Chapter 31

It takes a few hours for all the chaos to die down and for order to be restored. We sit outside the cabin, choppers flying overhead. Their spotlights scan the surrounding woods, looking for Black Devil runaways. It turns out the lodge itself had about two dozen of them holed up with me but I only knew about the four, including = Carla.

Cops. Paramedics. SWAT officers. Federal agents from the joint taskforce. Hell, I’m seeing so many acronyms on their dark windbreakers that I can barely keep up. FBI. DEA. ATF. The local PD. The sheriff. State troopers, too. It’s quite the party in the woods.

My wounds are cleaned and bandaged. Just some scratches and bruises, mostly. One of the EMTs holds an ice pack on the top of my head while I use both hands to drink from a water bottle, fingers shaking like crazy.

“The adrenalin will take a while to wear off,” he tells me with a soothing voice. I assume he’s an exceptionally good paramedic because I’m already feeling the edge dissipating somewhere in the back of my mind as the scene before us comes into focus.

Agent Dale Johnson moves around, barking orders and making sure the crime scene techs photograph and record everything. “Don’t leave a single stone unturned,” he tells them. “We can’t let the DoD or the State Department have any reason to doubt the legitimacy and the success of this operation.”

“He’s gloating,” Kai chuckles softly. He sits next to me in the back of the ambulance, about a hundred yards below the cabin. It’s as far as they could get, given the rough terrain. Technically, they wouldn’t be allowed to drive up here since this is a protected forest. But the Feds made an exception for obvious reasons. “But he has good reason; I’ll give him that.”

“Colton is a lucky piece of shit,” Orion mutters. “I wanted to kill him.”

“I’m glad you didn’t,” I tell him. “Let the bastard rot in prison. You know they’ll throw away the key and let him go crazy in solitary.”

Drake nods in agreement. “We were determined to waste him for what he did to you.”

“Prison is the worst punishment that he’s ever going to get,” I insist. “Death was the easy way out. Think about it. He got away with so much for so long, and now the chickens have come home to roost. He’s screwed six ways from Sunday, and he knows it.”

We watch as the paramedics carry him down the mountain trail on a wheeled gurney, not as careful as they would be with other gunshot victims. There isn’t much sympathy for a man like that and I can’t blame them. I would’ve rolled him downhill to be honest.

“It’s finally over,” Orion says.

Red and blue lights flash through the woods. There are so many people out here, so many movements that I simply cannot keep track of them all. I’m tired. I feel like I’m about to pass out, and there isn’t enough water on this earth to quell the fire burning in my chest.

A plethora of emotions storms through me as I try to keep my head straight, as I try to revel in this moment and give thanks to the universe for having delivered me back into the arms of the men I love and cherish most.

“You guys were total badasses, though,” I giggle subtly and lean into Kai.

Drake can’t help but smile with sparkling pride. “Yeah, we were kind of cool, huh?”

“We were,” Kai replies. “I’d missed it, you know?”

“Active duty?” the EMT asks.

Kai nods once. “I wouldn’t do it again, but it felt nice to—”

“Save the day,” I reply and kiss his cheek. “You saved me.”

“And you saved us, babe,” Orion says.

We can’t do much else in the presence of so many strangers, I know that. It kills me to keep my hands to myself, but the moment will come when we’re alone again. When the thrill has dissolved and all that remains is peace and quiet.

“What will happen next?” I ask, my gaze wandering from Orion to Kai and Drake and then back.

“Colton will face a slew of charges. His surviving club members, too,” Orion says. “And the associate MCs will fall as well. They had their chance, and they blew it.”

“Orange County will be thoroughly cleansed,” Drake adds with a shrug. “It isn’t how any of us wanted to see this end, but it’s the best out of the worst possible outcomes.”

“What about the Blackthorn Riders MC?” I ask, my heart tightening ever so slightly. “I’d hate to see all your work go down the drain.”

“It won’t,” Kai says. “We got our immunity agreement. We’ll go legit, file all the necessary paperwork. It’s going to be a nonprofit organization.”

“Good,” I whisper.

The sight of my father rushing up the mountain makes my insides squirm. He pauses a few feet away, relief glowing in his eyes. “Nadia!”

“Dad.” I don’t know what else to say.

I’m happy to see him again, but I also know what’s coming. I’ve been preparing for it since they first sat me down in the back of the ambulance. Orion, Drake, and Kai turn to face him, their expressions carved in weary stone.

“You’re alive,” Dad says, cautiously walking toward me. “Thank God. Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

He looks at the EMT. “Can I take her home?”

“Yes, sir. She doesn’t need an overnight stay. I think plenty of rest will do more than anything they could give her at the hospital,” the EMT says.

“Good,” Dad replies, then looks at me. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you out of this place.”

“Quick, we should talk,” Orion tries to reason with him, but that’s not going to happen.

Not tonight, anyway. My father glowers at him. “No. I’m taking my daughter home tonight. And you three will keep your word and stay away from her. I know what you do with your women, and you’re not doing that with my only child. Get that through your thick heads.”

“Dad, please.”

“She’s pregnant, Quick. We need to address that,” Drake says.

“Fuck you,” Dad shoots back.

I’m too tired, too worn out to fight him on this. I give my men a soft nod, and all they can do is helplessly stand back as I let my father take me away from them. It’s tearing me apart on the inside, but the truth is after everything I’ve just been through, a small break won’t kill me. Some time alone might do me some good.

“Nadia,” Kai calls out, prompting me to look back at him. “This isn’t over.”

“I know,” I give him a weak smile.

Dad has his arm around my shoulders and guides me farther down the trail. “It absolutely is over,” he mutters, unable to hide his discontent. “I’ve failed you enough times as a father, honey. Things are going to change from now on, I promise.”

I have a lot to say on the matter, but my words refuse to come out.

He’s going to make things a lot more difficult.

Tomorrow, I’ll face him with a different kind of courage. Tonight, I just want a hot shower and sleep. Everything else can wait. It’s not over. I believe Kai when he says that. They survived literal hell on earth to save me.

They’ll figure out a way to survive my father, too.