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Chapter Sixteen
Beth turnsthirty-one the next day. If we had been back in Kingsley and everything normal, we would have given her a huge celebration. Stuck in the Devils’ clubhouse, the party is a little lower key.
Harper and Ella, Dax’s old lady, help us get a cake and some snacks and we’re given full run of whatever we want to drink, but the common room is still full of patched members, plus Charlie, Rabbit, King and Lucas, and a few club girls who are draped over the single guys—Lola, I notice, among them.
I ignore her.
I’m sitting with the girls, sandwiched between Chloe, who recently became Weed’s old lady, and my sister, Sofia. Beth is putting a brave face on the fact Logan isn’t here, but I can tell it’s bothering her.
I understand her pain. I haven’t seen Dane since our conversation last night, and already I miss him. Stupid? Probably, but the man has become a vital part of me, one I’m not keen on being parted from. I didn’t go to Dane last night, although I wanted to, but I don’t want to push him either. However, I can’t help but worry if he’s received his punishment yet, or when that will be. I hate that he has to go through that because of me.
I cast a glance at my sister-in-law, who is looking down. I want to ask Beth if she’s okay, but I don’t want to draw attention to the fact she’s clearly not.
“Hey, girlies.” Harper steps over to the table, a grin splitting her face. “I’ve got a little surprise for the birthday girl.”
Beth’s brow dips. “You’ve already done so much.”
“Yeah, this is going to beat everything else.”
She turns to the doors of the common room and tugs them open. My brother steps over the threshold, his eyes automatically seeking out his wife. He stops on Beth and that hardness in his expression, a hardness I’ve never seen so deeply ingrained before, disappears.
Beth’s sharp intake of breath is followed by a jostling to get up from the table. She nearly topples Sofia’s drink over Jamie, but she manages to right it before any damage is done.
Then she’s in Logan’s arms and they’re kissing like their lives depend on it. I look away. I do not need that embedded in my brain.
After a couple of moments, I risk a glance at my brother, who is no longer devouring my sister-in-law’s mouth, but holding her against him, his fingers collaring the back of her neck. Logan looks whole, healthy and unharmed. This gives me some relief for the men we left behind to while away our days in safety while they’re on the front line, fighting the Reapers.
“What are you doing here?” Beth demands, pulling back from him and sounding more than a little breathless.
Logan tucks a strand of her hair behind her ears, his eyes taking in every inch of her face. “Did you think I’d miss your birthday?”
“You came on your own?” There’s a note of chastisement in her voice.
“No. Dean’s here too. He’s waiting outside. I guess he didn’t want to ruin your birthday surprise.”
“Dean’s here?” Liv’s voice sounds a little higher than usual. She pushes up from the table, jostling her son as she does.
“He’s just outside, darlin’.”
She makes a beeline for the doors and as soon as she disappears through them, my eyes snap back to Logan as he’s bombarded with questions from the other women about their old men. Eventually, he holds his hands up and calls for silence. The prospects and Charlie, I notice, have made their way over too, no doubt desperate for news.
“We’ve been fighting the Reapers, trying to bring down their club. It’s not been easy.” His gaze seeks out my other sister-in-law, Piper. “Jem was hurt in an assault on their compound.” When she gasps, he holds his hands up. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, but him and Wade were shot at riding back from Lace. Jem laid his bike down and is scuffed up, but he’ll recover. Everyone else is fine.”
“Fuck,” Paige mutters. “They’re both okay?”
“Yeah,” he assures them. “A few scratches, Jem busted his ribs pretty good, but everyone will recover.”
Piper looks sick. I don’t blame her. My stomach is doing a violent somersault even thinking about my brother being hurt. Wade too.
I can feel the reality of the situation weighing down on my shoulders. How can we even think about having this party when our brothers, our family, are out there getting hurt?
I’ve been so focused on me and Dane I never stopped to consider how my brothers were.
Dane…
Shit.
As if thinking about him conjured him, he pushes into the common room, his eyes taking in my brother before sliding to me.
