Page 101 of Dash

“You should be. It’s disgusting.”

I step away from the sink, and my head swims. I wobble. Instantly, his hands are on my hips, holding me up. He’s always holding me up.

“Sit down.” His smiles, his banter fades under a cloud of worry.

“I’m fine. I’m actually kind of hungry now.”

“Then let’s get you fed,” he says achingly soft.

He takes me into the kitchen and sits me at the table in front of the window overlooking the city.

“Do you want toast or toast or I could probably stretch to toast with a side of toast?”

“Let me think about it… toast sounds fine.”

He smirks. “I’ll go shopping later.”

Watching him move around the kitchen makes me smile. It’s so domesticated, so normal, so heartbreakingly real.

It’s so simple, so sweet, so beautiful in its promise, but even something this good can be fragile.

There’s still someone out there who wants Dash dead, and no matter how safe this moment feels, it won’t matter if he’s taken from me.

I’m not scared because I doubt him—not anymore—but because now, I have something to lose.

TWENTY-SEVEN

DASH

It fuckingkills me to leave Dayna the next day, but I have to find out what the fuck is going on in the club and why I’ve suddenly become a target.

Why the fuck am I getting shot at?

I drum my fingers on the table, staring at Crank like I can kill him with my eyes. For the last twenty minutes he’s been going around in fucking circles, refusing to commit to anything and my patience is hanging on by a thread.

“I don’t think we have enough evidence to say this was a personal attack,” Crank says for the hundredth time.

“I got shot at. Twice. It feels pretty fucking personal.”

“Whether it’s personal or not, it’s a direct attack on the club,” Mace says from the other side of the table. He’s sandwiched between Blade and King. Poor fucker.

Crank rolls the gavel between his fingers. “Is it?”

“This is just the start,” Diesel says. His voice is low, quiet in that way it is when he’s thinking. “That’s what the note said.”

“If it’s not random,” King sits forward, “then who’s targeting us and why?”

I watch his face closely for any crack that might show what side he’s on, but he gives nothing away.

“Things have been calm since the Pioneers were taken down.” This comes from Blade, and I feel the air change the moment he speaks. Even Crank stiffens. “I ain’t heard anything about new players in town.”

“We need to make it clear that coming after anyone with a patch is a death sentence,” Nicky says

Grub scoffs. “We only just survived one war. You really want to risk startin’ another?”

Nic’s eyes could melt fucking glaciers. “We’re already at war. We just don’t know who we’re fighting yet. Whether this attack was aimed at Dash or not, any attack on a brother is an attack on us all. Or did we forget the fucking bylaws of this club?”

Grub glares at him like he’s contemplating slitting his throat. “Don’t preach that shit to me. I was wearing this patch when you were a stain on your daddy’s pants.”

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