Heathens & Hand Grenades (Book 1 of the Heathens Duet)

Chapter 58- Kace

I can feel the noose around my neck tighten as I get closer to the bunker. Riggs was clear when we talked over the secure line. Going rouge was never my style, except when it mattered and that damn girl...

         My aching, bloodied knuckles remind me that taking my anger out on inanimate objects never ends up well and I doubt I'll have anyone willing to bandage me up this time. I made the right choice I know I did. Holding my head up high and taking their vitriol will sting, but they'll understand, with time, that I ultimately made the right decision with them in mind.

         I've dragged this out long enough. The guys know good and well a supplies run would never take me this long unless I ran into trouble and I'm not willing to admit that trouble tastes just like gas station coffee and sweetness. That same taste is souring in my stomach as I picture her tear-soaked face in the rearview mirror cursing my name.

         I enter the code and prepare myself for whatever punishment the guys see willing to set upon me. I will remain firm in my convictions.

         Riggs stands immediately from his seat with his hands locked behind his back and peers behind me ready for an entrance that won't be coming. Jaxson steeples his fingers and leans back into his armchair with his eyes lasered on me in that eerie unblinking way of his, like he already knows what I've done. On second glance, I catch the blade he's flipped open. Sharp and glistening with the promise in his gaze. I look around for a mop of hair that would signal at least one friendly face and deflate when I realize I'm left with just Riggs and Jax's judgement.

         "I told you to bring her back." Riggs' words are half directed to me and half a plea to the others for forgiveness. Without me to take it out on, I'm sure he's been fielding their questions and frustration. "I needed some time to clear my head, but I called and told you to bring her back. I can lock my door, there's other precautions we can put in place, but you were supposed to bring her back K," Riggs stresses.

         "Did she want to leave?" Jaxson questions without an ounce of inflection to guide my response. It instantly puts my hackles up.

         "I left her safely, after first light in a public space. I stayed out of sight of cameras," I start my defense.

         "Did she want to leave?"

         It's useless to even try to lie. My best hope at answering his question with a truth of omission was a last-ditch effort anyways. Conviction, huh. In the face of my brothers' ire I folded faster than a bad hand on poker night.

         "I won't apologize for my actions. She was a distraction and a spotlight none of us needed. She has people worried about her. You all saw how desperate she was to let her aunt know she was alright." My words are as flimsy as my defense, but I'm committed. With a heavy sigh that I feel all the way down to my toes, I soldier on. In for a penny, in for a pound. "She never would've been happy here long term. I had to cut the cord before she got even more entangled in our lives. What was the plan? Keep her locked away while we went out on a run, or better yet we could take her with us. Yeah, no way in hell that plan goes sideways. She was a weak link in the chain. I had to cut her off just so we could try to stay soldered together."

         I'm breathing like I just finished a mud run and I can't stand the look on my best friend's face. He's looking at me like I'm some kind of stranger and not a brother forged through blood, sweat, tears, and more love than I've ever known.

Jax looks a fully cocked weapon ready to fire and I'm a prime target. He pans his attention toward Riggs. "Your sins are not absolved, but your penance can wait."

He stalks from the room and towards Dario's lair. It feels like I can breathe again when he's gone, but only for a moment. The weight of Riggs' stare is immense. Lesser men have crumpled and I feel every ounce of that pressure in my chest when I look at my oldest friend with the only apology I can offer in desperate hopes that it'll be enough. "I can't be too late again," I whisper.