“I think it would be weird for you not to feel sad, babe.  You grew up with a different father to me, and it’s only recently you’ve seen that other side to him, so you’re mourning a completely different man to the one I knew.  It’s okay to be sad, and it’s also okay to be conflicted about it.  There’s no right way to feel.”

“You have this way, you know that?” she said, softly.

“What way?”

She pulled out of my embrace.  “This way of saying just the right thing whenever I need to hear it.  Thank you.”

Harlow turned around and chimed in.  “She’s right, Blade.  You’re a special man.”

I stared at Harlow, uncomfortable with this conversation now.  Neither of them knew I had killed Marcus, and while I didn’t think they would care, it weighed on my mind.  I’d spoken with Scott this morning, and we’d agreed upon who would be made aware of what really happened yesterday.  That list included those who were present as well as Nash and J.  Scott had advised Sharon not to utter a word of it, either.  Griff and Scott had dumped Marcus’s body and tipped the cops off as to where it was.  They needed his death to be made public so they could move forward with club business.

“Have you spoken to your Mum?’ I asked, changing the subject.

“She came over this morning and it was the first time in ages we sat and talked about stuff so freely.  It’ll take her some time to sort her head out, but I think she’s gonna be okay.”

“And Scott?  How’s he handling it?”

I was surprised that Harlow answered me.  “He was in a bit of shock, but he was okay.”

Watching her closely, I said, “I know you and Scott are going through something, Harlow.  Are you doing okay?”

A sad look crossed her face.  “Not really,” she admitted softly.  She took a deep breath before opening up.  “I was pregnant and lost the baby.  Scott’s been amazing but I’m so lost and I don’t know how to move past it.  I need some time but he just wants to fix everything . . . You know what men are like, they see a problem and try to come up with ways to make it better, but this can’t be fixed.”

Fuck.

Harlow went back to her dishes before I could say anything.  It seemed like she needed some space so I left it.  My phone rang a moment later and I held it up, and said, “I’m gonna get going, babe.  Just wanted to stop in and make sure you were alright.”

She came to me with a hug.  “Thank you for coming over,” she murmured.

“I’ll talk to you soon,” I promised, and then left them to it.

As I answered my phone, my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Scott and all the shit he had to deal with at the moment.  I hoped he was up to it, because with Marcus out of the picture, he had a lot to take on.

It was Merrick on the phone.  “Hi Boss,” he said after I’d answered, “got an update for you.”

My mind ran blank.  “What for?” I asked, getting in my car.

“On Phil Deacon.”

“Phil fucking Deacon,” I muttered.  “What’s the update?”

“Turns out the reason we can’t find him is because he’s dead.”

“What the fuck?”

“Yeah, the day he threatened Layla, he also threatened Onyx’s woman, and Onyx wasn’t too pleased about that so he took care of him.”

I chuckled.  “So Onyx the fucker finally got his wish to do more than just talk to Phil.”

I could hear Merrick’s grin in his voice.  “Would seem so.  Where are you?”

“I’m sitting outside Madison’s house and am just about to pay a visit to the Storm clubhouse.”

“Fuck, that’s gonna be a shit fight over there.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me.”

“Good luck with that,” he said, and we ended the call.

God knew what would happen with Storm now.

***

The mood was grim at the clubhouse. The guys who had still looked up to Marcus were sitting around the bar, discussing revenge on whoever did it.

Scott greeted me in the bar and quickly took me into the office where Griff was.  As the current Vice President, he’d had to assume control for the moment, and he appeared to be struggling with it.

“How’s the mood in the club?” I asked once we were behind closed doors.

“Not good,” Scott answered.  It was obvious from his body language and tone, he wasn’t happy with me.

Griff threw the pen he was holding down on the table and leaned back in his chair.  “We got word this morning that Marcus sent a shitload of drugs into Ricky’s territory yesterday morning.”

“I thought we’d put that plan on hold for the moment,” I said.

“We had,” Griff said pointedly.

“Fuck,” I muttered.  “That screws with everything.  We’re not ready for that yet.”

“You’re fucking telling us,” Scott threw in, clearly stressed.

I grabbed my phone.  “I’ll get Merrick to round up some of the boys to come over and set up watch.  You’re gonna need eyes on this club, and I’d be putting some on your homes, too.”

“We also need to get to Ricky,” Scott said.

“For what it’s worth, Scott, I didn’t intend to kill Marcus yesterday.  I couldn’t control it, though, and for that I’m sorry.  But only because of the impact it will have on Storm.  I’m not fucking sorry I killed him.”