Page 75 of Iron

I didn’t have it in me to explain it to her right now, so I let the silence linger. I knew how he felt because it was written all over his face. And it was the same thing I was feeling.

“There was nothing he could have done to change the outcome,” she said after a long moment slipped by. “I don’t mean to be harsh in saying this, but it happened. No one is to blame but the man that pulled the trigger. And he has received his punishment for that. An eye for an eye and all.”

“It’s not that simple, babe,” I said as I leaned in and kissed her temple. I hadn’t missed the fact that she’d almost apologized for what she’d said. Well, as close to ‘I’m sorry to say this’ as Petra would ever get. But it showed me she knew her words were going to be blunt and probably necessary. That they weren’t going to be easy to hear but she was the one that had the balls to speak them. Maybe it was something we all needed to hear.

“Your man died with pride,” she said. Her eyes stared into mine showing me how much she believed those words. “He protected you and the honor that he felt from that was written all over his face.”

There was a sharp gasp and I looked over to see Abigail standing at the end of the table. Her watery gaze was on Petra.

I was about to jump up and go over to her when she opened her mouth and directed her words at Petra.

“Thank you,” she said softly. She was shaking but there was a hint of relief in her tone. “That was hard to hear but it also makes it a little easier.” She shook her head and walked off. Bridget and Laurel got up and followed behind her as she left the kitchen.

Petra wasn’t the gentlest of people, not even close. It was clear by the silence around that her statement hit us all hard. Especially me. Did it lessen the blow and the hard reality that Dade wasn’t here anymore? No. But it did make me aware of something I hadn’t seen, or at least not been conscious to.

This club was his life, that much I already knew. But what I didn’t see before was that Dade thought that giving his life for one of us was a sacrifice to be proud of.

The bravest heroes are the ones that don’t set out to be one.

Dade was a brother.

He was an unexpected hero.

And for damn sure, he’d never be forgotten.