Page 62 of Freeing Souls

She stands and walks out of the room, hopefully to gather her things and leave. Grayson wraps his arms tighter around me. “Are you sure, beautiful?” he murmurs.

“Yes. She is an adult; she can manage shit on her own. Right now, I don’t want to see her face or have her around here. I don’t have any sympathy left in me right now.”

“We understand, baby girl,” Cade says, and the others agree.

Chapter Twenty

Harley

“Iwish I could have been here the entire time, searching for you, helping you when they found you. My biggest regret will always be not being here when I know you needed me,” Brielle says as she holds me tightly.

“You can’t regret something like that. Your life kept moving even if mine stopped for a moment. You have things going on I know you don’t want to talk about. I love you, Bri,” I respond, squeezing her back just as tightly.

Brielle and her guys just arrived as we are all preparing for what today is going to entail. My guys told me Brielle and the guys were here as much as possible, but they had things goingon back home they had to deal with. Bri called every day, twice a day, to just check in, even though she couldn’t be here.

She apologized the second she saw me and broke down into tears. There is nothing to forgive. I will always wish she could be here with me, but I won’t hold it against her when she didn’t do anything wrong. She is here now, today, when I know I am going to need all my people, and that is all that matters. It’s all that should matter.

“Thank you for finding a way to be here today,” I tell her, pulling away so I can look at her tear-stained face. “I’m glad I can have everyone here today. We need each other.”

“You are so brave. I don’t think you will ever see what we all see, honey, but you are the strongest person I know, and I know most people standing here now would agree. You have fought so many battles, and none of them were your own. I can only imagine how proud your parents will forever be of you,” she whispers.

Atlas approaches, leaving Lincoln alone with Grayson, Ryan standing with Axe and Stone. “Hey, kid.” He hesitantly opens his arms, and I don’t even have to think about it, I step into them and breathe him in. I’m more scared than I ever was before, but I won’t hesitate to hold or be held by my family ever again.

“Are you ready for this?” he questions.

“No,” I say honestly as I pull away and glance between him and Bri. “But this isn’t about me. We are doing this because my dad deserves it.”

They both nod and walk back toward where everyone has gathered in the parking lot of the club. Ryker, Cayden, and Grayson are wearing their prospect cuts, and I bite the corner of my lip as I look them over, loving how amazing and confident they look.

Colton approaches me and holds his hand out. Furrowing my brows, I stick mine out as well as he drops a key into my palm.Glancing up at him, he doesn’t speak. He just gestures past him where Axe and Stone are rolling Gabe’s bike out of the garage. “It’s yours, darlin’,” he tells me softly as everyone begins to gather around us. I stare blankly at the old Harley Davidson bike being pushed out.

The last time–the last time I saw him on the bike, we were driving back from our day trip. We had stopped for gas, and then everything changed. He will never get to ride it again.

“Colton–” No other words come out as I stare silently, pleading with him with my eyes not to give this to me.

He shakes his head. “No, Harley. His bike was his baby. This is the same one he had when he took your mom–” His breath hitches, but he blinks rapidly and keeps speaking. “When they had their weekend before she left. That is the bike you were named after. That bike was his most precious belongin’ before you came along. It goes to no one except you. We will all be honored to watch his little girl ride his bike and keep it runnin’ for him.”

“It wasn’t even something we had to debate. It wasn’t even a split vote. It was simple. You were the only answer when we brought it up in church. It’s without a doubt what Rage would have wanted and expected of us,” Axe tells me as he stands a few feet behind Colton.

I glance at my guys standing behind me; they all tell me with simple looks that this is the right choice. Ryker grins and winks, Grayson gives me his soft, understanding smile, and Cade nods once.

Taking a breath, I glance down at the key in my hand and then walk towards the bike. Running my fingers over the entire body, I fight back the tears and put on my helmet Grayson hands me before I swing my leg over and straddle the bike. Glancing around at everyone, Axe shouts, “Start her up, Harley. We ride for our President.”

Starting up the bike, I feel the rumble under me and smile as everyone else starts their bikes right after. Cheers ring out as Axe gestures for everyone to begin. Sugar takes the front while Stone with Raven, Axe with Presley, Noah, and Nerds with Oakley follow up behind him. Then, the hearse pulls out carrying the casket. I follow behind it with my guys riding on my sides, and the rest of the club follows behind.

A few cars and trucks are in the back behind the club with other people.

Aggie, Jayce, Bear.

The people who work at Hazel’s Soul Diner.

Those who work at the bike shop with Axe.

And as we pull out of the club and begin Rage’s final ride, there are cars lined up along the sides of the road to follow behind everyone—people from Jacksonville who were helped by the club, by Rage, officers who respect the club, firefighters from the explosion, people from the hospital.

Anyone and everyone Rage affected in some way or another because I have an amazing dad who took a club that was hurting people and dangerous to its own town and turned it into something special and meaningful.

Tears slowly track down my face as I take pride in riding his bike knowing he has spent the last eighteen years riding this bike everywhere he went. That this was the bike my mom got to ride on and now I get to take care of.

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