Fuck.
By the time we got to the Tacoma clubhouse, none of that shit mattered. The prospects who'd ridden out with my boys got off their bikes and hugged their full patch brothers. Their club had taken a lot of casualties, and with their Prez MIA, they'd lost their head too.
All the Redding brothers began to huddle, an improvised debriefing that would have to wait for me. I had bigger business right behind me.
I helped Elle off the bike and pulled her helmet away. Then I hugged her so fucking hard it would've hurt, if both of us weren't running on raw, rip-your-guts-out passion.
“Fuck, I love you, babe. Forget everything I said in that goddamned park. You're still my old lady. You're my bride, now and fuckin' forever. You're my woman, always mine, and that's the way it always will be.”
Her eyes were so dark. Haunted in a way that made me wonder if the Chinese had stolen part of her forever. But those blues lit up when I ran my hand over her face, amazed how her skin stayed so soft despite going through sheer hell.
“I'm sorry, Asphalt. Jesus, God, I'm so fucking sorry...”
She cracked. All my brothers stopped mid-sentence and watched as she poured her grief out all over me. I just held her, kissed her on the forehead, ready to keep her in my arms 'til she believed everything I told her next.
“Forget the past, babe. Whatever the fuck happened between us before, that was club politics. Club business that shouldn't ever involve an old lady and her man. Shouldn't ever land her in a pack of fucking jackals neither. Listen good, because I'm about to tell you how it's gonna be from here on out.”
I waited 'til those bright blue eyes looked into mine. “You're home when you're with me. You're safe when you're with me. You're my whole goddamned world, and that's never gonna change. I don't let my world burn or bleed out on the ground.” I paused, brushing away more tears rolling down her cheeks. “Tell me you understand. Everything's different now, the way it should've been from the start. That's a fucking promise.”
“Asphalt...”
She just nodded, too fucked for words. I looked at my boys. They just nodded as I escorted her inside, walking into the clubhouse the Tacoma boys had just unlocked.
I'd find a place to lay her down, get her some decent grub, make sure she got some sleep. Then me and the boys would figure out how we'd track down the Chinese and nail their dicks to the closest fucking wall.
If her old man was still alive, he deserved the same treatment. That stupid, shit-for-brains motherfucker deserved a bullet in the brain for getting half his club killed.
As far as I was concerned, the asshole deserved worse for putting my girl in danger with his bullshit.
Elle Jo wouldn't ever work for the club and put her ass on the line again. Not for any charter.
She lived for me now, and as long as she did, I'd make damned sure she never had to suffer, bleed, or shake for this patch.
It took forever to calm her down. I made her drink water like a damned fish, and she heaved it up right away. I helped her sip more gently on the second go.
I talked to her the same way I did all those years ago when I saw her with that flattened bike tire by the road, about to go to tears from being so damned frustrated. Except this time, I put my lips on hers, stopping her before she could spill more tears with my kiss.
She didn't resist. I found her a cot and pulled her into it, throwing my arms around her. I held her and rocked her the way I'd wanted to since I put my brand on her skin.
“This is all my fault,” she whispered. “Everything.”
“Babe, kindly shut the fuck up. You know that isn't true,” I growled, doubling down on silencing her with another kiss. “This is your old man's fault. He tried to do dirty deals with the Chinese behind mother charter's back, got half his guys killed, and almost got you fucked over on top of it. If we manage to track his ass down, he's gonna pay.”
“Asphalt, no!” she snapped, shaking in my arms. “You don't understand. It wasn't like that. Yes, he did wrong. He never meant to do a real deal with them from everything I've gathered. He tried to draw them into a trap, he was going to take care of them before they became a problem for everyone, but they saw it coming. Yeah, daddy misstepped, trying to kill them first and underestimating them. But you didn't see the things they did, the way they slashed men's throats in front of us...”
She closed her eyes. I could sense the painful memories boiling her from the inside out.
That shit never went away. It would fade over the years, but a man never forgets blood and death. Couldn't be any different for a woman.
Fuck. If I could've drawn all that poison into me, wiping it from her precious brain, I would've done it in a heartbeat. Too bad life wasn't ever so magical, or so easy.