When she’d disappeared down the hall, I looked over to Blizzard. “Good kid.”

He ran his fingers through his hair. “I swear, they just keep getting younger and younger.”

I shrugged. “Life, sometimes it throws you a curve ball.”

He nodded, both of us relieved this time that it was a simple fix. I felt my phone vibrate in my front pocket and pulled it out to check the caller.

I groaned. “Harmony.”

Blizzard laughed and headed for the door. “Have fun with that.”

I cringed. I’d flicked Kit a quick message letting him know what was going on so that Harmony could be there for her friend. I’d been expecting her call.

“Harmony.”

“You let her walk out?” She basically screamed at me down the line.

I rolled my eyes. “We don’t keep club whores chained to the walls nowadays, Harm. You should know that.”

“The fact that you are still calling her that is such a testament to your intelligence,” she sneered.

I sat down on the sofa that Hayley had vacated, thinking I’d probably need it for this conversation. “So what, you suddenly find that term offensive?”

“No, I don’t find it offensive. Don’t turn this shit around on me. I find you calling her that, offensive. Men don’t call the woman they are in love with, whores. Just saying.” Harmony was angry. I’d seen her angry before, the difference was that back then she hadn’t been an Old Lady and she’d contained her shit. I was paying for it now.

“Your Old Man know you’re on the phone blowing up a brother?”

I could practically see her grinning. “You say that like he has a say in the matter.”

“Pussy whipped fucker,” I muttered.

“Go and get her, Optimus.” Her voice suddenly changed, her tone now soft and pleading.

I scrubbed at my face. “Not that simple, Harm.”

She sighed. “I know you think what you’re doing is right. In your head, it seems logical but it’s just not. Chelsea is hurting. When she hurts, she runs. And when she decides to run … What if you never find her?” Her voice broke and I felt a stab in my chest. “I wish I was there to talk sense into her, Op. I know she has Rose, and I’m grateful for that. But she doesn’t want me, she doesn’t want Rose, she wants you. You have to show her that you need her to stay.”

I listened to her go on and on for a good five minutes. I couldn’t deal with the sentimental stuff. I’d rather she yelled and screamed. I know Harmony was protective of her friend, but Chelsea was stronger than people thought. She’d been through some rough shit and come out the other side of it, not quite unscathed. She just tended to take things a lot more to heart than Harm. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. My throat was closing up and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to hit something or fucking cry. I hated this emotional bullshit.

I opened my mouth to speak just as a deafening shriek filled the air.

Harmony gasped. “What was that?”

I shot out of the room and headed in the direction I thought it had come from. “Harm, I gotta go. I’ll call you back.” I didn’t wait for her to answer. I stopped abruptly, the supply door to the club was open and Lucy, one of the strippers who’d been with us for years stood in the doorway, staring at me, her eyes as wide as saucers.

“Lucy? Are you all right?” I asked, stepping toward her cautiously.

I heard pounding feet behind me, Blizzard, Camo, and Connor all pulling up in line with me.

“I...I just had to take the garbage out.” She stuttered, her hands visibly shaking. I stepped out the doors and looked to the left where the skip was that held the club’s trash. Falling into a crouching position, my hands going directly to my head. “Fuck. Fuck!”

Hailey’s hair was still wavy and soft like it had been when I’d seen her less than ten minutes ago. But her eyes, they just stared at me, her body crumpled against the large metal skip. A knife protruded from her heart. There was no way she would have survived.

“Oh man, Hayley.” Connor moved around me as I just balanced there, staring at her. He took her hand in his and held it to his cheek. His voice was raw and angry. “She didn’t deserve this. She wanted a life. She wanted something better for that little girl. She didn’t fucking deserve this.”

I pushed off the ground, turning to my boys. Camo had his arms wrapped around Lucy and she was sobbing into his chest, but he held his shoulders back like he was ready to walk straight into battle. Blizzard looked much the same. Both of us aware that things had just escalated to a whole other level.

This girl was ours. She belonged to the club.

Connor was right.

She didn’t fucking deserve this.

“Send out the word. I want eyes on all the girls at all times, club girls, strippers, old ladies.” Camo and Blizzard nodded. I took one last look at Hayley as she was cradled gently in Connor’s arms.

Our eyes met.

“She gets justice,” he said through his teeth.

“No fucking problem.”

I realized just how lucky I was to have a friend like Rose. Her apartment was two bedrooms and she invited me to stay for as long as I needed. It would make things a lot easier since I wasn’t expecting any more money from the club, and I needed to quickly find a job so I could pay for what was left of my classes at college. I’d had a little put away, but it wouldn’t take me long to go through that.

Luckily Rose already had a spare bed in the other room, so that was one less thing I was going to have to think about.

I looked up as the door to my new room pushed open. I had yet to go to sleep and it was now 9:00 a.m. I just couldn’t turn my brain off. My eyes ached, my head pounded and my heart hurt. There was no more dramatic way to describe how I was feeling. It was just that simple.

My heart hurt.

Rose popped into the room, a soft smile on her face. “Don’t suppose you’re going to come to class today?” She had her backpack thrown over one shoulder and was dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a navy blue T-shirt. I tried to smile back at her, but I’m sure it looked more like a grimace.

“I think I’ll pass today. I went to the bathroom just before and looked in the mirror. I look like I’ve been two rounds with Muhammad Ali,” I told her, gesturing to my swollen puffy eyes.

Her smile stayed, but slowly turned into not one of encouragement, but to one of pity. “You look beautiful, Chelsea,” she told me softly.

I huffed out a quiet laugh. “Thanks, Rose. It’s okay. I’ll catch up with you later. I doubt I’ll be leaving the building today.”

She nodded. “I’ll let the biker-bum-boy out the front know.” She winked before turning and strutting out the door.

I had to laugh. Rose was unpredictable. One moment she was sweet and soft and you’d think maybe she had been broken before, it was something I still wondered about. But then she throws out that sass and it’s like she’s a whole different person.

So Optimus still had a man on me.

I tried not to read too much into it.

I know he wanted me safe and it was a prospect’s job to do all the dirty duties. It was no skin off Op’s nose to have one man out all day babysitting. Optimus never denied his feelings for me. In fact, he’d straight up admitted them last night. He said he couldn’t breathe when I wasn’t near.

Good, I hope he suffocates.

The thought made me smile. I was all out of tears. The dam had run dry, but it didn’t mean that there weren’t still thousands of thoughts and memories swirling around my brain. I decided to attempt to get up and do some study. I couldn’t let this feeling consume me because I knew if I let it take me over, I’d end up crawling right back to him, and this whole me being strong shit and walking away would’ve been for nothing.