Page 38 of Swan

Another whimper escaped me.

But I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t look away from him.

Lockland.

Blood. Everywhere. As much as I tried to blink the image away, it stayed inked in my brain.

Not him. Not Lockland. Please, please, not him.

Take me.

Take me instead.

Take me!

My feet moved, butt to seat, but I couldn’t stop staring at the man I loved.

A cloth covered him. Blood soaked through.

So much blood.

Too much.

“Swan, breathe, sweetheart. Come on. For me, baby girl.”

Dad.

“That’s it, in and out. Keep going.”

In and out.

All I could do was focus on my lungs, the air thick and cloying, as I numbly stared down at the man who had my heart.

CHAPTER NINE

GRIZ

I was supposed to protect my family. Keeping them safe was my main goal in life. It was all I wanted. Deanna, Swan, Nickolas, and the club.

But how the fuck do I protect my daughter from this?

My heart goddamn shattered when I saw a gun aimed at her and then fired.

The kid just acted and stepped in front of her.

He protected her and lost his life in the process.

Fuck me.

My gut twisted.

He’d protected my daughter.

Now it was my turn to protect again, and I was in the fucking unknown of how to keep her safe from the terror that happened right in front of her.

She’d been standing in my arms with her face pressed to my chest, but as soon as I sat her down on a chair, when she couldn’t hold herself up, she stared down at Lockland’s body lying close by with a tablecloth over him as we waited for the cops to show.

Christ.

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