His tone grates on my nerves, mainly because I have no idea why I’m defending her. “Just because you’re using the same cum dump you’ve been using for the past five fucking years,” I fire back with an unpleasant smirk.

Levi riles at this, as I expect. “Fuck you. Noelle ain’t a fucking cum dump, and you know it.”

That’s exactly what she is, but everyone knows Levi favours the petite blonde bunny. He’s fucking crazy, making it into something it shouldn’t be. You fuck club whores, you don’t fall for them, but who am I to judge his choices?

Rav loses his patience. I see the moment his thin thread of control snaps. He slams his hands down on the table and roars, “Quiet!” a hush descends over the room. “Can we get back on fucking track?”

“What’s the next step?” Daimon asks, as always, the voice of logic and reason. He flicks his cigarette in the ashtray on the table before he takes a long drag. Him and Levi disappear behind a cloud of smoke as he blows it out. It tickles the back of my throat.

“Find out what the fuck the boss was into that might have got him killed. Once we know that we can work out who might be coming after Lucy.”

“I don’t mean no disrespect, Prez,” Titch says, “but why the fuck do we care? She ain’t one of us. She ain’t club.”

My eyes flare with rage and I flick my gaze to Rav. I see the anger in his eyes at being questioned, before he manages to wrestle it back down.

“Lucy’s family. She took care of Sasha and Lily-May when we couldn’t. Show some fucking respect,” I snap.

“Even if she hadn’t taken care of my woman and kid,” Rav continues, “this shit went down in our territory. If someone is operating here, under our noses, I want to know who.”

I suspect he’s doing it for Sash too. Lucy is her best fucking friend, and there’s little Rav can deny his woman. Me neither when it comes to Sasha.

“We can’t just throw her out and let her deal with this shit,” I grind out, my irritation getting the better of me.

Rav taps his fingers on the table. “For now, we keep all non-patches off the compound and Lucy stays here until we figure out what the fuck is going on. She’s going to need protection in case these fuckers come back.” He brings down the gavel. “Meeting adjourned.”

3

Lucy

Whizz cleans me up the best he can and gives me some meds for the pain. I slip them into my pocket when he’s not looking, even though my torso and head are a ball of agony where I hit the airbag. I’m too scared to take them in case they knock me out. I have no idea what they are or how strong and I need to be on my guard, in case—

In case of what?

Would Isaac’s men come here? It would put them at war with the Untamed Sons, and I’m not sure Isaac would risk it, but I’m not sure of anything when it comes to him. He’s always been so unpredictable, like an ever-changing storm swell that shifts direction with the wind.

For years, I’ve managed to stay off Isaac’s radar. I thought I was finally safe, that he’d let me go, but it was an illusion. I’m realising now that the safety I thought I’d found with Sasha and Lily-May was not real.

That thought shatters my heart.

Whizz moves to the sink to wash his hands, keeping one eye between me and his task. These men don’t trust easily, and for good reason. When you live outside the lines of the law yourself, you know what people are really, truly capable of and the darkness that consumes them.

And I have no doubt these men have committed terrible crimes that rival Isaac.

Maybe I should just go home, let this whole game of cat and mouse come to an end. My decisions are destroying lives, can I really let it destroy my friends too? Hank is dead and that’s on me. How many more have to die, just so I can keep my freedom?

Thinking about my boss makes my stomach roll and the memory of the bullet sinking into his skull from Leon’s gun makes my head spin. Hank didn’t deserve what happened to him. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and because of that his family will never see him again. Isaac’s men will clean up and make the crime disappear. Hank’s family will be left wondering what happened to him, thinking he just left them and walked away.

If only Hank hadn’t been working.

If only he hadn’t tried to be noble and defend me. Hank was a good man.

Tears brim in my eyes and I swipe them away as anger floods my veins.

If I go home, Hank will have died for nothing. Even if I wanted to, I can’t go home. I won’t live with a monster. I’ll die before that happens.

To be a bird trapped in a gilded cage again fills me with dread. I underestimated him, as always.

I need to start making plans, working out escape routes to leave town. It’ll cleave my heart into pieces to say goodbye to Sasha and Lily-May, but staying puts them in danger. My best friend has been through enough with Sin, without me dumping my clusterfuck of a life on her.

The door opens, drawing my attention and Sasha slips into the room, her eyes flicking towards Whizz as she does.

“Can you give us a second?” she asks.

Uncertainty passes on the doctor’s face. I hate the suspicion these people are treating me with. I’m not their enemy. At least, I don’t mean to be. It’s just another sign I need to get the hell out of here before I become entangled in something I can’t control. I don’t think Ravage is a man to cross—none of these men are. Even Whizz has an air of danger around him.

“I’ll be just outside the room,” Whizz says, eyeing me like I’m a dangerous animal. If they knew the truth they’d never leave me alone, especially not with Sasha.

She waits until the door snicks shut behind him then turns to me.

“Are you all right?” she asks then winces. “Of course you’re not all right. Stupid fucking question, but…” She trails off and I let her off the hook.

“I’m okay. A little shaken, but I’m okay.”

Her brow arches and I see the scepticism in her eyes. “You saw something terrible. It’s okay to not be okay, Lucy.”

I don’t tell her that this isn’t the worst thing I’ve ever seen, but she doesn’t know that Lucy—the one who has witnessed atrocities. She only knows the version I’ve given her over the past three years.

I duck my head, acting the role that is expected and sniffle. I should give myself a fucking award.

“I’m totally freaking out, but I’ll live,” I force a smile that makes my face hurt, the lies cutting through my painted-on expression. Lying to the Sons is one thing. Lying to my best friend covers me in dirt. It makes my words taste like poison on my tongue, makes my heart feel heavy.

Sasha eyes me and I see the sympathy cross her face as she tucks her short hair behind her ears. “Tyler will figure it out and keep you safe. You don’t have to worry.”

The thought of Rav figuring anything out makes my stomach fill with ice. The man is dangerous, he has this air of chaos that seems to follow him everywhere he goes. He’s also smart. Some digging around and Rav will realise good old Hank was an upstanding citizen without a stain on his record.