Page 119 of Word to the Wise

However I thought this would end, it wasn’t like this. There’s no peace here. Sienna is dead. Gabe is dead.

Carter is dead.

Secrets and blood are smeared all over the pavement.

Mason holds me in his arms, kissing the top of my head, absorbing the pain spilling out of me. He’s murmuring something that might be words of comfort, but nothing gets through the screaming in my mind.

Off in the distance, I hear the rumbling approach of motorcycles. The hum of my brother’s club making its way toward us, and they’re followed by the sounds of sirens.

But there’s nothing to find here.

Nothing left for him or Mason to protect me from.

Carter won this battle no matter how it ended.

I fell for a monster. One who stole everything that mattered from both me and the man I’m in love with.

Now he’s gone, but we’ll be the ones living with it.

36

Reed

Three Months Later

Stepping into the newTwisted Roses tattoo shop, it looks nothing like I expect. The inside is demolished, and it’s not even a quarter of the way put back together.

“Lovely.” My eyebrows pinch when I look up at my brother.

Sage laughs. “You have to just close your eyes and imagine the finished product.”

“If I close my eyes, all I’m going to do is think more about that terrible smell.” I scrunch my nose. “What is that?”

“They were working on the bathroom and the sewer backed up.” He drags his hand through his hair. “If it’s not one thing, it’s another.”

“And if it’s not the shop, it’s the club, right?”

Sage nods.

Lyla walks over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist when he lifts his to pull her to him. “As long as I come first in all those scenarios, then he can be as busy as he needs to be.”

“You know it, butterfly.” He kisses the top of her head, and she smiles when his hand lands on her full belly.

The further she gets into her pregnancy, the better she’s been feeling, but now that she’s nearing the third trimester, she’s slowing down a bit and getting tired more frequently. Still, it hasn’t erased her constant glow. I’ve never seen my brother and sister-in-law so happy, and my heart melts for them.

“Thought I heard your beautiful voice.” Mason turns a corner and walks over to me, scooping me up in his arms.

I grab the sides of his face as he kisses me before he sets me back down.

“Please tell me you weren’t just working on the sewage problems my brother was talking about.” I look down at his hands on my hips.

“No.” He laughs. “That’s Crew’s problem. Echo teased him that he was probably too posh to deal with it when he said he’d throw money at the issue. So now he’s refusing to back down from the challenge.”

“I don’t understand those two.” I shake my head.

It’s almost like they enjoy irritating each other, just so they can take the fight home later. At least it’s playful because they both seem to enjoy it.

“No one does.” Mason laughs.