Page 48 of Living Without

She nodded, then timidly moved to the sofa chair and sat. “S-she spoke of you in there.” Kelsey moved her eyes to mine for a second before they shifted back to Nary. “She’s an amazing woman. Strong, protective, happy, full of hope. She’s beautiful.”

“She is.”

“You’ve been mean to her.”

Fuck.

Nary had told her.

“But she still gives her heart to you.”

My body stilled. Hell, I even held my breath.

“You need to treat her b-better.”

“I will.”

“I can already see the change you’ve made through what Nary’s said.” Kelsey looked at me, and then her eyes narrowed. Christ, I was proud of the woman myself. “She didn’t say it, but you’ve always been her dream. Please don’t crash it for her.”

“All I can do is hope I won’t.”

Her eyes studied me, until she moved them back to Nary. “She deserves the best.”

“Agreed,” I clipped. I wasn’t sure I was the best for her still, yet, I was gonna fuckin’ try to be.

The handle jiggled just before the door opened and in it stood Gypsy holding a tray. As he entered, I stood and said, “Here, man, sit there. I’m gonna get Nary’s mum to come in to be here when she wakes. I got some stuff to do.”

Gypsy nodded. He knew what I had to do, so he replied with, “All good, brother.” As I walked out the door, I heard Gypsy say, “Darlin’, come eat somethin’.” And I wondered how Kelsey was gonna go after the man in there left. Fuckin’ grateful he’d come to help us out. Didn’t care we owed Rebel Wayfarers somethin’ because Gypsy was a good guy, and so I knew he’d handle Kelsey with care. I just didn’t know which way he’d go about doing it.

Hell, I found with every step I took, I wanted to turn myself around and go back to my room to watch Nary sleep. Still, I didn’t. Payback burned in my veins, and first, I wanted to chat with my brothers.

* * * *

As soon as Josh, the last brother I wanted in the meeting room, entered, I closed the door and sat at the table with Talon, Dodge, Killer, Dallas, Stoke, Handle, and Josh. Griz had headed back to Ballarat already to inform everyone there how things went down. We didn’t want to risk going through it all over the phone or by text. Other brothers were floating around, catching up on sleep, or eating.

“Gonna go in there with Stoke and Josh,” I informed them. Talon and Dodge gave me a chin lift. Handle nodded. Killer and Dallas neither did nor said anything. “Before we do, need you to know we’re gonna make him bleed, make him wish we’d take his life, but we won’t.”

“What?” Stoke snarled.

“He doesn’t deserve to die. He needs to be dealt pain, torture, and fear every day for the rest of his fuckin’ life. If he tries to kill himself, which he will, we put a stop to it. He fucked with Hawks. He took a person in our family. He doesn’t get the easy road.”

“How you plan on doin’ this?” Dodge asked.

Looking to them all, I answered, “Let Lan and Parker take him in for the shit he’s done. We have brothers in there to keep an eye on him, and I’m sure they’d be happy to deal with him every day.”

The room fell silent, and then Killer spoke. “Vicious has a point. Death is too easy for him.” Killer’s eyes hit mine. “Fuckin’ hard to make that decision. I know I’d be wanting to end the man who took my woman and did shit to her.” I went to butt in, until his hand came up. “However, the choice you’ve made is smart, because I know if I’d killed him, I’d end up regretting it. You’ll see pain in Nary’s eyes, you’ll see fear, and you’ll want to kill that man over again and again. At least this way, you’ll know each and every motherfuckin’ day, he’ll be suffering, and the knowing will help ease the hurt you’ll feel when you see Nary struggling on her bad days.”

“I agree,” Dallas clipped.

“So do I.” Dodge nodded.

“Agreed,” Talon said.

Looking to Stoke, I saw his jaw was tight, his eyes narrowed and filled with fury. “Thank fuck you thought of it before I got in there. I think knowing that man will suffer every fuckin’ day for taking our girl is better than anything.”

“Agree also,” Josh bit out, then added with a goddamn smile, “Since Mum’s with Nary, we getting some payback in now?”

Yep, he was a good brother. Actually, I needed to see how he was gonna react in that room with Stoke and me before I gave him my full approval.

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