to talk. He raises his chin, finally ready to give it to me straight. “Kian learned who you were and put us in your life. He wanted to have you watched. He knew that you didn’t know who your father really was and he used that against him.”
Pain slices through me, right down to my core. “So, it was all a lie? You weren’t my friends at all. You were there watching my father and screwing over his daughter in the process.”
Kairo nods. “At first, but then we got to know you. You’re one of us, Ocean. Who cares how we fucking met? What we have is stronger than that.”
“You really think so?” I laugh. “Our whole friendship was based on a lie. We have nothing. Not anymore.”
I turn away and don’t dare look back knowing damn well that if I did, I'll break. If anything, I’ve overstayed my welcome, not that I had any in the first place. I’ll check on Nic one last time and then I’m out of here.
I start walking back to the bar to take my seat beside him, only he’s no longer there. I glance around the large, warehouse-style compound to find him having a whispered conversation with a guy who has a phone glued to his ear.
Nic’s eyes flash up to mine and the look within them nearly tears me apart.
This isn’t my Nic. The man staring back at me is a complete stranger. This is the lethal, dark version of Nic that could rip a man to shreds with his bare hands. This is the version of himself that he’s always tried to protect me from, but something has changed, that need to hide it from me is gone.
I falter, bringing myself to a stop in the middle of the compound. Something screams at me not to take another step, that I should stay away, but as usual, I’m so fucking drawn to him.
I swallow back the confusion and realize the right thing to do is leave. I can’t see him like this. I’ve always known this is a part of who he is. This is his dark side, the side that will have grown men shitting their pants and begging for forgiveness. Seeing him like this … it’s going to crush me.
Nic has always been larger than life for me and while I’ve always known about this, I’ve never had to watch him at his worst and I’m terrified of being scared of him, of knowing just how far he can go. Sure, I’ve seen him beat the ever-loving shit out of a man. I’ve seen the way he dominates every fucking situation, but whatever comes next … that’s going to change it all.
A hard body presses into my back and as hands claim my waist, Sebastian’s low voice sends chills running down my spine. “I’ve seen that look, Ocean,” he tells me, his voice barely a whisper. “You need to go.”
I nod and as I go to step around him a guy starts pulling on a thick chain, pulling the roller door up. The only proper door in the warehouse is slammed shut and locked and Sebastian pulls me back into him, clutching onto me tighter. “Fuck. Too late.”
The deafening sound of Harley’s fill the warehouse as they creep through the roller door, surrounding all sides of the black SUV, the same one that had only rolled past here less than an hour ago with guns hanging out of the fucking windows.
My back stiffens. I really don’t want to be here.
The Widows all start to crowd around, at least two hundred of them, all eager to see how Nic is going to avenge his father. This is his first official move as their leader—defending the man who has led them for nearly thirty years. This has to be big. This has to prove that he has what it takes.
This has to send a message—Kian might be gone, but the Widows will live on, stronger, darker, deadlier. They will not succumb to anybody, especially not the Wolves. This will never be forgotten and they will never be forgiven. This war between them just became fucking vicious.
The Harley’s come to a stop and the SUV is pulled up between them. The bikers get off and instantly go to the back of the SUV. Other’s jump in to help and within moments, three bound and gagged men stumble out of the back and into the center of the warehouse, each one of them