Page 22 of Beautifully Shattered (Secrets & Scars #3)

“Nope,” JD chuckles, pinching Jols’ nipple, which has her gasping and slapping at his hand. “But Mr Celibacy until Abbey came along used to love watching me fuck. It’s been a while, but I gotta say, tonight was my favourite.”

“I was more into how my Angel got so turned on. Not you two ugly fuckers.” I snort, and then quickly duck, covering Abbey protectively when Jols tosses a pillow at us.

“Just remember. You never saw me. I was never here,” Jols deadpans, and I hold a hand up in surrender.

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

“Ahhh, is Abbey alright?” JD asks, peeling off the cum-filled condom from his now lax cock.

Stiffening under the blankets, Abbey grips my hand like she is silently begging me to make her invisible, and I can’t help but grin.

“She’s okay. Probably just a little mortified.”

The moment the words leave my lips, Abbey’s elbow jams into my ribs, and I wheeze out a cough as Jols and JD laugh at my expense.

“Come on, Babydoll. Let’s take a shower and get cleaned up.” JD grins at Jols, and I can’t help but notice the smile they share.

It’s weird seeing them like this. Jols with her walls down, and JD actually giving a shit about a chick. There’s more than lust in their eyes, and although I kinda knew something was going on between them, I hadn’t realised it had gotten this serious.

Casting my eyes down to my blanket, I give Jols and JD a sliver of privacy as they scramble off his bed and he chases her into the bathroom.

I noticed her bullet wound is healing near her collarbone. It’s going to leave one hell of a scar. Despite her injury, she’s recovering quickly, but I’d bet my money the drinks she’s consumed today are the reason she doesn’t seem all that bothered by it.

Tomorrow will probably hurt like a bitch, though.

“Are they gone?” Abbey whispers from under the blanket, and I chuckle, peeling it back to see her hair plastered to her sweaty forehead.

“They’re showering,” I confirm, brushing the damp strands off her face. “I dirtied up your pretty pussy.”

She giggles at my words, but a second later, her smile slips, and I know exactly where her mind has gone.

Back to her fucked-up reality.

“You did. I guess I got you dirty too.”

Her voice is quiet, almost hollow. I fucking hate seeing her like this. It’s so fucking cruel.

“Once they’re done, I’ll get you washed. But for now, this’ll have to do.”

Reaching behind me, I snatch up the towel from earlier, and ease my cock out from between her thighs, and we get to work, cleaning ourselves up as much as we can, my cum and her blood already sticky and drying in some places.

Abbey doesn’t speak, her eyes fixed on the floor like looking at me might make her break.

This isn’t about me, though. It’s about her and the unthinkable pain she’s choking on every second she remembers what she’s lost.

She moves to sit at the end of my bed, wearing nothing but my shirt, her drenched panties now wrapped up in the towel, forgotten. She stares at her feet, blankly, saying nothing while she waits .

“Can I get you anything, Angel?” I sit beside her, but she shakes her head.

It’s fucking hard not to take her silence personally. I wish I was enough for her. Enough to glue her broken heart back together and bury the ache in her chest.

Nothing will ever be enough to fix that kind of pain.

With my hands resting on the tops of my thighs, I sit beside her in silence, letting it stretch, giving her the space she needs right now without making her feel alone.

Running my hands over my legs a few times, my pinky brushes hers, and before I can move it away, she hooks hers with mine, like she needs that simple connection.

I’ll give her whatever she needs, no questions asked, so we sit in that quiet silence, only this time, our fingers are linked together.

When JD and Jols finally emerge from the bathroom, with steam billowing out behind them, their grins drop the moment they take in the sombre mood of the room.

Moving to Abbey, Jols lowers to her haunches, getting in Abbey’s line of sight.

“I’ve got some clean clothes for you.” Jols gestures to the chair in the corner. “One of the old ladies had a spare pair of leathers, and Casey gave me some underwear for you in case you needed it.”

“Thanks,” Abbey whispers, and Jols reaches up, taking her other hand.

“I’m sorry we… you know, went at it with you guys in the room. I’ve had a few drinks, and well… it felt like a good idea at the time. ”

Abbey’s head lifts, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I’m sorry for watching.”

Jols shrugs, a cheeky smile lighting her face. “I don’t mind a bit of exhibitionism. Just not in front of my stepdad. That’s just creepy.”

They both laugh, and for a second, the room feels lighter.

My eyes shift to JD’s, finding him watching on with a flicker of sympathy in his expression.

Today has been a-fucking-lot for everyone. Heavy as shit.

“How are you feeling after earlier?” Jols asks, her voice soft before Abbey sighs.

“You mean after I beat Wendy to a pulp and then shot her in front of everyone?”

Jols nods slowly, her gaze laser-focused on my Angel like she’s assessing everything she does, and Abbey shrugs, taking a moment to clear her throat.

“I’m not sure I know who I am right now, to be honest.”

Reaching out, Jols rubs Abbey’s arm in support.

“That’s totally understandable. You’ve got a lot going on, and now you’re trying to find your footing in a world that doesn’t look the same anymore.

You’re not going to be the same person you were before.

And that’s okay. It’s gonna take time…” Jols trails off, because she doesn’t need to spell that out to Abbey.

She knows my Angel is suffering through every brutal second of it.

“Thank you,” Abbey whispers, her voice tight like she’s barely holding it together. “I just hope I’m someone still worthy of your friendship when I come out the other end.”

Jols smiles. “I’ve got no doubt we’re gonna be the best of friends. How could we not after you just watched me have sex? ”

“Oh my God,” Abbey groans, burying her face in her hands as JD and I start laughing. “I blame Ringo. He told me to watch.” She waves a frantic hand in my direction, which only makes me laugh more.

She’s so fucking adorable when she’s flustered.

“Angel, I’ll happily take the blame.”

Her head snaps in my direction, a grin tugging at the corner of her lips as she tries to glare at me.

“On that note,” JD chuckles. “We are gonna clear out before you two start having angry sex.”

“We will not …” Abbey trails off, clearly realising arguing is pointless as JD leads Jols out of the cabin.

“What were you saying?” I smirk, and she stands with a huff.

“Shut up.”

I follow my exasperated wife into the bathroom and join her in the shower again, both of us washing away the blood and cum. This time, we manage to keep it G-rated, drying off and getting dressed before leaving the sanctuary we found inside my room.

It hits midnight as we rejoin the party, most of my club brothers fucking hammered, slurring and swaying, and laughing like they haven’t seen death up close tonight.

The Doxies are nearly as bad, hardly able to hold each other up, half-sprawled on the makeshift seating around the dwindling bonfire.

A sharp whistle slices through the noise, drawing attention to Smitty, standing tall on a massive cooler with a beer in hand, the fire casting shadows across his face.

Then he clears his throat .

“To our brothers who rode harder than hell, who took no shit and gave no mercy. You weren’t saints. You were sinners with steel in your blood. You fucked up, fought hard, and always had our six.”

Slowly, Smitty raises his beer to the sky, eyes locked on the stars, and mine follow, watching the embers from the fire drift up like the souls of my brothers are leaving the Earth.

“They say the road doesn’t end, it just curves where we can’t see. So wherever you are now, brothers, I hope the beer is cold, the bikes are fast, and the bastards you owed are burning instead of you.”

Smitty clears his throat again, struggling to keep it together, and lowers his beer, pointing it towards the row of eight hogs lined up, with a cut hanging from each one.

“I ain’t gonna lie. This world is colder without you ugly fuckers. But we Sadists, carry your names, your scars, and your sin. And through us, you’ll live on until the day we go down swinging.”

My brothers roar with a cheer, some thumping the centre of their chests as Smitty continues.

“And when my fucking time is up,” Smitty bellows over the crowd, beer raised high as tears streak down his cheeks, “I’ll ride into the fire of Hell with my head high and my fucking middle finger raised!”

I fucking shout with my brothers, my throat burning, and my chest tight with the weight of the grief in the air.

Abbey snuggles in closer, tucking herself into my side, not out of fear or sadness, but because the brutal wave of brotherhood wraps around her too .

With his beer pressed to his lips, Smitty drains it before turning and tossing it into the fire, his silhouette framed by the flames as he holds both arms up in the air and yells at the top of his lungs.

“Ride easy, brothers! We’ve got the watch now!”

Beer bottles go flying into the air, glass smashing all around us as the crowd turns feral.

Brothers turn and find the closest Doxies, and it’s like a fucking free for all as clothes are torn off in a frenzy.

That’s my fucking cue to leave.

Steering Abbey out of the fray, JD is quick to follow with Jols, while the other guys shacking up with us at the lake stay behind to enjoy a night of sin.

“You okay to drive?” I ask JD as we reach our hogs, and he nods, gesturing to Jols.

“She’s the one who had too much to drink tonight. Not me.”

She rolls her eyes but doesn’t deny it, and I leave them to get prepared, turning back to help Abbey into the helmet and then onto my bike.

Leaving the madness of the party behind, we cruise up the long driveway to the entrance. The Marx security detail is already in place, and as two of their SUVs take the lead, we fall in behind, while another two tail us.

It’s pitch black out in this part of the countryside. The clouds have started to close in over the valley, thick with pending rain, casting an eerie weight over everything. Our headlights slash through the dark, lighting up the pine trees as we whip by at high speed .

Rounding a descending bend, we barely have enough time to brake when the two lead cars slam on their brakes, their tyres squealing as they fishtail before finally grinding to a stop.

My hog wobbles hard, and I fight to keep control of it as Abbey screams behind me, her arms clamping tight around my waist. My bike slides sideways, too fucking fast and sharp, and I hold the fuck on, bracing as we skid towards the SUV.

I fucking hold my breath, my heart in my throat, but we stop mere inches between us and the fucking car. The squeal of tyres doesn’t end there, my eyes darting to the side to see JD closing in fast, and Abbey screams again, as my best mate careens towards us.

My eyes are fucking wide, a cold spike of dread rushing up my spine as I brace for a second time, but by some fucking miracle, JD, with Jols on the back, stops a breath away from clipping us.

“Fuck. That was close.” The crazy fucker laughs, but my eyes are over his shoulder now, hearing and seeing the SUVs behind us struggling to stop in time, too.

JD stiffens, and Jols tucks her head into his back, and I wonder for the third fucking time in a matter of seconds if we’re about to become roadkill.

For a few long beats, all I hear is my own breath before my surroundings come rushing back in to hear yelling and car doors slamming as a few of the Marx crew leap from their cars with their guns raised.

“Why’d we stop?!” one yells from the back.

“There’s something blocking the road!” another yells from up front.

“Angel. Are you okay?” I ask, my eyes flicking around, because fuck, something doesn’t feel right.

“Y-yes,” she stammers, her dainty fingers digging into my sides as she trembles.

“JD?!” I yell over the chaos, and he grunts.

“We’re fine. I need a new pair of boxers, though.” He laughs, but I can tell he doesn’t find this the least bit funny.

“Uhhh, guys?” Jols’ uncertain voice has us all alert. “Something’s not right.”

My exact fucking thoughts, but before I can do anything about it, the loud crack of gunfire starts piercing the air.