Page 28 of Crush's Fall

CHAPTER TWELVE

Lucifer

Luciferwasfuckingcranky.After his conversation with Crush, he finished his lunch in his room and tried to take a nap, but all he did was lay there and think about her. The woman was driving him crazy, but he couldn’t deny that he liked the fire between them, even when the fire was because of irritation. She would never bore him, that much he knew without a doubt.

He was tired and frustrated as he descended the steps. He knew they were facing some big shit, from conversations he’d overheard in the clubhouse. That, added to what he already knew the other Hell’s Dogs chapters were planning, it wasn’t a stretch to figure out that the battle was coming their way.

Lucifer felt somewhat responsible for what the Howlers and the Claws were facing. He wanted to help, but every time he tried to approach a member to figure out how he could be involved, he was shut down. He was tired of that shit, which is why he was frustrated and cranky.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Lucifer headed outside and across the compound to the clubhouse. He was reaching for the door handle to pull the door open, when it flung out in front of him, and Crush stepped through. She stopped and stared at him for a moment. Then she went to step around him.

Fuck that. Lucifer stepped to the side to put himself in front of her. “Can we talk?” When she let out a heavy sigh, he quickly added, “It’s not about us.”

Her brows pulled together, but she shrugged. “Okay. What’s up?”

Lucifer slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and met her gaze. “I want to help. I know you all are facing an upcoming battle with the Hell’s Dogs, and I want to help.”

Before he even finished, she was shaking her head and crossing her arms over her chest in defiance. “No. This is our fight.”

Fuck that.“I was in it before you showed up at my clubhouse and kidnapped me, Crush. I happen to be on a different side now, but you can’t keep me out.”

Her eyes popped green as she glared at him. “Fucking watch me, Lucy. This is a family problem.”

Family? And he wasn’t family? He wasn’t part of the family?Lucifer felt like she slugged him. “A family problem? And I’m not fucking family?”

“Luc—”

“No, don’t fucking try to explain it away, Crush. I’m not family. I fucking got it.” He started backing down the steps. “When I put my life on the fucking line for the Howlers and the Claws, it wasn’t in the name of family.” He nodded angrily. “When I protected April and made sure she was able to come home to Siren, that wasn’t in the name of fucking family. Got it.”

“Lucifer,” she said on a huff and dropped her arms to her sides.

“Well, if I’m not your family, I don’t see why I’m staying loyal to you then.” He reached the bottom of the steps and turned. As he headed for his bike, he called over his shoulder. “Guess I’ll head to Heat and do whatever the fuck I want, because I sure as hell have no reason not to.”

Lucifer heard her call his name, but he didn’t stop to look back at her. He was fucking over it.

Skull

They weren’t shouting, but their voices carried just the same. As Skull was talking to Zero and Smoke just inside one of the open bay doors of the garage, he heard pretty much every word Lucifer and Crush said, along with Zero and Smoke.

Right around the time he heard Crush say that it was a family problem, he stepped over to the open door and looked out, and because they were all nosy fuckers, Zero and Smoke joined him.

They watched and listened as the couple fought. Crush may deny Lucifer with her words, but there was no denying the fact that they fought like an old, mated couple.

He winced when Lucifer said he was going toHeat, since he had no reason to be loyal to Crush. That shit had to hurt. Did he think Lucifer would actually go to Heat? Fucking no. That man was balls deep in his infatuation with Crush. He would go and drown his sorrows, but he wouldn’t do it at Heat.

“Fucking hell,” Zero commented as they watched Lucifer ride away.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Crush that destroyed,” Smoke uttered, quietly.

Skull shifted his gaze from Lucifer on his bike as he headed down the road to Crush, standing in front of the clubhouse watching him go. She looked pissed the hell off, but she also looked hurt. Her brows were pulled down and in, her chest was heaving with labored breaths, and she was clenching and unclenching her fists at her sides. Once Lucifer was out of sight, Crush’s chin dropped to her chest and her arms crossed over her chest. Seeing her display any emotion other than annoyance and anger stunned Skull. He blinked, then his gaze shifted to the sky to watch for flying pigs.

Lucifer

Lucifer was halfway to Heat when the guilt hit him. He had calmed down enough to realize that there was no way he would cut Crush loose, especially not over this. She was testing his limits of what he would put up with, but he never expected her to make things easy for him.

He was still pissed and wanted to let her stew in her bullshit, but he didn’t need to betray her to do that. And in his heart, going to Heat with the intention of hurting Crush would be a betrayal. As soon as there was clear road, he swung a U-turn and headed back into town. He’d let her wonder if he went to Heat. Let her wonder if he was really ending any chance they had, and then when the time was right and the fight with the Hell’s Dogs was over, he’d come back and force her to face the fact that they were fucking meant to be together.

With that decision clear in his brain, he turned into the parking lot of Bobby’s Bar. Time to drown his frustrations in a bottle of whiskey and some good tunes.

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