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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

GRIZ

“Note left for you, brother,” Keys calls out from the bar before the door even closes behind me.

“What?” Cocking a brow, I head in his direction.

“Your woman wrote you a note and left another one with it,” Keys says, holding out a slip of paper. “And you should know she took off about fifteen minutes ago. Hotwired one of the spare cars, she went to your ex’s place.”

“The fuck?” I snarl, snatch the paper from him, and take a look for myself.

Griz,

Don’t be mad, okay, you will be, but I’m done with this mess. I’m going after Hattie myself. Come find me. Take a look at the note she wrote, and you’ll understand.

Short and to the point.

Reading the other one, I nearly see red. It wasn’t her father doing any of this. It was her. Hattie. She tried to kill my woman. She was behind everything else.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

All of this is fucked.

Now, my woman was out there, looking to find herself in a load of trouble.

“What’s going on?” Marshall asks, coming up behind me. “What’s Marley done now?”

“Your sister is doing what she always seems to do, go her own way,” I growl, crush the papers in my hand, and focus on Keys. “You said she was heading toward Hattie’s?”

“Yep.” He nods and lifts his tablet. “Looks like she’s on the move again.” He turns it and keeps talking. “Marley downloaded some sick-ass programs to add to mine I already have, and we were able to find some information on not just Deets but even more on Hattie. Including several other addresses. Looks like from the direction she’s going, your woman is heading toward the warehouse district.”

I nod, knowing exactly where he’s talking about. Hattie talked about it once. It’s where she does her work when she’s creating her art. Though I never saw a piece of art she’d done.

Tossing the tablet back to Keys, I spin on my heel and head back out. No way was my woman going to be facing off with this bitch without me having her back. Marley was right, it pisses me off that she’s doing this, especially after the fact she’s been hurt. No way was I taking this from her, though. However, I’ll be spanking her ass for going ahead without me.

Marley’s note, no matter how short, I already knew it word for word. It was simple and to the point, yet still, she’d been able to be sarcastic in it, telling me not to be mad though she knew I would be.

Fuck.

“Where you heading?” Blow asks as I step out the door, nearly running into him.

“Warehouse district,” I tell him, not stopping. “Marley’s going after Hattie.”

“Right behind you,” Blow and Nines call out together, changing directions, following me.

I don’t pay attention to anything else. I know my brothers will follow. None of us will leave another behind. You have to cross the club in a way that can’t be repairable to ever make one of us turn our backs on another.

Swinging a leg over my bike, I don’t waste time getting on the road. Hitting the throttle, I kick up rocks and handle my bike as I always have. Smooth and easy. Nothing is going to stop me from getting Marley. Fuck knows what she could be walking into.

Ten minutes later, into what should have been close to a twenty-minute ride, I’m riding into the warehouse district. Our town might not have much, but we have warehouses. It’s one of the few places you can work around here that doesn’t involve working on the pipeline out of town, being a farmer or first responder, and a few other similar things. A lot of people work in different distribution centers. One of the buildings we actually keep as well as a precaution that we might need it.

Moving through, I find the car Marley took parked next to Hattie’s. At the sight of her getting out, I released a breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

Thank fuck.

I park right next to her and set the kickstand down. “The hell are you thinking coming here without backup,” I snarl while getting off the back of my bike. Closing the short distance between us, I grip the back of her head, tilt her head back, and get right in her face. “You should have fuckin’ waited for me.”

“Well, you’re here now, so let’s get this over with.”

Fuck me if the defiance in her voice doesn’t have my cock stiffening. Leaning in, I run my nose along her cheek to her ear. “Later, when this shit is done, you can count your sweet ass fucked.”

There’s no missing the shiver that rushes through her, I felt it.

Letting her go, I step back and motion for her to go ahead. She wants to take care of this, that’s fine. She just wasn’t gonna be doing it without me.

Marley nods and moves for the door to the warehouse that I knew Hattie rented. She stops long enough to crack and listen. Not hearing anything, she inches the door open farther.

“If you’re coming in, don’t just linger in the doorway,” Hattie calls out. “I know you’re out there, Griz. Did you finally decide to come back to me?”

“You think I came here for you?” I ask, stepping around Marley and shielding her. If Hattie hasn’t seen her or knew she was there, then what comes to mind might work.

“Well, of course I do. Why else would you be here other than to come back to me?” Hattie says, turning her attention to me.

I step deeper into the space and realize exactly why I’d never seen any of her art. “What the fuck is all of this?”

In the middle of the room, there was a gurney with someone attached to it. The person looked like they’d been dead for a few days. To make it worse, the smell coming from it was horrendous. That and the fact it was missing half its skin. Off to the side of the room, not far from where the gurney is placed, it looks like she sculpted a body and used real flesh.

On the walls, one side was dedicated to pictures, all of them of me, me and my brothers, me and Marley. The ones with Marley, her face had been scratched out. The other walls were covered in paintings, all of them looking to be done with blood.

“What exactly do you call this shit?” I don’t bother hiding my disgust.

“It’s art, Griz. What does it look like?”

“Looks like some crazy ass shit.”

“Her dad said that she wasn’t getting the help she needed,” Marley murmurs for only me to hear.

“Did you finally scrape off the whore?” Hattie demands. “You know I warned her. Weeks ago, I told her she needed to get out of town. Then I tried again. She refused to leave us alone. So, I decided to take further action. If she wouldn’t leave, I’d make her.”

“So, you tried to kill her?” I accuse.

“It would have worked. It should have. I did everything right.”

“Marley’s too smart to be taken out by some car bomb,” I tell her, not giving a shit if she likes what I say or not. The woman needs to be in a fucking looney bin.

“If she’s so smart, then what are you doing here? Why not be with her?”

Her question doesn’t make sense to me, but still, I roll with it, feeling my brothers also start to fill the space behind me. All of them surrounding my woman.

“What do you want me to say? My woman took off this morning after seeing the latest note you left her. I just want to know what the fuck makes you think I’m yours. I broke up with you because I didn’t want some lying bitch in my bed.”

“Lying bitch? I didn’t lie to you, Griz, and you know it.”

“Not telling me your dad was a cop is the same as a lie in my books. My woman has to be loyal to me. To my brothers. To themself. Marley’s that woman, Hattie, not you.”

“She is not,” Hattie snaps, slamming some type of drill she was holding onto a table. “It’s supposed to be you and me. Always and forever. It’s me you love.”

“Love,” Marley scoffs.

Fuck.

Shoving past me, Marley moves to stand next to me.

“Bitch, you need your head examined if you think Griz could love some bat shit crazy nutcase like you.”

“Marley, don’t make things worse.” I’m surprised to hear Marshall right behind her.

“I’m not making things worse. I’m just saying it like it is.”

If I could shake her, I would. But this is Marley we’re talking about. She’s going to say and do whatever she wants. Fine with me. I didn’t mind it in the least. So long as it doesn’t get her killed in the end.

“How dare you,” Hattie screeches, stepping forward, eyes darting between the two of us. Finally looking past me to the men filling the space behind me, her gaze grows wild as she looks back at me. “You’re supposed to love me.” She stomps and jerks up the drill, points it in her direction only to gasp, her eyes going wider, head jerking downward.

I follow her line of sight to see what she’s done. She hit herself with the edge of the drill.

“Oh god.” Marley moves, rushing forward, but no one was able to stop her.

I watch the way she grabs Hattie’s wrist and pulls the tool from her hand.

“Get away from me, you whore,” Hattie shouts.

“Bitch, shut up,” Marley snaps. Shoving the tool in my direction, instead of it having a drill bit, I held a sharp rotatory blade that had cut into Hattie. “Take this and find me something to stop the bleeding. She’s going to bleed out if we don’t.”

“Let the bitch bleed.” Blow grunts.

“If we do, she can’t be held accountable for this,” Marley reasons, jerking her chin toward the dead person off to the side of the room and then to the other thing covered in skin. “Who the hell knows how many people she’s killed for that.”

“She’s got a point,” Nines remarks.

Marshall moves in next to his sister with what looks to be a medic bag. I didn’t know what he was, but him having this surprises me. “I’ve got shit we can use to patch her up ‘til cops can get here.

“I’ll go call Adams then,” Blow mutters. “Still think we let her bleed, but Marley’s right.”

“Griz,” Hattie whimpers, “please don’t leave me.”

“Bitch, shut the hell up,” Marley snaps. “He’s not going anywhere, but it’s not because of you. He’s mine, and as you put it, you can’t have him.”

“We’re meant to be together,” Hattie cries out, her voice getting higher, face scrunching up with pain as Marshall applies gauze to her chest.

“No, Hattie, we weren’t.” I shake my head and look at Marley. “You need me, sweets, I’ll be outside.”

Marley nods and smiles at me. “Be out as soon as I can.”

Nodding, I leave Marley with her brother and a few of mine. I couldn’t stand to hear any more of the crazy bullshit. Here, with everything that’s happened, never did I think it would be because of me, my woman would end up nearly dead.

I don’t know how I’m going to make it up to Marley, but I’ll find a way.