Page 31 of Fury
Greyson's jaw tightens as he shifts to face me. "She put you in danger."
"Exactly! I was walking around clueless while a psychopath was stalking both of us." My voice rises with each word, the fear of the day transforming into righteous anger. "She let me think I was just being paranoid when I mentioned the flowers, the feeling of being watched. If she had just told me the truth, I could have been prepared. I wouldn't have been blindsided by all this."
"She should have warned you," Greyson agrees, his eyes darkening. "I'm pissed too. If she had come clean from the beginning, we could have protected you properly. Instead, you nearly died in those woods today."
I run my fingers over the bruises forming on my throat. "I understand she was scared, but we were roommates. Friends. You don't keep that kind of secret from someone who's literally sleeping under the same roof as your evidence against a violent stalker."
"It was selfish," Greyson says, taking my hand in his. "And reckless. She dragged you into her mess without giving you the chance to protect yourself."
I lean against his shoulder, suddenly exhausted. "I don't know if I can forgive her for that. Not yet, anyway."
"You don't have to," he says. "Some betrayals take time to heal."
We sit in silence for a moment, watching as club members patrol the perimeter of the property. The danger has passed, but old habits die hard in MC life—you protect what's yours, even after the immediate threat is gone.
"What happens now?" I ask, my voice small against the vastness of the night sky.
Greyson's arm tightens around me. "Now? Richard Keller goes to jail. Between your testimony, the evidence from Diane, and the attempted murder charges from today, he'll be behind bars for a long time."
"And us?" I turn to look at him, searching his face in the porch light. "What happens with us?"
A slow smile spreads across his features, transforming the hardened MC president back into the man who made me pancakes this morning—was it really just this morning?
"That depends." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "Do you still want that dinner I promised you?"
Despite everything—the fear, the pain, the betrayal—I find myself smiling back. "I think I've earned it."
"You've earned a hell of a lot more than dinner." His voice drops to a register that sends shivers down my spine. "But it's a start."
He leans forward, his lips brushing mine with exquisite gentleness, mindful of my injuries. The kiss is brief but filled with promise—of safety, of passion, of a future neither of us could have imagined just days ago.
When we part, I see my father watching from the edge of the yard, his expression unreadable in the darkness. But he doesn't approach, doesn't interrupt. Instead, he gives a small nod before turning away, as close to a blessing as I'm likely to get for now.
"Your dad's coming around," Greyson murmurs, following my gaze.
"He saw you today," I say simply. "Saw what you were willing to do for me."
Greyson's eyes darken with remembered fury. "I would have killed him with my bare hands if your father hadn't stopped me."
"I know." And I do know, with bone-deep certainty, that Greyson Reed would burn the world down to keep me safe. It should terrify me, this capacity for violence in the man who holds me so tenderly. Instead, it feels like coming home to a truth I've always known.
"Come on." Greyson stands and offers his hand. "You need rest. Real rest, in a real bed.”
I let him pull me to my feet, wincing at the protest from my battered body. "Will you stay with me?" I ask, not caring if it sounds needy. After today, I've earned the right to need someone.
His answer is a kiss pressed to my forehead, my temple, the corner of my mouth. "Try and keep me away."
As we walk back into the house, I realize something fundamental has shifted, not just between Greyson and me, but within myself. The woman who left two years ago, searching for something beyond this town, beyond MC life, has found her way back. Not as the same person who left, but as someone stronger, someone who understands what really matters.
And what matters, I now know with absolute clarity, is not where you are, but who stands beside you when the darkness comes.
Chapter
Six
Livie
I bolt upright in bed, a scream tearing from my raw throat. The darkness presses in around me, disorienting and thick. In my nightmare, Richard's hands were around my neck again, squeezing tighter and tighter while Greyson watched from a distance, unable to reach me.
