Page 4

TALLY

Bang!

My bedroom door swung open hard, hitting the wall behind it. I reached for the gun stashed between my bed and the nightstand, and my fingers wrapped around it as Kit’s voice broke through my sleepy haze. “Get up and get outside,” he ordered. “You’re gonna wanna see this.”

With the threat gone, I slumped back onto my pillow and took a breath, trying to slow my racing heart. “What the actual fuck, Kit?” I mumbled to myself a few seconds later, tossing back the blankets and getting to my feet. I pulled on my jeans, followed by my hoodie—and caught sight of the digital clock on my side table.

2:09 a.m.

What the hell was going on?

My cut was the last thing I shrugged on as I made my way down the hall to the main area, rubbing at my eyes when I spotted bright lights through the open door. Two silhouettes were outlined in the headlights of a car—one was Kit, but I didn’t recognize the other.

It was a woman.

I stepped outside, blinking a few times as I got closer to where they were speaking in hushed tones. “… doctor?”

The woman shook her head, holding her hands up. “It’s not mine, I’m fine.”

The voice.

I knew that fucking voice.

“Kat?”

“Hey Tally,” Sophie greeted, almost sadly, as I stood outside the apartment door. “She’s not here.”

I frowned, looking past her to the clock on the wall. “She usually finishes at eleven on a Thursday. She change shifts?” We rode into town later than expected and still had to get the goods unloaded and shit at the clubhouse. But it was almost twelve now and X-Rated was closed when I went by on my way here.

“She moved.”

I paused, shaking my head as though it was going to stop those two words going into my ears. “To another apartment?”

Soph swallowed hard. “To another state.”

I braced my hands against the door frame, leaning into it to keep myself steady while it felt like someone was pulling the floor out from under my feet. “What the fuc—”

“She was meant to tell you last time she saw you. She got accepted to college. She’s gonna start nursing, follow her dream.” The emotion in Sophie’s voice was thick, she was obviously missing her friend. “I told her to tell you.”

“But she fucking didn’t,” I snapped. The new information transformed my feeling of sadness into one of anger. “She knew she wasn’t going to be here next time I was in town and just decided the best option was to disappear without a trace.”

Why would she do that?

Sure, shit between us wasn’t perfect, the long-distance thing, the way she didn’t want me around Dylan. I figured we’d grow past that eventually as we took things further. As she got to trust me and see the effort I was making to be around.

I tried to get up here once a month, even if it was only for the night. I rode over three hours each way so I could be with her for maybe a couple of hours, sometimes even less. I couldn’t be here all the time because I had commitments to the club and my brothers in Troy.

But I had been trying in the best way I knew how.

Obviously, she didn’t see it that way.

Or maybe she didn’t give a flying fuck about us at all.

Why the hell else would she just up and leave?

“You don’t get it. Her feelings—”

“Her feelings? What about mine!” I shoved away from the door and took a couple of steps back. “Fucking hell, I’m out of here.”

“Tally!” Sophie called after me. “Call her. Tell her how you feel.”

Maybe I should have.

But instead of fighting for her, I decided to fight the feelings instead.

I numbed the ache with alcohol and hard work until I couldn’t feel it anymore.

And yet, seeing her standing in front of me felt like I was right back there, standing in that doorway, trying to figure out where the fuck I had gone wrong and whether everything I’d felt between us had just been a lie.

“What the hell are you—” I caught a glimpse of the color of her hands as she tucked them around her body. “Is that blood?” I demanded.

I reached out and grabbed Kat’s arm, pulling her toward me. I swept my hands through her disheveled hair, pushing it back from her face and scanning it for injuries. She was just like I remembered, maybe a little older, but still beautiful as hell, even with the more pronounced smile lines pinching at the corner of her eyes.

“Yeah. It’s a long story,” Kat murmured when our eyes finally met for the first time in eight years. I tightened my hold on her just a little when I saw the fear in her eyes. Kat was one of the strongest women I knew. Fear was not an emotion I saw commonly, and it instantly made me want to drive my fist through the face of whoever had put it there. “I didn’t know where else to go. Everything in me told me to drive to you.”

Because I would never not look after her.

Even after everything that had happened.

And the angry fire that had been burning a minute ago was now ready to destroy whoever the hell had caused her fear, which was a sure sign that, even after all this time, the feelings I’d had for her were still very much alive and kicking.

“Come on,” I urged, pressing my hand to her back. “Let’s go inside, and you can tell us what the hell is going on.”

She pushed back against me and looked back over her shoulder to the car. “Can I get Dylan into bed so he can rest first?”

The car door creaked open.

I was sure I would see a four-year-old climb out, but as the kid unfolded his body from the front seat and stood, I realized he was just a few inches shorter than me.

“Geez, kid,” Kit said with a laugh, trying to keep things light. “I don’t wanna sound like an old guy, but you were like knee-high when I saw you last.”

Dylan forced a smile, his eyes shifting to where my hand was pressed to Kat’s back before he met my gaze and narrowed.

“Dylan,” Kat warned. “It’s okay. You can relax now.”

“Come on,” I urged, nodding toward the clubhouse. “We’ll get you set up in a room, then we can chat before you guys get some sleep.”

They were both exhausted, Dylan practically passing out the second we got them into one of the spare rooms. I waited in the doorway, unable to take my eyes off her while she sat with him, stroking his head and whispering quietly as he drifted off.

It was like I was scared to look away.

That if I did, she’d be gone again.

There was going to come a time when we would have to talk about that. When I would ask my questions and let her know how the choice she made affected me. How it had left this dull ache in my chest that, for a long time, drove me fucking crazy.

This was not that time, though.

Right now, I simply needed to make sure she was okay and, if she wasn’t, find a way to fix it.

Because no matter how badly it hurt when she left, it still didn’t compare to how much I still damn well cared.

“Okay,” she whispered, finally meeting me at the door.

“We don’t have to do this tonight,” I told her, when I noticed the way her eyes were drooping. It was getting close to three in the morning. “You can rest. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

She shook her head, then lifted her chin like a real fucking soldier. “I’d just rather get it off my chest and hear what you and Kit have to say.”

“Fair enough, let’s do it.” I once again lay my hand on the small of her back. Maybe it was me trying to let her know I had her back. Or maybe it was a reminder to me that she was actually here. In the flesh. Maybe even a little of both. I wasn’t entirely sure. I simply knew I couldn’t help it.

We joined Kit at one of the tables in the main room.

Kat placed her hands on the table for a second before her eyes caught sight of them, and she quickly hid them in her lap, shaking her head. “My neighbor Eve showed up with her brother. He’d been stabbed, and she wanted me to help.”

Because she was a nurse now.

And I bet a damn good one.

“That’s where the blood is from,” Kit stated.

Kat nodded. “Honestly, everything else happened so fast. I went down the hall to get supplies, then suddenly, there were other voices in the house. A man. The way Eve was yelling at him, it was obvious he was the one who had stabbed her brother.” I gritted my teeth a little harder with each word. “I freaked out. I didn’t know what he was going to do, so I grabbed Dylan, and we climbed out the window. We got to the car, then this guy came out, he started banging on the window, saying that we had to come back sometime and he’d be there waiting.”

Kit’s fists were clenched on top of the table as we listened to what had happened. “You have any idea who this guy was? Why he’d stabbed your neighbor’s brother?”

“No. I know nothing.” Her shoulders slumped, and I reached over and placed my hand on her thigh, squeezing it gently.

She looked up at me. “What about what he looked like?” I questioned, seeking any little detail that could help us possibly figure out what we were dealing with.

Kat scrunched up her nose. “Like Post Malone, but if he was on crack. Tall and really slim, with tattoos smattered everywhere… on his face too. He was scary looking, and the way he said he’d be there waiting for us when we came home…” A full-body shudder moved through her, every part of her shook for a moment.

“Okay good,” Kit said with a nod. “Why don’t you go and get some rest. We’ll figure out a plan tomorrow.”

“You’re gonna help?”

Kit’s brow knotted between his eyes. “You think we wouldn’t?” Her eyes flicked to me before returning to Kit, who shook his head when she opened her mouth to speak. “I think the hand on your leg right now is all that needs to be said. Though I’m sure my brother here will correct me if I’m wrong.”

He wasn’t.

And he knew it—the smug look on his face as he got to his feet told me exactly that.

Kat and I stayed there as Kit stepped out of the room, neither of us made a move to leave the table.

“Tally…”

I held my hand up. “There will be plenty of time later. After we fix this shit so you and Dylan can feel safe again. Now, let’s get you a hot shower and wash off all the bullshit you’ve just endured.”

I held out my hand, and she placed hers in it, letting me help her to her feet.

At some point, we would talk about the past.

And maybe when that time came, we would also talk about the future.

Because letting her go hurt enough the first time.

And I needed to decide if I was willing to do it again.