Page 14

T he night is cool, and I pull my jacket tighter around me, standing in the shadows at the back of the compound. We’re waiting, just as Wolfe said we would. Waiting for the men to get on their bikes and go, waiting for the right moment to make our move. I glance over at Talon, his face unreadable, and I wonder if this is how it’s going to be from now on. Just the two of us, but with so much distance between.

The low rumble of engines echoes in the night, and I see the bikes lining up, one after another. My heart pounds. I know what they’re risking, and I hate that it’s for me. I hate that I’m the reason for all this, the weight of it pressing down on me like I can’t breathe. I don’t know how I’m going to fix this, but I have to try.

Talon’s voice is a low growl, and I barely hear it over the noise. “They’ll take the bait. We move now.”

I nod, trying not to shiver from the chill in the air, or the chill in his words. He heads towards the back fence, and I follow, my feet moving through the darkness, my heart a wild, uneven mess in my chest. I know he said he wouldn’t kill me, but that doesn’t stop the fear from creeping in as we slip away, leaving the noise and the chaos behind.

We reach the fence, and he pulls it open, the gate creaking softly. I look back, just once, to see the bikes roaring out, a blur of metal and noise. Then, they’re gone, and I’m alone with a man who has made it abundantly clear how he feels about me. This should be an absolute blast.

The bushland is thick and dark, and I stumble over roots and rocks as we make our way through the trees. Talon says nothing, the silence between us growing deeper, more oppressive with every step. I want to speak, to explain, to try and make him understand, but I don’t know how. I don’t know if he’ll ever hear me again.

The walk is long, the night stretching out in front of us, endless and cold. I focus on the ground, on putting one foot in front of the other, on not thinking about how goddamned angry I am that nobody is listening to me. They won’t even try to understand. I know what I did, but damn, it was for a child. A damn little girl who can’t fight for herself.

I am going to attempt to make him hear me. “Talon—”

“Don’t,” he cuts me off, his tone flat and hard.

I hold my breath, frustration bubbling. It isn’t worth arguing with him right now, but God knows I want to. I want a fight, a screaming match, a chance to get it all out, but he is refusing to give me that. It’s like he knows I have so much to say, so he’s ensuring I can’t say it.

“You ever done this before?” Talon asks, his voice breaking the silence, unexpected and sharp.

“Done what?”

“Betrayed the only people who gave a shit about you.”

“You know what, fuck you, Talon. You’re not even trying to understand.”

He pauses, turning towards me. “Understand what? That you’re a fuckin’ liar and were willing to let us die for what you needed.”

“Never once would I have allowed that to happen. Never once did I tell them they could hurt you. I would have found a way, I would have told you before it ever got to that. I never planned on anyone dying. I would have given them information, just enough to get her out, then I would have told the club.”

“Bullshit.”

I’m done with him refusing to listen. I lose it to the point I feel my entire body shaking with rage. “They have Lily, and they were going to kill her. I had no choice, Talon. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I only wanted to get her out. She is a child, a fucking little girl, does that mean nothing to you?”

He doesn’t answer, just turns away, his silence more cutting than any words he could say. It’s too much, and it boils over, my heart pounding and my mind a tangled mess of desperation and anger. I shove his back, my hands flat against the rigid muscles as his body jerks forward, then he pauses, his entire body going rigid. He turns to face me again, his face stony.

I can’t take it anymore.

I slap him hard across the face, so hard my hand stings. “Say something. Anything. Stop acting like I don’t exist. Stop making out like you don’t give a fuck about me.”

His eyes blaze as he grinds out, “You don’t fuckin’ want me to say anything.”

“I do. I need to know what this is. I need to know why you’re torturing me like this.”

“You’re the one who’s torturin’ yourself, Nia. You and your fuckin’ choices.”

“God, you’re so heartless! You don’t care about anyone but yourself. Not me, not her. Nobody.”

He’s a breath away from me, his face a mask of rage. “You have no idea what I care about, and you have no fuckin’ right to put words in my mouth. You made this choice. Do you fuckin’ hear me? You did.”

I shove him, hard, my hands on his chest. “I thought you cared about me. I thought we had something, Talon. Was that fake, too?”

He grabs my arms, and before I know it, I’m pinned against a tree, his body pressing into mine, his arm a tight band across my throat. The breath rushes out of me, and I feel the hard bite of the bark against my back. His face is inches from mine, his eyes pure fury, his voice a low, deadly growl. “Don’t you ever fuckin’ touch me again.”

I choke on a sob, the tears hot and angry in my eyes. “I cared about you, Talon. I made a mistake, I was desperate and I was scared, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t fucking care about you.”

“Whatever you thought we had, it’s gone. Do you hear me? Gone.”

His words are like a punch to the gut, and he releases me, stepping back. My legs give out, and I slide down the tree, my body crumpling to the ground. I watch as he turns and walks away, not speaking another word, not looking back.

The silence is thick and suffocating, and I feel the weight of everything crashing down. The hurt, the betrayal, the loss. I’m alone, truly alone, and the realization is a hollow, echoing ache that I can’t escape.

I stay there, shaking and breathless, until the night grows colder, until the numbness sets in. I don’t know how I’ll get through this, how I’ll survive it, but I know one thing—

I’m not done fighting.

Not yet.

THE SOUND OF A TRUCK engine cuts through the silence, and I know that means we’re close. I push myself to my feet, my entire body trembling with emotion, and follow him, my head aching with every step. He stood by and waited while I broke down beside that tree earlier, then we were on the move again, not a single word spoken.

We break through the trees, and I see the truck parked on the side of the road. Talon gets in the driver’s seat, not waiting for me, not looking at me. The man who was driving the truck gets into another car, leaving without so much as a word. I guess that’s it then, I have no choice but to get in.

I could run, but where would I go?

Exhaling, I climb in, slamming the door, my breath coming in short, sharp pants.

He drives, his hands tight on the wheel, his eyes fixed ahead. The silence is unbearable, but I don’t break it. I don’t give him the satisfaction. The road stretches out in front of us, endless and dark, the tension in the truck so thick it’s choking. We drive for what feels like hours, the landscape barren and unfamiliar, until we finally pull up to a large warehouse in the middle of nowhere.

Talon cuts the engine and gets out, leaving me to follow.

I do, trailing behind him as he leads me inside, the cold air biting at my skin. The warehouse is empty, vast and echoing, and I feel so small, so goddamn insignificant. He stops at a small room off to the side, pushing the door open and gesturing for me to go in. I pause, waiting for him to say something, anything, but he doesn’t.

“What am I supposed to do, just sit here and wait?”

He nods, not speaking.

“Goddammit, Talon, can’t you at least tell me what the hell is going to happen to me, to my child?”

He doesn’t.

He just turns away.

I walk inside, the door closing behind me, the sound final. The room is small, sparse, a mattress on the floor and nothing else. I stand there, my arms wrapped around myself and listen as his footsteps fade away.

I am so fucking alone.

God damn him for making me feel like this.

I guess I am to blame, if I’m being truthful.

I sit on the edge of the mattress, wondering if I did things differently, where I would be right now. I thought my plan was foolproof, that going to my father and offering my help would give me the best of everything. I should have known it wouldn’t work out like that. Hell, I should have known that my father was unlikely to ever let me go. He had a plan.

I just didn’t see it.

Now I have lost everything, and I’m pregnant with a child I’m not even certain I can take care of. Cyrus will never stop, not until he has the child he placed inside me. At least, that’s how he sees it. The child belongs to him, to them , and I’m just a carrier.

Reaching down, I press a hand to my stomach.

I don’t know who you are yet, but I do promise to do my best to take care of you.

Even if it means giving you up.

Perhaps that is my only choice.

A family who is desperate for a child, someone who will cherish the very ground he or she walks on.

Could I do it?

If I have to, I will.

I’ll do whatever it takes.