Page 124 of Healed

“They’re not all bad,” I whispered.

“But they are his rivals, princess. Dante has changed a lot since Rachel, but you can’t ask him to change his beliefs and principles. And to be honest, I wouldn’t want to help them either. They had no issue with their men declaring war on us. Where were they when Shark died? Or Zach? Macbeth? Crash? Tyler? We’ve lost members, too. And we’ve picked up the pieces ourselves.”

“I suppose,” I mumbled. “I just can’t help but feel guilty.”

“About what?”

“About the fact that I escaped, and they didn’t.”

“Because they made their choice, Gabriella. Yours was made for you. You didn’t choose Nico. You had every right to leave. They did choose the Riders and their men, and everything that came with it. You just told me not to feel guilty, so why should you?”

I didn’t answer, and Vienna sighed quietly, his thumb beginning to stroke slow circles against my arm.

“I know what you’re doing.”

“What?”

“You’re trying to save everybody.”

I didn’t answer because he was right, and we both knew it.

“I used to think like that,” he continued quietly. “After Crash, Zach, even Macbeth… every time we buried someone, I convinced myself that if I’d just done one thing differently, they’d still be here. One more phone call. One more patrol. One more conversation.” He shook his head. “It’ll destroy you, Gabby.”

“I just don’t know how to stop caring.”

“I don’t want you to.”

His answer came so quickly that I looked up at him.

“I never want you to stop caring. That’s one of the things I love most about you.” He smiled tiredly, brushing a damp strand of hair away from my face. “But caring and carrying aren’t the same thing.”

I frowned.

“You can care about every woman still trapped there. You can hate what’s happening to them. You can wish things were different. But you can’t carry all of them out on your back. Eventually it’ll break you.”

The bathroom fell quiet again.

Water lapped gently against the sides of the bath as I let his words settle.

Maybe he was right. But it didn’t do much to ease the guilt.

I stayed silent and listened to the steady beat of his heart beneath my ear and realised how close sleep suddenly felt.

Outside, somewhere beyond the bathroom walls, I could hear the compound still moving around us. Doors opening and closing. Motorcycles arriving back home. Quiet voices drifting through the evening.

Vienna was right. Life carried on. It always did.

We just had to find a way to move with it.

Chapter 37

Vienna

“Pizza has been ordered,” Rachel said, flopping onto the sofa with a sigh. As soon as she did, Bee shuffled over to her, curling up into her side, and Rachel raised her arm so Bee could get comfortable and snuggled her close, kissing the top of her head.

“Pie-apple?” Axel asked with a drooling grin.

“Please for the love of god tell me he wasn’t saying pineapple just then,” Gabriella said, looking a bit green in the face.