Page 68 of Colt
“You stopped Colt from hurting me,” I said finally. “At the school. You were the one who made him let go of my arm.”
“I couldn’t let it go further. Once I started doubting…”
“And you found the truth. You’re the reason he knows the boys are his.”
“I just followed the data. The truth was already there.”
I shook my head. “Don’t minimize it. You could have let it go. You could have decided Colt’s feelings mattered more than my innocence. But you didn’t.”
Glitch was quiet.
“I forgive you,” I said. “For offering to destroy me. For being part of the harassment. I forgive you because you stopped when it mattered. You told the truth when you found it, and you admitted everything to me.”
His shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you. I—thank you.”
“But Glitch?” I waited until he met my eyes. “If you ever threaten my family again, I won’t be so understanding.”
A surprised laugh escaped him. “No, Lilac. I wouldn’t expect you to be.”
He stood to leave, then paused at the door. “For what it’s worth, Colt’s lucky to have you. We all are. The club, I mean. We could use more people who call us on our bullshit.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He grinned and walked out to his bike.
I stood at the window, watching him go. These men weren’t what I’d expected. Not just intimidating bikers with leather and rage. They were complicated, capable of cruelty and kindness in equal measure.
Were the Death’s Head MC like this too?
Chapter 27
?
— Colt —
The boys had been spending more time at the clubhouse. Not every day—Lilac had rules about that, and I respected them—but often enough that the brothers had started to adjust. The explicit magazines had been relocated to Handful’s room permanently. The more colorful language had been toned down, at least when little ears were around. Even the club girls knew to cover up when Knox and Luca were in the building.
That Thursday, Lilac came in with us. Not staying—she had a library shift—but she’d wanted to see where the boys spent their Thursday afternoons.
She stood in the doorway to the common room for about ten minutes, watching the brothers pretend not to watch her back. The brothers were careful. No one made it weird. Handful said hello. Glitch nodded. Dutch came out of his office long enough to shake her hand and say something I couldn’t hear that made her mouth curve.
One of the club girls came through the common room while Lilac was still in the doorway. She slowed when she saw her—that particular kind of slow that wasn’t accidental—and let her gaze move over Lilac the way you look at something you’ve already decided doesn’t belong.
“So you’re the ex-wife,” she said. Just enough of an edge to mean something.
I was standing near the bar. “Her name is Lilac. She’s my wife. Know your place or find somewhere else to be.”
Her face went red. She looked around the room—checking who’d heard, hoping for somewhere to land—and found nothing. She left without a word.
I looked at Lilac. I’d been braced for it—the discomfort, the wide eyes, the quiet recalibration of what exactly her sons had been spending their Thursday afternoons around. Instead she was standing in the doorway with her arms folded loosely and she rolled her eyes. Not dramatically. Just the small, private kind that meantseriously?
I’d seen her do that exact thing at the Death’s Head clubhouse. Those girls had tried her too—sized her up the same way, tested the same edges. She’d never flinched, never snapped back. Just looked at them the way you look at something too small to be worth your time and went back to whatever she was doing.
She didn’t remember any of that but my girl still didn’t take any shit.
She held my gaze for half a second. Then she turned to the boys, said her goodbyes, and headed for the door.
I saw Holden clock it. Saw him push off the wall and follow her out. My first instinct was to go after them, but Dutch was suddenly at my side.
