Page 9 of Freeing Souls

“What?” She scrunches her brows in confusion.

“Tell me, Harley.”

“Cade.” She lets out a small growl, digging her nails into my back again.

“Fucking tell me!” I demand, feeling my body shake with all these fucking emotions.

“Fine!” she shouts and then locks eyes with me. “I’m terrified. I don’t ever want to lose you guys or leave you. But I’m scared and broken, and I can’t—please, Cade,” she cries, and I start moving again, pinching her clit between my fingers while she bites down on my neck and lets out a small scream, jolting in my hold.

My cock twitches as she squeezes the life out of me, and I feel my body tense up before I release inside her. “Fuck,” I groan, dropping my forehead to her shoulder as we both catch our breath

Harley unlocks her legs from around my waist, and I step back slightly to let her legs drop to the ground, making sure she is steady before fully letting go.

Catching me off guard, her hand flies up, and she slaps me across the face before shoving me back a step. “Fuck you Cade!” she yells just as the door bursts open.

Chapter Four

Grayson

“Are you sure you’re alright?” I ask, nibbling on my bottom lip nervously. I don’t want to leave Sugar alone, but I also need to do something. I’m so anxious, I feel like I’m going to lose it any minute. Sitting in the busy emergency room where there is almost no privacy is not helping me remain calm either.

Chuckling, Sugar shakes his head at me. “Yes, kid. Now, would ya go? You’re goin’ to make my concussion worse with this fuckin’ nervous energy comin’ off you in waves. Go check on your boy.” I look him up and down from where he is sitting up in the hospital bed, still in his partially torn and grime-covered clothes. I know he’s okay, but it’s hard to believe anyone is really okay after everything today.

“Okay. Call me if you need anything. I’ll still be in the hospital, and I’ll let you know as soon as I hear about Ryker and Atlas,” I tell him, having already filled him in about Axe on the ride tothe hospital. Surprisingly, Sugar is taking everything in stride and seems fine. At least he’s putting on a front for me and seems fine. Or it’s the concussion and pain meds, I don’t know. But out of everyone, he seems like this is just another day. I don’t know whether I should be worried or not, but he is okay, which is all that matters right now.

After Sugar waves me off, I head towards the elevator, planning to head upstairs to Ryker’s room, but as the doors slide open on the main floor and a few people step on with me, I slip out and wander around until I find the cafeteria area and take a seat in a corner, pulling my phone out.

Biting my lower lip, I bounce my leg nervously as I debate how bad of an idea this is. Still, I need help, and there is one person I have grown closer to over the years, who I know will steer me in the right direction. Sighing, I press the call button and put the phone up to my ear.

After a few rings, he answers. “Grayson? You okay?” His voice comes out slightly rushed and out of breath, like he panicked when he heard his phone ringing.

I nod, forgetting he can’t see me. Jeez, my mind is a hot mess. “Yeah, yeah. Everything is okay. I mean, I don’t know what you know, but—”

“I’m still at Rage’s house,” he interrupts. “Stone came by and let me know about the explosion, told me he would keep me updated.”

“That's good. I just, I, well,” If there weren't so many people around right now, I probably would have just slammed my head against the table and let out a groan; I can’t even get it together enough to get the words out.

“Are you alright?” he asks gently, his voice surprisingly calm, which helps me get my words out.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good. I just– I wanted to ask your advice about something, but Rage told us to stay away from you. Wedon’t even know what is really going on because he said it’s not his story to tell, and well–yeah. But I just need advice on whether I am about to do something really stupid or not.”

“Well, if you have to ask…” I roll my eyes as he teases before growing serious again. “Look, it’s not something I want to dive into right now, but Rage and I have always had an agreement, and I fucked it up, so right now, things are just…messy, I guess. Eventually, I will sit down and tell everyone everything, but I’m not ready to right now. But I promise, I’m good. So tell me the stupid thing.”

A small amount of the weight I feel on my shoulders is lifted hearing Nerds say he is okay, which makes it easier to talk to him about work things. “I have been debating calling Vance’s tech guy. I know Rage doesn’t like them much and keeps our contact with them to a minimum, and Vance really stirred the pot when he was here last. But I am nowhere near as good as you with everything that needs to be done. I could use some help and someone to continue to teach me. And with the explosion, I know even more is going to fall onto my shoulders, and I could use someone else to talk to.”

Nerds sighs before he speaks. “I want to just say come to me. It would be fine, but I have broken enough trust already. I can't make it worse right now. There’s a tech guy at the Tennessee chapter who helped with the warehouse stuff. I’d personally go to him first. I don’t think his skills are very good, but you never know. If he can’t help you, then yes. Contact Vance’s guy. Just know you might ruffle some feathers along the way, and you need to stand your ground. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re in the wrong if you know you aren’t. Speak up. Got me?”

As I exhale, my leg finally stops shaking. “Yeah. I got it. Would it be better if I took this to Rage first and kept him in the know?”

“No.” Nerds chuckles nervously. “I know that probably will make you feel like you are doing horrible things, but rememberhow much things have changed around the club in the last two years. He has Harley now, who is his main priority. Plus, his trust in outsiders is nonexistent, so in this case, it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.”

“Crap. Okay.” I run a hand through my hair and pinch my lips together. Can I even handle this? What if I royally fuck everything up or let someone in who fucks over the club even more?

I know one thing for sure: I can’t drag the others into this with me. I have to handle this one on my own. If I fuck it up, it needs to be my fuck up alone.

“Remember what I said, Grayson: stand your ground. You have fire in you; I have seen it before. You are the current tech guy in the club. That means you are the center of it all. Yes, Rage is your president and all the others are above you, but you control that club by doing my job. Stand your fucking ground, kid. And call me if you need me.”

After getting off the phone with Nerds, I glance at my phone and find missed calls and texts from Rage and Cade. Before I look at them, I set my phone down and scrub my hands down my face. This is going to suck.

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