“Lucy, don’t do this,” I beg.

I don’t want this to happen. The savage smirk on Blackwood’s face makes me terrified for her. I don’t care if he knows she’s mine. I’ll tell him, if it keeps her safe. I’ll take whatever shit will come my way for touching another man’s wife, as long as she stays here.

Her blue eyes raise to meet mine and I see the fear behind the steel. There’s also something else hidden in their depths, pleading with me to understand. It makes my heart clench at the look. It’s more than words can say. She might have lied, but it wasn’t all a lie.

My gut rolls and claws dig into my heart.

“He’s my husband. I was always going home.” She raises her voice so Isaac can hear her.

I never realised the power of words to wound until this moment, until Lucy spoke words that gored me to my very core.

I watch her chin lift, watch her body snap straight and watch her step into someone else’s shoes. She’s no longer Lucy Franklin, but Natasha Blackwood—wife of a dangerous mobster. She’s every inch the mafia princess as she says, “Thanks for the bar job, but I quit.” Bar job? What the fuck is she on about?

Lucy smirks as she looks at Rav before sliding up to the fence and putting her fingers through the wire. Then she looks straight at her husband.

“I’m ready to go home.”

And my world stops.

23

Lucy

My heart is pounding as I move to the gate, my fingers scraping over the latch. No one moves to stop me and the air is so still I can barely draw in breath. The heaviness of it sits on my chest, forcing my heart to beat shallowly.

Then Nox grabs my wrist, his grip bruising, desperation written in every line on his face.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he hisses at me.

His heavy glare says I’m crazy if I think I’m walking out of here without him. An ember of hope flares to life in my belly that he still cares, that I haven’t ruined our relationship beyond repair, but I stomp down on it savagely. I can’t be thinking about a relationship with Nox. I have to keep focused on my plan—protecting him and the club—even if it means giving myself up to a man I have been running from for years, a man I despise.

“I told you. I’m leaving with my husband.” The word ‘husband’ is poison on my tongue and it takes everything I have not to spit it out. Isaac might be my husband in name, but my heart belongs to Nox.

Watching his face shatter hurts more than any physical blow. It gores me deep in my belly. It tears out my heart. How can I hurt him like this? It goes against everything in me to shred him this way, but what choice do I have? Isaac can’t know we’re together. I won’t let him put that bullet in Nox’s head. How can Nox not see what I feel for him, what I would do to protect him?

“Let go of me.” I say each word slowly, deliberately. I need to hurt him to release him from this burden, I need him to stop outwardly claiming me in front of a man who can end his life, but the thought makes my stomach lurch. It’s like I’m ripping my own heart out of my chest. I want to be claimed by Nox. Knowing he did that in front of his brothers makes happiness flow through my veins.

Nox stares into my eyes as if trying to read me and failing. He finally releases me, but I see the betrayal etched across his face, begging me for answers as to why I’m letting this happen. I have none to give him without alerting Isaac to my unfaithfulness, so I keep my mouth shut.

“Thanks for everything,” I say to Ravage, my smile barely in place as I speak those filthy words. I don’t want to say goodbye, never, but I can tell Isaac is getting twitchy. He won’t allow this show to continue much longer. Time to wrap things up.

I turn to Nox and swallow hard. Then I pull the gate open. No one moves to stop me this time. Isaac doesn’t move towards me either. If I expected some kind of loving reunion, I’m mistaken. He doesn’t drag me into his arms or profess his love for me. He’s not even looking at me. He stands statue-still, his dark eyes locked on Nox, angry heat pouring from them. Does he know? Nox wasn’t exactly discreet.

My heart gives a tremulous twitch and bile churns in my gut as I turn to look at Nox through the chain link fence. Everything in my body tells me this is wrong, that I need to go back to him, but I keep my feet rooted to the ground.

I have to.

“You ain’t fucking going with that fucker,” Nox snarls out, and I see the man he is behind the mask, the dangerous man who kills and takes no prisoners. I see the man who wants to keep me safe and is falling apart at the seams because he can’t.

His words make frantic butterflies beat against my belly. He can’t say shit like this. Not in front of Isaac.

“I’m sure you’ll find someone else to take care of the bar.” I keep up the pretence I was here to work, but Nox doesn’t care about my lie.

“Fuck that. Lucy—”

“Her name is Natasha,” Isaac spits out. “And she’s not interested in your little biker gang anymore. Get in the car.” The last part is barked at me.

I jolt, but I don’t move. My heart is throbbing in my chest as I watch the most important person on the planet throwing down with my nightmare. Nox was right when he said Isaac would put a bullet in him for touching me. I see that clearly now. Isaac is a jealous bastard, although I’m sure he has parked his dick in numerous women since I’ve been gone. He might be jealous, but he’s never been loyal.

A tear streaks down my face as I move to the car, trying not to look at Nox. I don’t dare, because if I do, I won’t be able to leave.

“Lucy…” The desperation in his voice is what finally has my eyes seeking his. Pain spears through my chest instantly as I see the broken look on his face. This is killing him.

Isaac’s gaze darts between us both. “You fucked him, didn’t you?”

I shake my head vehemently, hating the lie, hating that I can't claim him back when I desperately want to.

There’s a flash of metal and my heart stops as Isaac pulls a gun from under his suit and aims it at Nox. Everything seems to slow to a crawl as Daimon pushes him out of the way of the bullet, but he’s not fast enough. Nox’s left shoulder jerks back as if someone has punched him with a truck. Then he goes down to his knees. I scream. At least, I think I do. My ears feel stuffed full, like they’re filled with water as all hell breaks loose.

Bullets fly, the air filled with the crack of shots. I’m roughly grabbed as a bullet skims past my cheek, heating my skin as it goes. Then Leon shoves me into the back of the car. I bang my knees on the frame of the vehicle, knocking my stomach off balance, but I don't have a chance to recover as Isaac throws himself into the seat next to me before the car peels out of there.

I’m tossed in the backseat, forced to cling to the upholstery to keep from sliding off the leather. Fear licks a path up my spine. Nox was shot. Oh my God, Nox was shot!

Glacial cold climbs down my spine, settling in my belly as I recall the moment the bullet hit. Is he badly injured? Will he die? My breath rips out of me in shallow pants.

“Are you fucking that bastard?”

I turn to glance at the man who holds me captive now, the man I spent years trying to escape. Isaac Blackwood. The devil stares back at me, rage clouding his face.