“It won’t help, but you already know that. Deep down, you know that or you would have done somethin’ by now. What I did to you, what the club did, you have a right to be hurt about that but you don’t really want to hurt us, if you did you would have done it by now. You’re just lookin’ for a way to make yourself feel less pain, and you think that’s how you’re goin’ to do that.”
“Since when did you become a therapist?” she asks, her lips twitching.
I grunt. “Since I had to deal with all the shit this club throws around. We’re all fucked up, Avi, it’s how we control it that counts.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
“We’ll find the men that want you and we’ll get them out of the picture. You’ll be able to go and live the free life you fuckin’ deserve and you’ll be able to do it with a fuck load of money and choices. If I can give you anything for what I did, I’ll give you that. I’ll make sure you’re safe. I’ll make sure you’re free.”
She stares over at me, small fingers curling around the chains of the swing. Her hair blows over her face, but she doesn’t reach up to move it, she just looks at me with those intense eyes. “You could get hurt going after them.”
“Chance I’m willing to take.”
“You’d do that, for me?”
I grin at her, because she’s asked me that very same question once before, and I answered her then the same way I’ll answer her now. “I’d do fuckin’ anything for you.”
She smiles, the first true smile she’s given me since she came back. “Well, I should hope so.”
There she is.
A glimmer of the girl we lost.
One way or another, I’m going to get her back.
I’m going to get Aviana back.
14NOW – AVIANA
“I wasn’t entirely honest with you,” I tell Alarick and the group of bikers all glaring at me as I speak. “It’s not as safe as you thought, nor is it as easy to get to Benedict. It’s possible, but it’s dangerous. I’m not going to lie to you any further, so I will tell you that I wanted you to get hurt, I wanted you all to get caught out. I was angry, I was bitter, but I’m telling you the truth now.”
“You were goin’ to have my club ambushed?” Alarick growls.
“Yes,” I say honestly. “Yes, I was.”
“What makes me believe you’re tellin’ the truth now?”
I glance at Cohen. “Because I trust that you’ll have my back and make sure nothing bad happens to me. In exchange, I’m coming clean. I didn’t have to, but I am. I’m choosing to try and leave the past behind and to do that, I have to be honest.”
Alarick stares at Cohen and then back at me. “You put her up to this?”
Cohen shrugs. “I gave her the truth, she gave me the truth. Fair deal.”
“So, we’re fucked then?” Kendric growls, clenching his fists. “We’re goin’ to walk into a fuckin’ battle with wooden swords.”
So dramatic.
“No, you’re not fucked,” I say, crossing my arms. “And wood can do a lot of damage.”
“Don’t be fuckin’ smart with me,” he warns.
I give him a grin to try and ease the anger flowing out of him, then I look back to Alarick. “I know where Benedict spends a lot of his time. I can get him alone. When I do that, you can take him. Once you’ve got him, the hardest part is over. As for where the rest of them are, that’ll be easy enough because they don’t allow a lot of people there so you’ll have more than enough men.”
“You’re goin’ to risk your life, so we can get Benedict?”
“You’re risking your life to take out those men after me, I think it’s a fair trade.”
“No fuckin’ way,” Cohen growls. “We know nothin’ about this fucker and you’re not goin’ anywhere with him alone. One thing we’ve learned from all of this, is that nothin’ we do is secret. If he has any idea you’re comin’, you’ll be killed.”
I glance at Cohen. “It’s the only option. He sees a group of bikers coming for him, he’s going to have a hell of a lot more men than you can take on after you. If I go alone, I have more chance of getting him alone. He liked me, believe me when I say he’ll be happy to see me.”
“And if he questions why you’re not with that fucker who held you captive?” Alarick questions.
“Then I’ll tell him the truth, I ran away. If he still communicates with him, then he’ll know for certain that I’ve gone. If I lie, he’ll know, and it’ll be over. So, I’ll tell him the truth and hope that maybe he takes it as his chance to have me, which he always wanted.”
“It’s too fuckin’ risky,” Cohen growls. “I won’t allow it.”
“We have no other options,” Mykel says, leaning back in his chair. “We’re walkin’ into an ambush if we try to go in alone. The only way to get this fucker out, is for Aviana to do it.”
“Gotta agree,” Samson mutters. “Seems like the only option.”
“It’s fuckin’ suicide!” Cohen barks, clenching his fists.
“It’s our only choice,” Alarick calmly tells him. “We’re sendin’ her in.”
“No,” Cohen growls. “No, you’re fuckin’ not.”
“Cohen,” I say, my voice steady and careful. “I know this man better than any of you. This is our only choice. Let me do this, please.”
Cohen walks over to me, leaning in close. “I let you down once before and because of that your life was fuckin’ ruined. I will not let that happen again.”
My heart twists, and I want to say so many things, but now is not the time.
“The difference between then and now is that this time I have a choice. This is what I want
