I paused, swiping my hands down my face as I ignored the vibration in my pocket signaling I had another text.
“The thing is, I went to her today to end things, to apologize for what I did, for what I took and to smooth things over. I don’t want her out of my life but I need her to understand nothing can come from us because of what I am and who she is. I didn’t get to do that and now I’ve got this fucking urge burning inside of me to be better for her. So, that favor? You’ve been leaving me, fading away from me, you hardly visit me anymore and I can’t have that. I need you there, in my face, reminding me I’m not a man who can be fixed, that I’m a man who only knows destruction. I know I’ve got no right to ask a goddamn thing of you but please… please, find your way back if not for me, than for her. Do it for her. Don’t let me destroy another woman,” I pleaded with the slab of stone. “She’s young babe. She’s sweet as hell, not a bad bone in her body, a good girl with her whole life ahead of her,” I continued to plead Lacey’s case to my dead wife. “I need you back in my head. I need you in my dreams. I need you to remind me I can’t have her. I need to save her from me.”
I took a step closer and laid my left hand on top of the stone.
“I’ve got to head out but I’ll keep coming for you, babe. Week after week, bouquet after bouquet, until I’m gone.”
I wasn’t na?ve enough to say until we meet again because I’m sure wherever I wind up once I’m dead, Christine won’t be there to greet me. No, we had our time and as short as it was, when it was good it was real good but, when it was bad it was fucking bad. She was at peace now, away from me, away from the bad shit. She was in a good place. Not somewhere I’d end up going.
I turned around, descended the hill and climbed into my truck. It didn’t start right away, in fact, it didn’t start up when I left Lacey either. Finally, it purred to life, the engine sounded a little louder than usual but whatever, I’d have Pipe have a look at it. Fucking cage. Give me my Harley and the road any day.
I hauled ass to the compound before Jack’s panties got any more in a twist than they already were. He was worse than a woman, calling me off the hook…so fucking needy.
I turned into the compound, spotting Jack standing with Anthony Bianci and who I think is his mother-in-law and immediately rolled my eyes. Every time Bianci showed his face he delivered another blow. I couldn’t wait to find out what fucking mess him or his retired gangster father-in-law got themselves into this time. Or maybe it had something to do with that motherfucker that forced me to sample the heroin. I couldn’t wait to put that prick in the ground.
I parked my truck in its usual spot, happy to trade four wheels for two and climbed out, hitting the alarm as I started for the clubhouse. I kept my eyes trained on Jack as he brought his cellphone to his ear. I saw something flicker in his eyes as he turned to Bianci, confirming my suspicion that something was definitely up with the mob.
Bianci turned around, eyes frantically moving around the perimeter of the lot before setting them on me.
What the fuck?
Then it happened.
A deafening sound erupted from behind me, I turned to see what the fuck had just blown up and I was knocked flat on my back from the impact of the blast. I struggled to lift my head and spotted my truck hidden behind a cloud of black smoke and smothered in flames.
I sat there for a moment watching as my truck burned to ash before I got to my feet, turning around I stalked toward the clubhouse and the men that stood there, staring in shock. Riggs stepped forward, patting me on the back sympathetically as he shook his head.
“Well, fuck, that blows,” he said. “Literally, like your car just blew the fuck up.”
Fucking Riggs.
“Yeah, I caught that, thanks for pointing it out though,” I growled, turning my cold stare toward Jack. “Get him the fuck away from me,” I hissed, brushing the soot off my shoulders.
Jack turned to Bianci.
“Is this what I owe your visit to?”