Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107118 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Hatred, thick and pure, ran through my blood. “They’re dead to me,” I said and saw Hush close his eyes for a brief moment. When they were open again, I gave him a wink and my trademark wide smile, tipped the front of my Stetson, and said, “Let’s get home, mon ami . . . let’s get the motherfuck home.”
Chapter Fifteen
Sia
I pulled my truck in front of Lilah and Ky’s cabin. My hands squeezed tightly on the wheel. I hadn’t spoken to my brother since Mexico. We hadn’t had a chance to talk at the Diablos’ place in Laredo, and then I came straight home with Hush and Cowboy and had been with them ever since.
I wasn’t sure if he was still pissed at me. But I needed to speak to him. After Louisiana. After seeing Hush so broken over his family, then so different . . . happy. As he told me about his grandmother, all I’d been able to think of was Ky.
He was my only family.
The door to the cabin opened. Lilah narrowed her eyes as she tried to see who was at her door. The second she saw me, a wide relieved smile pulled on her lips. Nerves swarming in my stomach, I got out of the truck. “Hey girl,” I said and waved. I walked to the cabin, immediately hearing the other old ladies inside. Lilah pulled me to her harder than ever before.
“Hey,” I said softly and kissed her cheek. “I’m okay.” Lilah drew back her head and looked me over. Then she turned me around, and my heart started slamming against my ribs. I closed my eyes, bracing myself. I had worn a low-backed top on purpose. I wouldn’t be ashamed of my back any longer. Of the carving that, to many, was a sign of inferiority. I decided to take ownership of that shit and wear it with pride. And I wasn’t ashamed of the acid burns. It was time to embrace them as being a fucking part of me.
“I am very proud of you,” Lilah whispered. I turned and saw the scar on her face. The one that had given her a sense of peace only she could truly understand.
“Thank you.” I took Lilah’s outstretched hand, and she led me into the house.
I rounded the corner and saw her sisters and Beauty and Letti. I waved again. “Sia!” Old lady after old lady came up to me, hugging me. I hugged them back, a huge lump in my throat. I sat down and observed these women. All different, from different walks of life, all sweet. It was funny; I’d always wanted to stay away from this club, firmly believing it to be a toxic hedonistic hell. But with these women, or at home with Hush and Cowboy—in our bed, doing fucking mundane tasks like cooking, riding—I realized I’d just been plain wrong.
Like I’d overheard Crow say when I was listening from the motel bathroom in Louisiana, it was a family. One I had missed, been denied.
No matter what Ky said, I wouldn’t let that shit happen anymore.
“How you doing, girl?” Beauty asked as she walked over to me. I liked Beauty. Out of all the old ladies, I felt a kinship with her. She’d seen some shit in life, but she was happy and filled with sass. She was my fucking inspiration.
Beauty checked around to see if anyone was looking. Not really giving two shits if they were. She took the coffee Lilah had just placed in my hand and poured in a couple of shots of bourbon from the hip flask she had hidden in her “Property of Tank” cut. I looked at Lilah to see her scowling. A loud laugh slipped from my lips.
“I’m good.” For the first time in a long time, I meant it. “It’s been one hell of a rough road, but I’m getting there.”
“And Hush and Cowboy?” Bella asked. I saw the sympathy in her eyes. Like me, she was with a man, or in my case, men, who the club had deemed traitors, or as going against the club’s rules. Yet she loved Rider to death. She loved him fucking proudly.
I smiled. “They’re good.” That was true too. Cowboy was his usual cocky self again, almost fully recovered from his injuries. Hush was still a little bruised and battered. But the biggest change in him had been . . . him. He was smiling and, fucking stealing my heart, he was talking.
He would always be quiet; that was just his nature. But he talked to me. They were always kissing me, making love to me . . . loving me. I’d never been so happy in my entire life. I only wished the club would welcome them back. There had been nothing but radio silence on that front since Mexico.