Dragon's Lair (Wind Dragons MC #1)(36)

“No,” I whisper, my eyes going behind them to the dark-haired woman lying on the couch. Blood drips from her chest. Her eyes are closed. I run my fingers through her hair and kiss the top of her head. Why Mary? She was the sweetest, kindest person I’d ever met. I start to sob inconsolably.

“Faye, Dex is on his way. He wants to talk to you,” Vinnie says gently. I shake my head and continue to stare at Mary.

“She needs you right now man,” Vinnie tells him, his eyes going red when he looks at Mary. “She’s fine physically, but I don’t know,” he says into the phone.

He doesn’t know if I’m fine emotionally. Well I’m not.

I sit there with Mary until the men arrive. For the rest of my life, I will never forget the look on Arrow’s face. Never. He ran inside and dropped to his knees in front of her. He buried his face in her hair and cried. He cursed, he swore, and he kept asking why over and over again.

Why her?

In that moment, I know that Arrow loved Mary. I wonder if he only just figured it out himself. And if he did—now it’s too late.

Dex wraps me in his arms, his body trembling, shaking with fear and rage.

And relief.

He takes me to our bed and just holds me. “I was so worried,” he whispers. “I’m so f*ckin’ sorry sweetheart.”

I can see his face in the moonlight, his pained eyes tearing through me. They hurt to look at, so I squeeze my own shut.

I’m just about asleep when he says, “I need to go help the others. I will be back as soon as I can.”

Help must mean take care of the dead bodies.

I killed a man today.

I killed someone.

And I lost someone.

I think of Liam and Trev, and I feel sad, but when I think of Mary being gone I feel heartbroken.

The good die young, the saying must be true.

Dex joins me back in bed early morning. He smells like soap, freshly showered. I explore his smooth chest with my hands, then place my right hand against his heart.

I feel it beating.

“I love you too,” he whispers to me. “I wanted to say it to you face to face.”

He kisses my lips once, then we fall asleep wrapped in each other’s arms.





Chapter Twenty





“What’s this?” I ask, peering at the box curiously. Jim smiles at me, his eyes crinkling, and places the box on the table.

“You earned this,” he says as I open the lid and pull out what’s inside.

It’s a cut. One made in my size. On it, it says ‘Property of Sin.’

“You’re the first woman to get one. Ever.”

Dex watches me, his eyes full of pride and sadness. Pride over my actions but sad that I was forced to do it. Sad that I was almost killed, and that others were.

“I didn’t do anything really,” I mutter. “It was all Vinnie.”

Vinnie was patched in the next week, after Mary, Liam, and Trev’s funerals. It’s now been two months since the incident.

Two long soul-searching months.

I didn’t leave my room for the first week. I cried more than I’ve ever cried in my life and then I got mad at Dex. It was his fault I was here, that I was in danger. That our daughter was in danger. Then I felt guilt. I killed a man. I was a murderer.

After that I felt something else.

Acceptance.

It happened. I survived. I was one of the lucky ones.

I had two options in my life. Stay with Dex and live the life, or leave him.

I think Dex knew what I was thinking, so we talked. A lot. About everything. About us as a family. About the future.

And I fell in love with him even more.

There is no way I could leave him.

A lot has changed since then. Dex and I sold his old house and bought a new one. Renee was pissed, but Dex and I couldn’t care less. The clubhouse upped their security. It’s now harder to get into than a maximum security prison is to get out of. There will not be a repeat of what happened that night, not if we can help it.

I touch my rounded belly and smile. “I love it.” I won’t be wearing it out, but I think I’m going to seduce Dex in it tonight.

Wearing the cut and nothing else. Sexy.

Jim lifts his hand and touches my cheek. “Proud to have you in the fam.”

“Proud to be here Jimbo,” I reply, smiling up at him.

He looks to Dex. “Knocking her up was the best thing you ever did Sin.”

“Don’t I know it,” he replies, his lips curving into a cocky smile.

I roll my eyes. “When do you guys head out?” They were going on another run, except this time Dex was staying with me. I don’t know how he talked his way out of that. I don’t even know what they do on these ‘runs’, but I have a feeling it has to do with drugs. Jim doesn’t allow any club members to use hard drugs and I thought it was just good form, until I realized maybe he didn’t want them sampling the wares either. I’ve asked Dex, but he didn’t answer, so I let it go. His expression didn’t let me know if I was wrong or right about the assumption. I know they make good money. They own several different businesses, from a strip club named Toxic to several bars, and the auto mechanic shop Dex works in sometimes.

“Leaving tomorrow morning,” Jim replies, taking a swig of beer. “Cindy is busy organizing the charity event. Why don’t you help her out?”