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I’m happy to see him again, but I also know what’s coming. I’ve been preparing for it since they first sat me down in the back of the ambulance. Orion, Drake, and Kai turn to face him, their expressions carved in weary stone.
“You’re alive,” Dad says, cautiously walking toward me. “Thank God. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
He looks at the EMT. “Can I take her home?”
“Yes, sir. She doesn’t need an overnight stay. I think plenty of rest will do more than anything they could give her at the hospital,” the EMT says.
“Good,” Dad replies, then looks at me. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you out of this place.”
“Quick, we should talk,” Orion tries to reason with him, but that’s not going to happen.
Not tonight, anyway. My father glowers at him. “No. I’m taking my daughter home tonight. And you three will keep your word and stay away from her. I know what you do with your women, and you’re not doing that with my only child. Get that through your thick heads.”
“Dad, please.”
“She’s pregnant, Quick. We need to address that,” Drake says.
“Fuck you,” Dad shoots back.
I’m too tired, too worn out to fight him on this. I give my men a soft nod, and all they can do is helplessly stand back as I let my father take me away from them. It’s tearing me apart on the inside, but the truth is after everything I’ve just been through, a small break won’t kill me. Some time alone might do me some good.
“Nadia,” Kai calls out, prompting me to look back at him. “This isn’t over.”
“I know,” I give him a weak smile.
Dad has his arm around my shoulders and guides me farther down the trail. “It absolutely is over,” he mutters, unable to hide his discontent. “I’ve failed you enough times as a father, honey. Things are going to change from now on, I promise.”
I have a lot to say on the matter, but my words refuse to come out.
He’s going to make things a lot more difficult.
Tomorrow, I’ll face him with a different kind of courage. Tonight, I just want a hot shower and sleep. Everything else can wait. It’s not over. I believe Kai when he says that. They survived literal hell on earth to save me.
They’ll figure out a way to survive my father, too.
32
Orion
In the following days and weeks, we summon every last ounce of patience we have left as we go through the legal motions. Interviews, statements, and plenty of paperwork. Bouncing from one federal office to another, then the sheriff’s department, then court for character testimony for Colton Harrow’s arraignment. He’s denied any bail. He’s considered one of the most dangerous men in the U.S. right now. At least the task force was ridiculously efficient in that aspect.
His empire went down in flames.
Only the Blackthorn Riders MC remains standing in all of Orange County. Those who survived the house raid will spend some time in prison as the Feds start digging into their clubs’ activities. The bikers’ creed was more important to them than basic decency. They’re paying the price for their pride, and I hope they pay it in full.
We almost lost everything because they were too blind to see the disaster coming.
* * *
It will take a while for the aftermath to clear, but we can already tell that the county is doing better. It’s as if the air itself is cleaner and lighter. The sun shines brighter. The ocean seems bluer. The future holds promises I’d feared we’d lost. We made it. Through rain and fire, through death and violence, we made it.
And now, with the clubhouse fully rebuilt and more members joining our nonprofit organization, the guys and I are ready for the next step. We’re claiming our woman, and Paddy has decided to come with us. I didn’t expect the old guy to be so determined to help out in this particular aspect, but I welcome his support.
It’s been almost a month since we rescued Nadia.
We’ve been exchanging messages, talking late at night over the phone. I miss her like crazy, and she misses us, too. She’s healthy, and that’s all that matters. The babies are growing, her bump more visible every day. I’d give anything to just hold her again, to plant a kiss on her belly and tell our children that we’re stoked to meet them.
