Page 99 of The Bonds We Break

Rae looks up at me through those fucking thick lashes of hers. “It’s human to break. But it’s beautiful to survive and be proud of the scars.” She holds her wrists out and shows me the cutting scars. They’re white against her skin. “They kind of look silver, don’t they?”

I take her hand in mine and kiss them. “Yeah, duchess. They do.”

“So, go put gold between the cracks of you and Saint. And gold between you and Clutch. And gold between those who voted against my brother. Lay the gold down until the club is back together. I believe in you, Uther ‘King’ Hills. I think you can do it.”

She makes me believe I can. “Fuck, I love you.” I kiss her softly.

“Go,” she murmurs. “I love you too.”

I stand with her in my arms, then playfully drop her onto the bed. “I’ll be back, I promise. I’m gonna lock the door. You can open it from the inside, but I don’t want anybody walking in here and getting a glimpse of you like that.”

“Caveman.”

“That’s President Caveman to you, duchess.” Then I remember the gift I got from her, still on the dresser. I grab it and hand it to her. “Merry Christmas, Rae.”

With her mouth ever so slightly open, she takes the unwrapped book from me with a reverence that suggests she already knows what it is. She strokes the cover softly, then opens and reads the first page. “‘The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.’”

“What’s with the funky spelling? And aretragicall historieeven words?”

Her fingers dance over the words, barely touching the page. “It was written around sixteen hundred in early modern English. Words have changed. Meaning. Spelling.” She looks up at me, tears in her eyes. “Thank you. This is ... extraordinary. Your gift is in the car. I only bought you a new leather jacket.”

I grin. “In fairness, duchess, I’ll probably get more use out of the jacket than I would a gift like that. Read it while I go lay some gold.”

I leave the room and do as I say. When I glance back as I pull the door closed, I see her nose in the book. I feel like there’s a helium balloon in my chest. It’s expanded, causing a lightness I feel with every step. The darkness crept in, and I didn’t see it until I felt the weight of it around me. Now, all I can think of are thin gold stripes through pottery.

When I enter the bar, my men cheer. More than that, they whoop and holler, and Halo wraps me in a bear hug so tight, I swear he breaks a rib.

“What the fuck?” I mutter. “Okay, okay. It’s not that big a deal.” I can’t help smiling. Because it is. My men know it.

Clutch steps up into the space. “You claiming Rae, prez?”

“Church,” I say.

“Now?” Niro asks.

“Yeah. Now.”

I wait by the door and watch them all as they down drinks, grab new ones, and remove their phones, leaving them on the table by the door.

Once they are all seated, I take a deep breath and step inside, closing the door behind me.

I take my seat. “I got a whole bunch of shit to say.”

“Three hours of fucking can do that to a man,” Bates mutters.

I glance up at Saint, who is looking at me. I nod, and he reaches over to punch Bates in the arm. “It’s my fucking sister you’re talking about.”

“Fuck me,” Bates says, rubbing his bicep. “Everyone is losing their mind.”

“About that,” I say, grateful for the lead-in. “Shit’s been hard since Dad died and everything that came after. I lost my way. Made some decisions I shouldn’t have. Ryker, I owe you an apology.”

Niro looks over at me. “What?”

Saint says the same thing.

“I don’t like how you came to us. But I went back on my promise. I should never have gone after Rae. Kind of embarrassed I did now that I know her.”

“Again, three hours of fucking,” Bates says.