Natalie is lying in a bed unconscious; there’s a chance she could lose her baby—another one, at the hands of my father. Piston is a wreck, Perrie won’t even fucking look at me, and I have shit hanging over my head from that bitch . Let’s get everything fucking sorted, and bring the Killers to their knees, then we’ll try and figure out how to get Cass to speak to you, to explain her side of things finally.” I look at him and murmur, “Maybe she can hold a gun to your head to even things out a little.”

His head shoots up, and he stares daggers at me and sneers, “She’d probably fucking pull the trigger and claim Nat bumped into her….”

I grin and admit, “But that would mean Nat will be here, with her clumsy ass….”

And clumsy she is. Only a few weeks ago, she fucking knocked Piston’s bike over, and don’t get me started on paint covering her from head to toe or the bruises she always has.

The woman is a klutz, but she’s Piston’s klutz, and he needs her back.

Steal chuckles, and I turn. Piston won’t be out anytime soon, and I need out of these fucking walls.

“Where are you off to?” Steal questions as I walk out the door, and I shout back, “To see Aurora, explain the situation; otherwise, she’ll be the one shooting us.”

Steal curses, and I sigh because, fuck me, is she going to be mad.

“How is she?” I ask as I walk into Natalie’s room a few hours later, feeling fucking drained after holding Aurora as she cried.

Instantly, my eyes go to Nat’s sleeping form, and I swallow hard.

Fuck.

Her face is swollen, there’s a tube down her fucking throat, and there are wires hooked up everywhere….

“Stable,” Cass whispers, and I look her way. She gives me a slight smile while I raise a brow at her. She sighs. “You know I had to go radio silent.”

I shake my head and exclaim, “Not with Perrie, Cass. She needed you, and after you left, she changed, got harder, and then pushed everyone away.”

She swallows, pushing her dark red hair behind her ear as she looks at Natalie.

“If I’d called, I would have wanted to make myself known,” she whispers, then looks at me. “What is it Piston used to say if you wanted to run?”

I frown in confusion before it hits me, and I deflate, muttering, “To hide in plain sight.”

She nods once and admits, “I managed to rent a small one-bedroom apartment on the west side, where the Huntsmen rarely go. I’d gotten my internship here, and I-I….” Her words trail off, and I sigh.

“You need to speak to her,” I tell her, and she flinches but nods.

“I was going to go see her after work,” she admits, “but once her shock had worn off, she left.”

I furrow my brows. “You know where she lives?”

No one fucking knows. She has all her mail delivered at her parents’ house.

Cass gives me a sly smirk and says, “I’ve always known where she’s lived, Acid, but clearly, she didn’t want you to know.”

I narrow my eyes at her, but she chuckles before she gently squeezes Nat’s hand, and then walks over to the edge of the bed, placing the clipboard in the pocket before squeezing my arm.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, but I can guess. Fix things, Acid….”

That said, she leaves me with my thoughts, all while I look at my sister-in-law, feeling helpless.

I can’t fix things; there’s still a chance Andrea is pregnant, and even though I know it can’t be my child, but I still may have fucked her, and that, well, that’s something Perrie will never fucking forgive me for.