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“I’ll take care of it. You know I don’t lie. So I swear to you, I will take care of him.”

Caleb pulled the hammer back. He was going to do it. I could see the exact moment he made the decision. Recognized it deep in my soul. I’m pretty sure I had the exact same expression on my face the second before I swung that bat at my father and beat him to death.

I lunged for Caleb, grabbing his hands and shoving them over his head away from Violet and Harrington. The instant we hit the ground, there was a deafening BOOM as a gun went off.

Harrington dropped to the ground. I wasn’t sure where he got hit, but I knew by the way he hit the floor the bastard was dead. I rolled me and Caleb, keeping the gun over our heads as I put our backs to Harrington’s body.

I looked up at the gun. It hadn’t been fired.

Tugging the weapon away from Caleb’s limp fingers, I scrambled to my feet.

Violet stood with her gun still pointed at Harrington.

The gun she’d picked up – Harrington’s gun -- was a .

357 Magnum. Looking from Violet back to Harrington, my guess was he had Critical Defense rounds loaded, because Violet had shot him in the face. Now Harrington had no head.

“Huh,” Violet grunted. “I guess Dirty Harry was right.”

“The Christ happened here?” Knuckles and five other brothers charged into the room, guns in hand. Knight was right behind Knuckles.

“Oasis. Need heavy clean up,” Knight said into his radio. I knew the rest of the club would be on the way. We banded together like that. No one would ever find those bodies or any evidence that either man had ever been within ten miles of this place.

“Get Caleb and Violet out of here, Riot.” Hawk spoke softly as I handed him the gun I’d taken from Caleb. “We’ll take care of this.”

“The gun Violet shot Harrington with was his.” I didn’t know if they needed to know, but I’d rather err on the side of caution.

“Got it.” Hawk gripped my shoulder. “Go on. Take care of your family.”

My family . Caleb had hurried to his mother. The pair clung to each other. I kept myself between them and Harrington. I wasn’t sure what Caleb had actually seen, but I didn’t want to take a chance on him seeing more if I could prevent that.

I put my arms around both of them, shielding them from the gruesome scene behind us. Violet was shaking, adrenaline drop setting in as her body calmed. Caleb’s face was buried against his mother’s shoulder, his body rigid with tension.

“Let’s get out of here,” I murmured, guiding them toward the exit.

As we stepped outside, the bright afternoon sunlight felt surreal after what had just happened.

I could hear the efficient sounds of my brothers already at work behind us, securing the scene, removing evidence.

Kiss of Death MC took care of its own, and Violet and Caleb were now family.

I led them to our apartment, keeping my arm around Violet’s shoulders.

Caleb walked stiffly beside us, his face pale and jaw set.

The kid was in shock, processing what had just happened.

Hell, we all were. Violet held Caleb’s hand in a white-knuckled grip.

No one spoke until we were safely inside with the door locked behind us.

Violet collapsed onto the couch, her body still trembling.

Caleb sat beside his mother, putting an arm around her slim shoulders.

I went to the fridge and dug out a couple bottles of water, handing them each a bottle before I sat on the coffee table in front of them.

“He’s gone,” Violet whispered. I was afraid she was have trouble processing, but she actually sounded relieved. “He’s really gone.”

“Yeah, honey. He’s gone. He can’t hurt either of you ever again.”

Caleb looked up at me. He was stunned but shaking it off quickly. “I was gonna kill him.”

“You didn’t have to.” Violet tightened her grip on her son. “I did what I had to do to protect you both. He would have killed Quinn and taken us back.”

There was a knock at the door. “Riot. It’s Knuckles and Gunnar.”

I stood and squeezed Violet’s shoulder as I passed her on the way to the door to let the men in. Knight was there too.

“Everything OK?” I asked, searching Knuckles’ face for a sign something was wrong.

“We’ve got everything under control.”

I snagged a couple chairs from the kitchen table and pulled them closer to Violet and Caleb so everyone could sit.

“Lana Thompson called me a little bit ago.” Knuckles said without preamble.

“She said everything was filed properly with your divorce and marriage, as well as Riot’s adoption of Caleb.

Apparently, Harrington’s lawyer is livid but can’t find anything to overturn any of it.

She said Harrington might come after you. ”

“Well, I guess she was right.” Violet seemed to be coming to life the longer she sat there. She was still trembling, but some of her color was back at least.

“No one will ever find him, Violet,” Gunnar said softly.

“Even if the law investigates you or Caleb or us there will be nothing tying any of us to Harrington since the last court appearance. That’s why Lana avoided talking to you.

She wanted to be able to say she’d had minimal contact with you in case things went south. She’s our biggest alibi.”

Violet nodded slowly, understanding dawning on her face. “She knew he’d come after us. She was protecting herself legally while still helping us.”

“She’s a smart woman,” Knight confirmed. “She’s been around this club, and others, long enough to know how we operate.”

Caleb’s jaw tightened. “So that’s it? He just… disappears, and we get to go on with our lives?”

“That’s exactly it,” Knuckles said, his voice gentle but firm.

“Some people might ask questions for a while, but without a body, without evidence, it’ll eventually be forgotten.

Just another rich asshole who went missing.

And to be honest, with the Feds after him, who’s to say he didn’t leave the country? ”

I watched Caleb’s face carefully, trying to gauge how he was processing everything. The kid had been ready to pull the trigger on his own father. That kind of moment changes a person forever, even if they don’t follow through. “You okay, kid?” I asked softly.

“Yeah.” He nodded slowly. “I think I am.” And yeah. I’d seen that same look on my face. He might not have killed his father in truth, but in his heart, he’d been the one to blow his head off. “I just hate it had to be Mom who killed him.”

“Don’t be sorry about that, Caleb,” Violet said, gripping her son’s hand. She smiled at him. “It wasn’t something I’d have done under any other circumstance, but I would do anything to protect my family. And that’s you and Quinn.”

“I’m going to need therapy for years after this,” Caleb muttered. “Or maybe I can con Knight into getting me a set up like he has and I can do a first-person-shooter gaming marathon or something.”

There was a beat of silence before Violet let out a small chuckle. Then we all started laughing. Inappropriate? Absolutely. The way I saw it, sometimes it’s either laugh or cry. I’d rather laugh any day of the week.