do whatever it takes.”
“You think you can shake me down after this? You slimy son of a bitch. Sydney was supposed to be on that fucking plane. I watched it explode. Our pilot is dead! Shannon …”
The walls started to close in. I couldn’t breathe. “The plane? Torch? What the hell happened to the plane?”
“They were trying to ensure my cooperation,” my uncle sobbed. “Juice wanted to make sure the club knew no one was untouchable. That’s why you have to swear you can protect me …”
I saw white. I don’t remember leaving Torch’s side. The next thing I knew I had my hands wrapped around my uncle’s neck.
“Shannon was pregnant! You asshole! How could you! She was pregnant!”
I had tried to quell the demon inside of Torch. Now I only wanted to give into my own. I couldn’t see. I couldn’t think. I only wanted my uncle to hurt.
Strong arms pulled me back. Torch enveloped me, kissed my head. Quieted the demons inside of me as three of the probies came in and surrounded my Uncle George.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Torch
She wanted to go to the hospital. For me, there was only one place I could take her. She slid her arms around me as we climbed on my bike. It took the rumble of my Harley’s engine, the wind in my face, the strong, sweet scent of the woman I loved to finally convince me that she was real.
I rode to the riverbank, at the base of the Liberty Bridge. There was a park bench waiting for us and a clear night sky.
“Torch,” she said, as I cut the engine.
“Come here,” I said. I had to get my hands on her. I had to breathe her in.
Sydney came to me. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I’m so damn sorry.”
“No,” she said, crying. “No. I don’t care. I don’t care about any of it.”
“Let me look at you,” I said. I held her a little away from me. Her eyes shone, wet with tears. Her hair flew around her face like tongues of flame. My cinnamon girl. My wild thing.
“I thought you were dead,” I said. “The fire. I tried to run straight into it. It took five men to hold me back.”
“Shannon, though,” she said.
“They pulled her out alive. She’s busted up pretty bad. But Amy’s with her. She’s going to be okay.”
“Her baby,” Sydney said. “She hadn’t even told Sticks about it yet.”
“I don’t know,” I said. It was a wonder anyone survived that crash. I could never tell Sydney what it did to me to see fire like that again. Then, as soon as I thought it, I knew that wasn’t true. She was the only person I could share that with.
But not today. Today I just wanted to be with her. I wanted her to help me chase the dark parts and the fire away.
“I love you,” I said. “I should have said it a damn long time ago. I was afraid. Afraid once you knew …”
“No,” she said, still crying. “Torch, I only love you more. What you’ve survived. You would have killed for me today. What happened when you were a kid wasn’t your fault. You were driven to it by something evil. But you’re not. It doesn’t touch you. Not the way you think it does. And you’ve paid your price. It’s over. Now it’s just ... it’s just us.”
“I want you forever,” I said.
She smiled and stepped into my arms. Then I knew I had to finish what I started all those weeks ago.
“You’re mine,” she whispered.
I led her to the bench. The lights from one of the big freighters twinkled in the distance. The drawbridge was just starting to rise. There were people out there, but we were too far away for them to see.
I brought Sydney into my lap. She straddled me. She threw her head back and gasped as I slid my hands up under her shirt and found her nipples. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
My Sydney went to another place. She writhed on my lap. I could feel her heat through her damn jeans. We had so little time. My brothers were depending on me. But for now, this moment, I would draw on Sydney’s strength to quiet the monster one last time.
She unzipped my jeans. My cock sprang free, and she was on it. She slid to her knees and took me in her mouth. It was my turn to throw my head back.
God. She was good. Built for me.