Page 2 of Going Home

"The hell you will," Snake says.

No others in the club besides Lex and Colt know the true nature of what happened between Snake's daughter and Venom; nevertheless, Colt can't help but think Snake has a hell of a lot of nerve to say anything, especially standing in the Griffin's Beach clubhouse, after he let his anger get the better of him. Smacking any woman, but especially Lex, puts him on more shit lists than he realizes.

"You don't get a say in anything for the foreseeable future, motherfucker," Dax snaps back at him. "And it's not about losing too many men. Lex, I need you in Summerville."

"Be careful, Dax. That's how we lost her here," Diesel says.

The way Lex doesn't react and just stares at nothing has Colt skirting the edges of panic. "Lex?"

"No, I'm just starting to get Dani back, and Lex is the reason for that. Not just getting her physically back but comfortable enough to touch me. To let me touch her. Even though I was an ass about it, I can't lose you, Lex. I can't lose either of you," Dax says.

Jennings Molloy shakes his long, dark hair that has grayed even more at the temples than Colt remembers. "From one President to another, you can't make a decision like this out of selfishness."

Lex and Jennings haven't gotten along or seen eye to eye in quite a while. Things seem to have improved since their last visit for Grayson Tate and Ashley Short's wedding, but it hasn't been that long. The space and time away have been what his wife needed. Room to finally breathe.

"Jennings—"

"It's poor leadership," he interrupts Dax. "The truth is, it's not your decision, and it's not mine, either. If Lex and Colt need to move, it's theirs to decide. We're both going to sign off on any request they have."

Shutting his mouth, Dax looks less than pleased. In fact, he looks the perfect mix of annoyed and terrified. Colt almost feels bad for him, and he smirks as Dax perks up and offers, "What if we kick Snake out of the club? Will that make you stay?"

"Hey!" Snake shouts, jumping up from his seat.

"You knocked her to the ground because you got your ass handed to you by a woman, so sit the fuck down," Venom growls.

"Or what?"

Jumping in Snake's face, Venom forces him back until he falls over a chair while multiple men grab Venom to keep him from pouncing on the fallen man. "Or I'll make sitting down a permanent issue for you, motherfucker!"

Psycho walks over to crouch next to Snake, and he gives him a deadly smile. The type of smile Colt's only ever seen before he takes another man's life. "It's in your best interest to keep your mouth shut and stay out of my sight because I'm about three minutes away from teaming up with my crazy counterpart and making it so no one ever sees you again. Got that, motherfucker?"

To his credit, Snake actually looks terrified. He just nods while Psycho stands and moves to put Venom into a loose chokehold, pulling him backwards as he glares in pure hatred at Snake. They stand beside Lex in a scary show of solidarity, and Snake remains where he is.

Yes, Colt would definitely die for both of these men because he knows they would jump in front of a train for Lex without a second thought. They may be her strays, but they're loyal to a fault. Regardless of their past issues, Psycho and Lex have always been willing to go to the mat for the other, and Colt knows it would be the same between Lex and Venom.

"Lex, are you sure about this?" Colt asks, pulling the conversation back where it needs to be before he decides to jump on the bandwagon to kill Snake. "Are you ready to come back?"

"I don't think I have a choice," Lex says, her voice barely above a whisper. "I don’t know for certain whether we'll need to stay or not, but I think there's more of a possibility than not."

His hands cup her face. "Whatever we need to do here in Griffin's Beach can be done while we stay in Summerville. It's not that far of a drive, and we have many places to stay out here."

"Colt—"

"We've been doing so good out there. I don't want to come back here if you're not ready."

Her eyes lock with his, and he sees the determination behind them. "I'm okay, Colt."

"I don't want you to beokay. I want you to be happy. Amazing. Loving life like you have been."

The way she looks at him tells him that whatever the situation is that's going on is not going to be happy or amazing. In fact, if he put money on anything, he'd bet it's going to put her through the wringer. What sucks the most is that there is not much Colt can do about it. Not until she tells him what's happening.

"It'll be fine," she whispers before kissing him gently. Turning to look at his father, TK, she asks, "Can we stay with you tonight?"

"Of course, sweetheart. Klaire will be thrilled to see you both."

The mention of his little sister fills Colt with dread. She's a teenage hormone bomb with the attitude of their mother. "Oh, goodie."

He's rewarded with a small smile from Lex, and he just prays that whatever it is she got the call about isn't as dire as it sounds. That they can stay in Summerville instead of moving. No matter how much he misses the familiarity of their hometown, he likes the life they’ve been living even more. A happy wife makes a happy life, but he also knows the universe will do whatever the hell it wants. There's little that can be negotiated there.

---