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“What the hell is wrong with you?” Briella seethes, getting right up into my face, her eyes flashing with wild anger.
“I don’t need your shit, Briella. Back the fuck down.”
“She has been through so much. My god, do you have any idea what that girl has endured, now you’ve got her handcuffed like a god damned prisoner. She doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. You need to let her go.”
“I don’t need to do fuck all, what I need is for you to back off and worry about your own shit. Do you fuckin’ understand me?” I bark.
Briella flinches, but she doesn’t back down. “She trusted you.”
“She doesn’t trust fuckin’ anyone. She made it clear she wants revenge on this club, and you’re willin’ to just let her run around and get that.”
“Why are you doing this? Is it some way of stopping yourself feeling too much for her? What, Cohen? What is it?”
“Get the fuck out of my space,” I snarl.
“No,” Briella challenges, crossing her arms. “I’m not scared of you. Not even close.”
“I’m warnin’ you, Briella. You’re walkin’ a fine line.”
“She has been through so much, Cohen. She deserves a friend right now.”
“What would you know about fuckin’ friendship? You didn’t give her the time of day when she came back, either.”
“That was until I saw her break. I know what happened to her. What he did to her. She has every right to be hurt and angry, but she didn’t tell those men where we were.”
“How do you fuckin’ know that?”
“Because I saw her face, because I know her. She wasn’t lying. It had nothing to do with her. If you knew her as well as you should, you would have seen that, too.”
I did fucking see that.
I saw it when she was pleading at me.
But I had no choice.
This club has lost too much for us to take any risks, even if it means going against what feels right or wrong.
I had to do it.
There was simply no other fucking option.
“You need to back off,” I growl again. “I have work to do, go and find Alarick and tell him your problems.”
Briella shakes her head in horror. “I don’t know who you are anymore.”
She turns and walks off, and the moment I’m alone, I slam my fist into the motel wall so hard it shatters and a gaping hole appears. I roar with rage. I’m trying to do what’s right, I’m trying to fucking protect this club. I never wanted to fucking hurt her, not once. She was right, when we turned around and went out the way we came in on the dirt road, they were gone.
If she was setting it up, they would have been there waiting.
She made sure we got out safe.
I don’t know what I fucking believe anymore.
I want to believe in her, but I’ve seen the hatred in her eyes, the broken soul of a girl I once knew.
I let her down and, deep down, she wants me to suffer for that.
I can’t trust she hasn’t got a plan.
I just fucking can’t trust that.
“Everything good, brother?”
I turn and see Mykel standing by the door. He looks concerned, like he’s worried for my fucking mental health or something like that. He shouldn’t be, I’ve handled far fucking worse than this, and I’ll do it again.
“I’m good, brother. Briella was just rippin’ me a new one, nothin’ to worry about.”
Mykel walks in and leans against the doorframe, crossing his arms. “She’s worried about her friend, can’t blame her for that.”
“Never said I was blamin’ her, but she’s gotta know we’re doin’ what’s right here. Nobody particularly likes it, but we have to be careful. We don’t know what Aviana has planned.”
“We’ve checked through her phone, nothin’ at all in there. Ever think maybe she’s tellin’ the truth?”
“About not givin’ them the location? Yeah. About everything else? No. Trust me when I say that girl has a problem, rightfully so, but it’s eaten away at big parts of her and she wants to make us suffer for it. I’m not takin’ the risk that she won’t inform someone where we are.”
“Well,” Mykel says, pushing off the wall, “either way, Alarick has uncuffed her so she can sleep. She’s not goin’ anywhere, we’re keepin’ a watch on her. She’s all scratched up, but she won’t let anyone help her.”
I stand, walking toward the closet and jerking it open, pulling out the first-aid kit I always take with me when I’m not at home. I turn and say, “I’ll sort it out.”
“Be careful, brother. You ain’t her biggest fan.”
“I’m not bothered. Her bark is worse than her bite.”
“I hope so, for your sake.”
It’ll be fine.
It fucking has to be.
We’re running out of time.