Page 43 of Pushing Styxx
“I didn’t touch her,” Atkins pleads, his words slurring through what’s clearly a broken jaw. “It was all him. I swear to you.”
“Save it for whoever you meet on the other side,” I tell him coldly. “You stood by while he put a knife to her throat. That’s all I need to know.”
I pull the trigger again, watching his body collapse next to Ronald’s.
The shot echoes through the clearing, and Atkins slumps forward, joining Ronald in the dirt. Blood pools beneath both men, soaking into the earth.
“Get them in the hole,” Reaper orders. “Make sure it’s deep enough that no one finds them.”
Tombstone nods from his seat in the excavator. “Already got that part done, Prez. Lyme is poured and ready for the bodies.”
I watch as my brothers drag the bodies toward the waiting grave. The rage that’s been burning inside me since I heard Hope’s voice text is finally starting to cool, replaced by a bone-deep exhaustion.
Reaper clasps a hand on my shoulder, his expression grim but satisfied. “You good, Styxx?”
“Yeah, it’s over, and my woman is safe. Her sister is safe. We can move on now,” I answer and sigh heavily.
“Good.” Reaper nods.
“Why don’t you head back up to the clubhouse?” Scythe suggests. “Be with your woman. Your girls. We’ve got this.”
I nod. “Yeah, I think that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
I needed Hope. My girls. My daughters.
Promise might not be mine by blood, however, she was mine in every way that counts. Doesn’t matter that she’s Hope’s sister. The way my woman raises her, she’s doing it right, as if she were raising a daughter. Giving her all to what she needs most. Just as a parent would do for their child.
CHAPTER 20
HOPE
Two Weeks Later . . .
“What are you doing, Styxx?” I huff out the demand for the third time, annoyance flowing through me at his refusal to answer me the first two times. All he would say is you’ll see.
In the past weeks, since the day my uncle tried to kill me, I’ve done nothing but spend time at the clubhouse. Harvester refused to let me come back to work. Claimed I needed time to heal first.
I was fine now, and yet he still didn’t let me get back to it. I did get to spend time with my friends there. They would come into the clubhouse to see me and get to know the other women around.
What they didn’t do was talk to me about how things at Keeper’s Temptation were going. I wanted to get back there as soon as possible, but there was a big part of me that was enjoying not having to work there. As much as I loved it, I was happybeing able to spend more time with my sister, Eabha, and my man.
It’s been nice, and I was going to miss it when I went back.
“Just be patient, we’re almost there.”
There being downtown for God knows what.
Styxx turns into a parking lot, and I spot Harvester sitting on his bike in front of a building.
“What’s going on, Styxx?” I ask, twisting in my seat to watch him closely while he parks.
Styxx turns the truck off and twists to face me. “You know how much I love you?”
“Yes.” I had a good idea. The man killed for me. He didn’t outright say it, but I knew. He protected me. Protected my sister. He wouldn’t have done that unless he loved me.
“You know I would do and give you everything in this world.”
“What are you doing, Styxx?” I barely get the question out.
