Cruz (Dark and Dirty Sinners' MC #5) - Serena Akeroyd Page 0,138
died before you could see how much better you made life for us both.
"But, what worries me, is if you're the one who's going across the country, taking these fuckers out, one by one, putting yourself in danger every single time, eventually, it's going to catch up to you.
"Maybe, this far, nobody has realized you were behind all of these vigilante deaths, and maybe people aren't looking as hard as they might because of what those bastards are, but one day, somebody will put two and two together, and you will end up behind bars.
"Before, I thought that might be what you wanted. As much as everybody loves their freedom, I don't think you've been free for an incredibly long time. Probably for as long as me and Carly. But now, you have so much to live for, Nyx. You're going to be a dad," I repeated. "You're going to be an amazing dad.
“And the only thing Carly and me need from you, is to keep your child safe. To do," I rasped, the words choking me as I whispered them to him, needing him to believe me, needing him to feel the truth in what I was saying, "what mom and dad never did for us. I need you to be better than them. I need your child to be safe, like I never was." Nerves hit me because what I was asking was going to be hard for him, and he could easily say no. "Big brother, can you do that for me?"
For a second, I didn't know how he was going to respond, if he'd even respond at all, and then, he slipped his arms around my waist, pressed a kiss to my temple before he pushed his forehead against mine, and rasped, "I can, little sis. I can."
Then, safe in his arms, I cried. I cried for me, for him, for Carly. I cried for Caleb, who never had a decent childhood because of the aftermath of our eldest sister's death.
And Nyx?
Though neither of us would ever admit to it, he cried too.
Somehow, his tears meant even more to me than my own, because I felt like I hadn't just liberated myself, I'd liberated him too. Allowing both of us to have a future that would forever have been denied to us, were it not for Cruz, Giulia, and the baby in her belly.
Cruz
When I got the call, I was halfway from the clubhouse to the tattoo parlor. It was hard to register that was home now, not because Indy made me feel unwelcome, but I hadn’t been crashing there for long so I figured it would take a lot more than a week to get a connection with the place.
The best part about it was that Indy was there. Sure, the brothers could call me whipped, but I'd take it. Especially as if anyone was getting whipped, it was Indy.
Not that anyone would ever know that, nor should they. I was a private man, even when sparing my ego was concerned—Indy's reputation meant a damn sight more to me than my own.
The name Darren Dunbar had more black marks against it than a couple of Sinners combined.
I was ashamed of my past, even if it had forged me into the man standing here today.
I wasn't the kid of before, a kid who'd do anything to fit in, to make friends.
Taking a double major at sixteen hadn't exactly made me popular, and having always been an overachiever, as well as isolated in the aftermath of my parents' divorce, I'd made a lot of crappy decisions over the years.
Those crappy decisions, however, paved the way to Indy. I wasn't a romantic man, wasn't particularly in touch with my feelings, but I felt like everything I'd done in my life was geared toward my meeting her.
Not for my benefit, but for hers. That wasn't to say that I wasn't a lucky guy to have her in my life, but the idea of a woman like her being imprisoned in her own soul was hell on earth to me.
My body wore the scars of the bad choices I'd made along the way, and my ink helped hide them, but Indy's scars were all internal. She helped countless people cover theirs, all while hers were impossible to heal.
So, if I was here to help shine a little healing light on a woman I'd come to love, then maybe it was a means of atoning for the past.