Page 56 of Silent as Sin
The heat of the clubhouse hit like a slap after the rain. Elara was there before we crossed the room, Jewel right behind her.
“Wren!” Elara’s hands were already tugging at my soaked clothes, voice filled with concern. “She’ll freeze like this.”
Jewel stripped a blanket from the couch and wrapped it tight around me, her hands gentle against my trembling. “She’s ice-cold.”
Elara’s eyes snapped to Throttle. “What happened?”
His jaw tightened, the word spit like a curse. “Roxy.”
Elara’s face hardened. Jewel’s did too. Neither of them asked for details. They just closed in on me, one on each side, guiding me toward my room.
Between the two of them, I made it to the bed. They peeled away wet clothes, Elara finding a dry shirt, Jewel rubbing warmth back into my arms like she could drag me out of the cold.
When I finally collapsed, wrapped tight in blankets, the sobs slowed into silent tears. My skin was dry, but inside I was still drowning.
Ashen’s face filled my mind, his promises, his hands, his voice claiming me. Every memory turned sour, tasting like betrayal.
I curled smaller, clutching the blanket to my chest. The storm outside roared, but it wasn’t loud enough to cover the break inside me.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
THE RIDE BACKblurred by the rain on the blacktop,the bars of the desert sliding past like a bad dream. My head throbbed with every mile, not from the run, from the thought of Bones. I had to find the son of a bitch and fast.
We rolled up into the yard, engines dying one by one. I killed mine and swung off, boots hitting gravel hard. I was halfway to the doors before Warden even cut his ignition.
Inside, something felt wrong the second I stepped in. The room was too calm, a few brothers low-talking at the bar, the TV sputtering light over an empty couch. No sign of her.
Throttle stood in the hall, arms crossed, jaw tight as wire. When he saw me, his face closed out like a slammed door.
“What happened?” I barked.
His glare hit me like a slap. “You should’ve told her.”
“What?” My voice went cold.
“You gonna play dumb?” He stepped in, chest to chest. “Roxy got to her. Told her she’s pregnant. Said you’re happy about it, said you were just playing hero until she gets better. Wren believes it.”
A fist of air punched the inside of my chest. Rage flared quick and hot. “That’s bullshit.”
“Maybe.” Throttle’s voice was flat, but it cut. “But she doesn’t know that. You should’ve shut that thing down before Roxy opened her mouth.”
I shoved a hand through my hair, cursing under my breath. The thought of Wren hearing that poison, swallowing it down — fuck. After everything last night, after finally giving me all of herself, and now this?
“Where is she?” I said, needing to see her, to wipe the poison from her face.
Throttle’s shoulders softened a bit. The anger was still there but worry sat under it. “Elara and Jewel got her to her room. She was soaked, ran straight out into the storm. I had to carry her back inside. She’s wrecked, Ashen. She needs rest.”
I pushed past him, heading for her room. I needed to see her. To tell her it was a lie, that she was mine, that nothing Roxy said meant a goddamn thing. I reached the door and paused.
Elara stood watch outside, arms folded, eyes like cut glass.
“She’s sleeping,” she said. No soft edge. “Leave her be.”
“I need to—”
“No.” Her voice snapped. Final. “She needs rest. Not noise. Not you barging in.”
My fists clenched so hard my knuckles ached. I could hear the storm still, the vision of her soaked from the rain, of her in Throttle’s arms, and now curled small underneath the blanket.
