Page 43 of Storm

“That didn’t take long,” he says, grinning at me.

“You’re right, Patch. This isn’t me.”

“You know I was just sayin’ that shit right? I know you’re strong, Kenz. I know you can do this, and I know that you belong here as a princess.” I smile at him now.

“I know. And I needed to hear it. They wouldn’t want this, neither of them. Not me sitting around crying my fucking eyes out or feeling bad for myself. Storm…he made me feel alive, Patch.”

“That’s a good thing to have in your life, then. Now come on. We’re eatin’, and then we’re all talkin’.”

“You’re letting me be included?”

“Ethan was your dad, Kenz. We all kind of figured out why you were trainin’ with Storm. We didn’t like it, but we let it be.”

“He told me I wasn’t a killer.”

“He was right. You’re not. But that doesn’t mean you can’t beat the shit out of some people,” he chuckles as I walk toward him. He stands from the bed and pulls me into a hug.

“Thanks, Patch.”

“I didn’t do anything but give you a pep talk.”

“And it was a damn good one.”

“I sure as hell hope so, or Jenson is gonna kick my ass,” he adds. I laugh as he pulls away from me, and I follow him out of the room and out into the main room. Everyone is sitting around talking when they look over and see me coming. The girls smile, while the guys wonder what the hell I’m doing.

“I’m a princess. I may not be an old lady, but I still belong here. I know I haven’t been acting like it, but I am now.” Everyone watches me before my uncle stands and comes toward me with Patch right behind him.

“You sure about this?” My uncle asks me. I glance over at Patch and then back to him.

“I’m sure.”

“And as far as old ladies go, I think that was already gonna be established,” Patch says as he pulls something out of a bag and passes it to me. I look at him, a little unsure of what it is, until I open it up. It’s a fucking leather cut that says Property of Storm. Tears begin to fill my eyes once more, but I blink them away.

“He didn’t say anything to me,” I admit softly.

“I think it was a surprise, but after the week you’ve had, I think you needed to see it,” Patch adds. I smile as my uncle takes it from me and holds it up for me to slide my arms into it. Once it’s on, I smile again.

“Then what’s the plan?” I ask, looking at the guys. They share a look and then motion for me to follow them over to the table they were sitting at. I drop into one of the chairs when Anika passes me a beer. I smile my thanks and take a long pull.

“We don’t know where he is. We’ve had people tell us they’ve seen a few of them here and there, but nothin’ concrete.”

“So we have nothing to go on?”

“Seems that way. Doesn’t mean we aren’t lookin’,’ Patch adds.

“I know that. But where else can we look?” I ask just as Patch’s phone rings. He sighs and clicks it off, but it immediately rings again.

“Just answer it,” Tide tells him as he rolls his eyes. Finally, Patch slides the screen to life and answers as the rest of us continue to chat amongst ourselves. No one really says much until Patch is on his feet and pacing the room. We can hear the one-sided conversation as we all share a look. When he finally pulls the phone from his ear, he looks over at us.

“You’re not gonna believe this shit,” he says. “That was a girl named Jenny. Claims she knows where Storm is.”

“What?” We all ask at once.

“Don’t know how true it is, could be a setup,” he adds.

“Let me go talk to her,” I say.

“No. If it’s a setup, they’ll take you.”