you didn’t know, don’t any of you act like you didn’t know!”
Alarick looks confused and more than a little agitated. “Hold up a fuckin’ second, firstly, Cohen, what the fuck is she talkin’ about? You killed her family?”
Cohen nods sharply. “King’s order. Was between me and him.”
“He never fuckin’ told me that. I find it hard to believe he’d call a hit like that.”
Cohen stands strong. “You got a problem, Pres, you take it up with him. I was doin’ what I was instructed to do.”
Alarick exhales. “Fuck me. I’ll deal with that part of it later. What is she talkin’ about that you sent her away?”
“Don’t know what she’s fuckin’ talkin’ about, she’s fuckin’ nuts. She saw me kill her family, and she’s had it out for me since.”
I shake my head in clear and utter shock. “You’re not serious? I saw him, Alarick. I saw him there that day after he killed my family. I was getting some things out of the safe, and he took them, then he knocked me out and sent me away. Whatever he was covering up, I couldn’t be around for it. He’s lying to you.”
Alarick looks between Cohen and me, his face tight. We’re both telling a different story, we’re both going against each other. Who is he meant to believe?
“Gotta tell you, Aviana, you haven’t been here long and Cohen has never been disloyal to me. Findin’ it hard to believe what you’re sayin’.”
My entire world crashes around me. Every plan, everything I needed to happen, is being thrown back in my face. Alarick doesn’t believe me. He doesn’t think I’m telling the truth. Of course he fucking doesn’t, he’s going to defend his club.
“Samson was loyal too,” I spit. “Look how that ended. People do stupid shit when they’ve got something to protect.”
Alarick jerks a little, and I know my words affect him. I don’t fucking care. I want him to ache, to hurt, to burn. I will make them all burn. Fuck them all.
God damn them all to hell and back.
“Avi, honey, maybe we should talk,” Briella says carefully. “It’s okay ...”
I whip my head around and glare at her. “Am I liar, Briella?”
She stares at me, wide eyed. “No, not that I remember, but you’ve been through a lot.”
Another blow. Right to my very fucking soul.
“How dare you?” I whisper. “You, you have no fucking idea what I’ve lived through because of him. You know what?” I turn and walk toward the door. “Fuck you all, find Blanche yourselves, see how that ends for you.”
I reach the door, and Alarick calls my name.
I don’t stop.
I open it and step out.
They’re going to wish they listened to me.
2
NOW – AVIANA
I shoot down a shot that burns my throat, fueling the fire already raging in my soul. Angrily, I slam the shot glass down and nod at the bartender for a refill. It doesn’t seem to be enough, no matter how much I drink, it doesn’t seem to be enough. I can’t stop the pain that’s filling my chest, the hurt that’s lodged in my heart, and the sickness deep in my stomach.
They were my family once.
They just showed me how little I matter.
“You keep drinkin’ like that, and you’ll end up in trouble.”
I glance to my left, where the voice comes from and see Samson pulling out a stool and sitting down. I haven’t seen him yet, but I know what happened to him, everyone knows what happened to him. About his daughter, about Blanche, about his betrayal. Samson is the outcast, the dark horse, the man nobody trusts anymore.
I know the feeling.
“It’s good to see you, Avi,” he murmurs.
“Did they send you to find me?” I mutter, shooting down another shot.
Samson snorts. “You think they’d send me to do anything? They don’t trust me. I’m sittin’ on the sidelines right now. This is the only thing I do with my days now.”
He raises a hand, and the bartender places a glass of whiskey down without Samson even asking for it. I guess he does come here a lot if they know what he drinks. Samson nods to the man, and then looks back to me. “Why are you in here drownin’ your sorrows?”
I grunt. “I have nowhere else to go. The club doesn’t believe a god damned word I say and yet they want my help. That isn’t how it works, not for me, anyway.”
“My daughter is out there, with those monsters ...”
I look to him. “I’m sorry