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Stomping past me, she yelled back, “This is impossible. Ididlose you. And long before I left. You weren’t coming home, Wes. You were late every night, you seemed to forget that I didn’t want to belong to the club or be forced to go to parties. You forgot that I used to run away from those parties, Wes. I’d run to you, and all the sudden you weren’t there for me. You were the one dragging me into them. You were my safe place, and then everything changed. I did lose you, you’re just too enamored with your new life to see it.”
My chest felt like she’d just slammed a brick into it. I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to my chest, breathing heavily.
“What are you saying?”
Her hazel gaze searched mine, like she was trying to figure out why I couldn’t see what she was trying to communicate.
“I’m saying I didn’t leave because of the club. I left becauseyouleft me. After I was kidnapped, I was alone, Wes. All by myself most nights. You wouldn’t tell me anything, so even when you did come back, there was nothing but fucking between us. There was no more emotional intimacy, and I missed you.”
I swallowed thickly, about to open my mouth but—
Hunter, one of the newer prospects, suddenly pulled up next to us, rolling down his window. “You need to get back to the clubhouse. The Roman just showed up and said he’s looking for you.”
I clenched my back teeth together, grabbed Callie’s hand, and pulled her behind me. Callie crawled into the backseat, but I slid in right next to her and held her hand in mine while the prospect drove us back.
* * *
We pulled up in time to see that Killian and the others had returned. Red walked out of the main house with Max on her heels. We’d asked last night if she and Brooks would watch over him before we left, and it seemed the beast did fine. His nose immediately went to Callie’s stomach as soon as we exited the truck, and Callie smiled down at him, stroking his neck. I liked seeing her with him; I couldn’t figure out why except that he took care of her. I could tell. When she was sad, he seemed to catch on and go to her, and he was as tall as a small horse, so he kept people away from her. I sort of felt like if she didn’t have me, I was glad she had Max.
Red put her arm around Callie, steering her back toward the kitchen, talking her ear off.
People were saying my name, others were headed into church, but I went after the women and pulled on Callie’s wrist, stopping her.
“You’re with me.”
Red’s eyes rounded, and so did Callie’s, but Callie recovered quickly, putting her hand in mine as we walked toward the church doors. Members watched on, staring at us as I broke one of the fundamental rules of the club.No women in church.
But fuck tradition.
The men were already assembled around the table, and there wasn’t a single empty chair save for mine at the head. I slid it out, taking a seat, pulling Callie into my lap.
“What’s going on, Silas?”
My friend glared at Callie, clenching his jaw before clearing his throat.
“You sure you want her here for this?”
I gripped Callie’s waist, pulling her closer to my chest, while catching the eye of every man at the table.
“Right now, it’s the rest of these fuckers I’m not sure about. But River stays, from here on out. As long as I’m president, she’s welcome in these meetings.”
There was a grunt of approval around the table, and I relaxed when Callie’s fingers rested on my thigh, under the table, her back pressed into my chest, and then Silas opened his mouth, and everything went to hell.
“Dirk sent me here to kill you, Wes.”
TWENTY-THREE
CALLIE
I really freaking hated Silas.
My glare was severe enough that he realized this, that or my death grip on the edge of the table gave it away. While I knew I wasn’t supposed to speak up in this meeting, I couldn’t help the angry whisper that left my chest.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
Silas scowled back, those pale blue eyes brutal as he set his jaw.
Wes gripped my waist, trying to pull me back against him, but like fuck was I going to sit here and listen to some Death Raider discuss the semantics of his murder. Maybe I was on edge because of my father, and maybe I was just over all this club bullshit. Didn’t really make a difference in my mood either way. I was on edge, and the deeper this hole seemed to go, the angrier I became.
