Page 82 of Iron Heart

“She’s not my old lady,” I say automatically.

“Oh yeah?” Rourke smirks. “You coulda fooled me.”

Axel cuts in. “Okay, enough jabber. You two get outta here. I gotta talk to my VP about some shit before church tomorrow.”

Mal and I exit the chapel. I close the door behind us.

“Can I buy you a drink?” I joke.

He laughs. “Sure. I can use it.”

The two of us belly up to the bar and order beers from the prospect.

“I wish to hell I’d been there today.” Mal mutters. He lifts his cast. “I’ll be glad as hell to get this thing off.”

I nod. In his place, I’d feel the same way.

“I’m real glad about Tori,” he continues. Our beers arrive, and he grabs his and takes a gulp. “I’d sure as hell have hated to see anything happen to her.”

“Yeah,” I say gloomily. “She literally dodged a bullet, probably. That’s why I gotta stay away from her, going forward.”

“What?” Mal laughs incredulously. “Those statements do not follow, brother.”

“How the fuck can you say that?” I exclaim. “You, of all people? I know you’ve felt like hell about Cyndi’s death. And there’s no way you were responsible for that. If anyone was, it was Dom. Like I said.”

“Look. This ain’t about blame,” Mal says. “I feel bad about Cyndi because we were just fuckin’ around. She was fun as hell, yeah, and we had a good time. But she was just an easy lay for me. And to be honest, that’s what I was for her, too. Either one of us could have got our rocks off with anyone else.” He lifts his non-injured shoulder. “I shoulda stuck with the club girls, instead of bringing her around this shit.”

I snort. “If you are tryin’ to make the argument that I should hook back up with Tori, you’re doin’ a piss poor job.”

“Hear me out.” Mal shifts on his stool to look at me. “I’m pissed off at myself about Cyndi because that relationship didn’t matter. We were friends. Fuck buddies. And because of that, I took it for granted. I didn’t do a good enough job of watching out for her, and protecting her from the club’s shit.

“But you and Tori... I mean, Christ, look at you!” Mal laughs. “You’re both dyin’ for each other. And you’re stayin’ away from her because you want so bad to keep her safe. Don’t you get it?” He raps his knuckles against the side of his head. “You want to keep her away from the club because you love her! That’s why you should be with her!”

In spite of this whole shitty day, Mal’s words make me burst out laughing.

“That is some fucked-up logic, brother,” I say, shaking my head. “Even from you.”

“Yeah, you think so now.” He gives me a knowing grin. “But give it some thought. I’d lay odds that inside of a month, you’re back together with her. Matter of fact, I just might do that.”

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare,” I joke. But as the words leave my mouth, I wonder in spite of myself whether I’d take that bet.

“Look, Mal.” I take a swig of my beer. “I ain’t gonna lie to you. Yeah, I have feelings for Tori. But your bullshit logic is just that. Bullshit. I can’t be with her. I can’t risk her being in danger.”

“Are you kidding?” he scoffs. “That chick has bigger balls than most of our prospects. She can handle herself.”

Mal stands and stretches, then tells me he’s gonna make an early night of it and go grab some Z’s in his apartment. I watch him stride off, my mind spinning with all the shit that’s happened today.

I saw my brother die. I almost lost the woman I love. I watched my enemy get stripped of the thing that meant more than anything else to him in his life.

And yet, here I am. Still sitting here, in the same place. Even though my world looks nothing like it did even twenty-four hours ago.

Soon, I’ll go back to my house. And in my guest room, I’ll pack up Dom’s belongings. I’ll make some calls to my brothers. Tell them what happened, as well as I know how.

Most people would probably conclude that Dom wasted his life. He’s been selfish. Irresponsible. A taker, not a giver. He’s done a lot of wrong. Caused a lot of grief.

But in the end, he saved Tori. For me.

I know that’s why. I don’t know how. I just do.

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