Page 169 of Caution to the Wind

Loulou studied me with pursed lips, Angel asleep in her lap, her hand carding gently through her daughter’s abundance of golden curls. “You know, sometimes the things we love the most, we also fear the most. It requires a lot of trust to admit to a vulnerability. Especially for men like The Fallen who think they need to be unconquerable. Especially for a man like Axe-Man who’s already lost so much.”

“You’re being nice,” I said because I almost couldn’t bear to hear those words.

Hope could be lethal in the wrong dosage, and I was dangerously close to my max consumption.

Loulou’s lips twisted into a wry smile. “I’m being honest.”

“It’s my wedding day,” Harleigh Rose interjected, sitting in a white lacy nightgown even as Hannah did her makeup dramatic and bold, the contrast somehow suiting her to a T. “So let me give you some of my honesty, too. To be the best kind of lover, you have to be a fighter. Don’t stop fighting for him if you love him. I fought and literally almost died for Lion, and I’d do it again today, tomorrow, and any day following.”

“Let’s hope there’s no fighting today,” I quipped because I couldn’t handle any more of this.

This…sisterhood. This group of women in all shapes and sizes and ages who sat together like a family, teasing and supporting and loving so blatantly the room seemed filled with magic.

I’d never had this on such a scale.

With Kate and Cleo and Lin, yeah.

Sometimes, when Daiyu was alive and made time for me after long hours of work, with my ma.

Never like this.

You could make a home here with us, Cleo’s voice rang in my mind, and I looked over to see her watching me with a sad little smile like she knew just what I was thinking.

That I didn’t deserve this like she and Axe-Man did, but I was so fucking happy to share in it with them for a while.

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” I murmured as the conversation moved on around me.

Cressida shot me a worried look, and Harleigh Rose brushed my arm as I passed by her, but no one followed me, and I was grateful.

It was a gorgeous April day, the sun a bright gold coin in an unblemished blue sky. It was still cool, a breeze ruffling the long grass over the meadow beside the house, and the manes of the three horses grazing in the paddock beyond that. I rubbed my arms as I leaned against the balustrade and took in a few deep, long breaths with my eyes closed to settle my fragile spirit.

“Blossom,” Boner called, but it wasn’t his usual charming tone.

I opened my eyes to see him standing in front of me, scowling.

Scowling because Kasper Kuan was at his back holding a gun to his temple.

My first bizarre thought was that it was the same gun he’d used to kill Jiang’s lover, Eero.

My second was pure, undistilled fear.

“Kasper,” I greeted calmly even though I was reeling. Fourteen people were inside, one of them a bride on her long-awaited, much-earned wedding day.

What the fuck was I going to do?

“I don’t believe you have an invitation to the event,” I continued blandly.

I had a knife in my thigh holster, light enough to throw, but Kasper was too hidden behind Boner. There was no way I could hit him cleanly.

“Two of my men have the other Fallen brothers at gunpoint, too,” Kasper warned, jerking his head to the left.

A second later, Pigeon and Ransom shuffled into view with gunmen at their backs.

“What do you want?” I reiterated, this time with grit in my tone.

I cursed myself for not even bringing my phone outside. If I screamed, would they have time to shoot all three bikers dead? Who inside the house was armed?

Cleo was in there.