Page 9 of Blood Revealed

I use my phone to find the closest leather shop. If this girl is riding on my back, she needs a jacket and a helmet to fit. We take a detour, about an hour out of our way—that’s including the shopping—but at the end of it, Hannah has a new jacket, helmet, and boots. Proper riding gear. Then we point our bikes in the right direction and head for home.

Hour after hour passes. We pull off only once to fill up and take a pee break, then we get right back on the road. I’m not stopping again until we reach home. It’s cold and the flakes are just starting to scatter. Roads are still good enough to ride, but they won’t stay that way for too much longer.

With a shivering Hannah clinging to my back, we hit the city limits of Thornbriar and I’ve never been happier to see this tiny town. She can get the tour later after we’ve rested, eaten again, and take my truck. The bike’s getting put up for the winter.

At the top of the mountain, we pull onto Lords property again, waiting for the prospect to open the gate for us. “Home sweet home, Hannah,” I call over my shoulder. She gives my waist a brief squeeze, telling me she’s ready to be here.

The brothers and I park out front of the clubhouse. I empty my saddle bags. Hannah swings her bag crossbody and we walk to the door, which I hold open for her to step inside first.

“We’re gonna have to talk with Duke. Don’t know if he’s here or at home.”

She nods. “Do you want me to wait here?”

“I suspect he’ll want to meet you,” Chaos says, stepping up behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders.

“Okay,” she says, straightening her jacket and smoothing down the nonexistent wrinkles on her jeans. “Okay. I’m ready.”

“We gotta call ’im first,” says Boss. “Sit tight. Have a drink. Warm up.”

“Right.” Hannah sort of half laughs out the word. Her cheeks pink. It’s fucking adorable.

I pull a stool for her in case she wants to sit. I’m not surprised when she passes. We’ve been sitting for a long-ass time, but she does accept the brew the prospect behind the bar slides her way. He slides cold ones to each of us, too.

“To home sweet home,” I say, raising my bottle.

Hannah lifts hers too. “To home sweet home.” We clink the bottles together and each take a long pull. The cool feels good going down, even though we were chilled only moments before.

Boss already has his phone to his ear talking to Duke. When he hangs up, he looks to all three of us. “Prez wants to meet Hannah when we talk with him. We gotta go to the doublewide. Dawna’s havin’ a bad day.”

Shit. I hate hearing that. She’s a good woman. Been like a mother to us, even though she’s only like ten years older. “Gotta go back outside one more time,” I say, taking Hannah’s hand again. “Can bring your drink if you want it.”

She holds on to the bottle, probably for something to do with her hand. She tries to keep a brave face, but I can see her trepidation in her eyes. It’s a short walk across the forecourt to the baby blue doublewide with the white wraparound porch that Duke had built for Dawna. Boss raps once on the side door to announce our arrival before heading inside with us following closely behind.

Dawna loves to be surrounded by flowers and her style of decorating looks like a flower garden vomited pink and blue flowers all over her living room and kitchen. But hey, who am I to judge? There ain’t nothing that man wouldn’t do for his woman. He’d take her cancer in a heartbeat if it were possible.

“In the bedroom,” Duke shouts to us and we make our way down the hallway to the master at the very back of the home.

He’s sitting in a chair next to her bed spoon-feeding Dawna broth. It’s hard to see her like this, a shell of the woman she used to be—thin, frail, bald and weary as compared to the vibrant personality of her good days with a full head of burnished chestnut hair and eyes that told every emotion she held. It’s no wonder the prez fell for her like he did. She’s the kind of woman a man falls for. No halfway.

Her eyes still show every emotion, just the emotions they show, I don’t want to see. I don’t want her to go through them and I don’t want Duke to have to go through them. It sucks. They should have a lifetime together.

Fuck, I’m rambling.

“Quit staring and come on in here,” Duke barks at, well, me because I’m the one standing in the doorway keeping Boss and Chaos from entering.

I try to cover for my slipup. “Wasn’t staring. Just lost in my own head. Dawna, you up for a new visitor?”

Her voice is weak and shaky when she answers. “Heard it’s a girl.”

I tug Hannah’s hand to get her to step around me and she doesn’t hesitate or even blink twice at the sight of the president’s old lady. “Hello,” she says. “I’m Hannah Brown.”

“Hannah…” Dawna begins coughing hard enough to shake her body. I tense up because, like the other brothers in the room, we’re all just waiting for her to die. Fuck not being able to help her. Of anyone, it shouldn’t be her.

But Hannah does something I don’t expect. She walks over to the bed and sits on the edge closest to Dawna then starts rubbing her back to soothe the coughing fit.

“Use the oxygen,” Hannah whispers. Dawna’s hooked up to an oxygen tank and uses one of those nasal cannulas. She tries taking in shallow breaths because she can’t take them in any deeper, but I’ll be damned if the coughing doesn’t ease. “Do you need a drink?” Hannah asks her.

“Water,” Dawna answers. Hannah turns to the bedside table to pick up a glass of water, holding it in front of Dawna’s mouth for her to take tiny sips. Tiny sips are all she can keep down.

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