Page 30 of The Bonds We Break

I’m not sure where the property boundaries are. It looks like there isn’t much in the way of landscaping. But what’s left needs treating better than it has been. I wonder if I could go outside and do some cleanup once this snow melts.

Then I remember, King won’t let me.

The steady drips from the gutter show it’s already starting to thaw.

The house is quiet, and I slide a chair so it faces the window. The sky is clearing, and the sun is rising slowly. Hopefully it brings some warmth with it so I can lie in its rays by the window. Sunshine always makes me feel better.

Wistfully I sigh and wonder if I’ll be around to see my garden next summer. Not in the abstract way we think about death as this nebulous construct of not being here, but how sad it would feel to not see all my plants and shrubs explode into life. Tears sting my eyes at the thought.

Perhaps another family will enjoy watching them.

I try to recall if I told Ryker where my will is. He always told me where his was because of his job.

I grab the blankets off the mattress on the floor and pull them to the chair, where I sit and bury myself beneath them. I’ll try to embrace the boredom. Meditate a little. And see if the afternoon brings better things.

Like power.

Heat.

Hot water.

And the man whose touch I’m trying to forget.

12

KING

Hammering on my clubhouse bedroom’s door shakes me from my exceptionally hungover sleep. I got to bed at four after hosting some of the guys from the Allentown chapter who were driving through the day after the anniversary party. I pat the space in the bed next to me. Thankfully it’s empty.

“What?” I shout and wince at the volume of my own voice. “Better be fucking important.”

The door slides open, and Vex walks in wearing basketball shorts pushed low on his hips.

“Dude, I don’t need to see that much of you this early in the fucking morning,” I grumble.

He rubs a hand over his face. “Thought you might want to see this.”

He shows me his phone, and I see Rae shivering beneath a blanket outside Dad’s place. “What the fuck does she think she’s doing? I told her not to step outside.”

“Cool your heels, Prez. She goes back inside. Just watch.”

I immediately analyze her face. Watching the soft fucking smile that reaches her eyes, like she’s happy to see the white stuff.

“It carried on snowing?” I ask.

“Almost all night.” Vex hands me the phone and yanks open the curtains. The light is almost too much. But there’s a thick coat of white on the garage roof.

“It’s wet snow,” Vex continues. “Not going to stick around for too long. But the storm got worse last night. Good thing Whip and the boys got here when they did, or they might have gotten caught out by it.”

I want to zoom in on her eyes, but I can’t with Vex watching my reaction. “Fuck. Not ready to be using the truck instead of the bike yet,” I say to hide how I really feel about seeing Rae’s face on screen. Her hair is a mess, but she’s still a striking woman.

Her smile fades as she starts to look around for something, and I see the moment she finds it when her eyes lock on the camera while she tugs the blanket more tightly around her shoulders.

“Hey, King,” she says. “Or is it Vex? My brother told me Vex is the tech person who I’m guessing installed and monitors this. If it is you, Vex, my brother tells me you’re a tech wizard, and I really hope you can help me.” I hate that Saint told her things about our club. That she knows who Vex is, that she knows what he does, that Saint thinks highly of him. I can’t decide whether my base emotion is anger or jealousy, but I’ll deal with it later. Because it’s fucking irrational.

“Anyway, whoever is watching this—I’ve had no power for twenty-one hours. I’m down to four logs. And I’m almost out of food. I’m stepping back into the house, but I need someone to get here before I freeze to death and am no good to King for his nefarious plan.”

Vex bites back a grin. “Think she called you out on that, Prez.”