Page 163 of The Forgotten

Warm arms crush me against his chest and I start to sob.

“This is just…so nice,” I gasp.

“I know,” Storm murmurs, holding me. “You deserve this. Marie, I literally don’t know anyone else who works themselves into the ground the way you do. Please take the gift.”

“I will. I just…wow.”

“You’re rarely speechless,” Lore says, standing in front of me. I didn’t even hear him move. Leaning forward, he kisses me gently. “I’m glad you like it. Come get a closer look.”

Walking together, I unlock the doors with wide eyes. Wilder steals me away to lift me into the driver seat.

“The seats heat when it’s cold, the windows defrost, and it has all wheel drive. The tires will carry you until the first heavy snowfall. We bought winter tires so that we can change them for you,” he says. “We’re still going to follow you to work because we want to, but for the girl who loves independence, wheels that drive in all weather are important.”

“I want you to think about staying with Storm tonight,” Lore adds. “You seriously look like you’ve slept for several days instead of a few really solid hours.”

Dashing the tears off my face, I nod. Ugh, I hate that he’s right.

“I’ll stay,” I say. “I don’t like holding a bed at the shelter if I don’t need to. They’ve been so supportive and good to me. I’m glad a place like that exists.”

“Well, it kept you off the streets, so I’m glad too,” Storm says. His eyes narrow as he watches me duck my head. “You were thinking about sleeping on the streets?!”

“I was going to sleep in my car before you destroyed it,” I amend. “There are also camping parks too.”

“I can feel gray hair trying to push itself out of my scalp,” Lore groans. “Marie!”

“Henry told me about Omega’s Haven,” I say. “That’s why I went there instead.”

“Well thank god for that,” Storm grumbles. “Let me lock up and we’ll drive with you to work.”

“I’d stay if I could,” Lore says once Storm leaves.

“I know,” I sigh.

“While we don’t need the money, people depend on us,” he continues. “Shit, you already agreed with me.”

I can’t help the smile as I nod, and he leans inside to kiss me until it feels as if my soul is going to detach from my body.

“My turn,” Wilder says, pushing Lore out of the way as he chuckles. “You’re the girl I could fall for, you know that?”

His lips cover mine, and I wrap my arms around his neck as I moan softly.

“We gotta go,” he whispers. “I’ll call you when I can.”

I wait until he closes the door and walks to the bikes before I whisper back, “Just come back.”

Chapter

Twelve

LORE

“Why is it so dark?”I ask quietly, gazing at the shop from behind a low wall. We did our best to be as silent as possible as we rode up here. I know they’re expecting us, so there should be movement inside.

Chester asked to meet us here so he could show us what was wrong with the shipment. It’s almost eleven at night, and this entire road looks like everyone crawled away to find shelter. It’s suspicious as fuck.

Not to mention, this area is more run down than I remember. My guys did the drop off while I was with Devon, and they didn’t mention an issue at the time. I trust them, so this isn’t on them.

This chapter of the Knotted Anarchists is going through a rough patch. They had a rotten treasurer that embezzled funds and now they’re trying to bounce back from that. Chester has always tried to exist outside of the internal politics of the club, but now I’m not so sure.