Released (Devil's Blaze MC #3)(6)

When I got the intel that Colin was hiding out in this remote cabin in the backwoods of Georgia, I wanted to scream. The f*cker thought he could hide from me? He wants to try and take what is mine? I’m going to make him regret the day he was born. All he f*cking did was make things easier for me. I still would have stormed the gates of his pretty house on the hill. It doesn’t matter. I don’t give a f*ck about anything at this point except revenge; it’s the only thing that’s keeping me going.

My men are tired. I’m driving them hard. We’ve been on the road for two days straight and, besides a quick nap in a f*cking pig sty, we’ve barely taken a break. I can’t help it. Being away from Beth is making me nervous.

No. Gabby. Being away from Gabby, not Beth…

I grab my binoculars and zoom in on the window that’s closest to me. There’s three heads in there. I can’t tell that any of them are Colin. I need to just go in and make my move. There’s something feeling off, though. I’m trying to ignore it because I’m so f*cking raw about things right now. It’s probably nothing. Still… the lives of my men are at stake here.

“You’re sure you checked the perimeter carefully?” I ask Beast.

He’s back to doing things for me, but he’s not adjusting great. He’s letting his hair and beard grow out again. It’s slowly covering the wicked scars that twist the skin on his neck and up the side of his face. He doesn’t talk a lot anymore. His voice is hoarse and quiet. I haven’t asked, but I’m sure that’s beyond his control too. Just one more thing the explosion has taken from him… one more thing Beth’s family has taken from him.

“It’s clear.” His voice is animalistic, like a growl.

I hold my hand back up using a series of numbers to signal the beginning of our plan. I’ve ordered radio silence. I can’t take the chance that they have technology that might monitor that shit. Colin might not be f*cking smart, but he has money, and money makes even the dumbest of men at least look more intelligent.

I’ve split the men up in teams of two. I’ll charge in front with Briar at my side. Beast and Sabre will follow guarding our backs, then Shaft and Latch will follow and so forth. Hopefully by the time Roadkill, our newest recruit and last in the formation, follows in, there won’t be a need for anyone to be watching his back. Hopefully by then I have Colin’s neck in my hands and I’m choking the life out of the son of a bitch.

We start moving forward, staying in the brushy cover of the woods surrounding the cabin. When we reach the edge, I take a breath to move forward. I’m at the base of the steps along the small wooden porch when I see it. The small pinpoint red light flashing on my pants leg. It’s connected to something that’s mounted underneath the step. It’s way too small of an area for a gun, but I’ve been in the military and I’ve dealt with this shit way too long. I also know what the Donahue’s calling card is.

One word registers in my brain before I call out. Bomb.

“Fall back!” I scream. “Fall back! It’s a—”

I’m still calling out while running backwards and pulling Briar with me when the bomb ignites. The force of the blast is a heated inferno at my back. It pushes us off our legs and up in the air as we’re thrown a good ten feet. I slam hard against the rocky ground, feeling debris hit me and all around. I lay there, the wind knocked out of my body. Disappointment fills me. Colin set this up. Whoever was in this cabin, it wasn’t him. Not this time.

But I will get him.





One Week Later



It’s been one week. One week since I’ve had Beth back under my roof. One full week and I’ve barely spoken to her. One full week of having her close. That should make me feel better. Instead, I feel dead. So cold and empty, I wonder sometimes how I’m breathing. How I’m existing. I’m pulled to her, even as I never want to see her again. My head is so f*cked up, it may never be right again. I can’t figure out how I can be so f*cking mad at a woman and yet want her at the same time.

And I do want her. Sometimes I wake up at night in a cold sweat after dreaming of having her. It’s ridiculous. I can’t stand to look at her, but yet every night I sneak in her f*cking room after I’m sure she’s sleeping and I watch her like some f*cking stalker.

Tonight is no exception. She’s lying in the bed. The sheet has fallen down around her stomach exposing the soft, white, cotton gown she’s wearing. The V of the neck has been pulled while she tossed and turned and it exposes the soft swell of her right breast. I fist my hands at my side to prevent myself from reaching out and ripping the gown away from her body. A body I remember like the back of my hand. A body I f*cking yearn for.

A body that haunts me.

How could she have done this to us? To me? How can you say you love someone when you nearly destroy them with your lies—with not trusting them? I’ve told her I hated her, and she thinks I truly do. It would be so much easier if I could. I want to. I’m spending my time f*cking pounding the life out of Pistol because if I don’t, I wouldn’t be able to contain my anger. I’m barely doing it now. What would Beth think if she knew just how much of an animal her coming back has turned me into?

And if I’m honest, that’s why I’m so mad at her. I was starting to put my life back together. Pick up the pieces I was left in when she… died. Seeing Dragon and Nicole together, watching how they are both willing to give up their lives for each other… it reminded me that love is real. It reminded me what it was like to share a connection with someone above all others. I miss it. I was actively searching for it. I was starting to live again.