me loft above the old Road Vipers clubhouse, now silent, soon to be gutted. H

d to ta

r hands stained with grease. Ten years with Jax, and th

s," she said,

toms is launching next month. The lounge

the words. "And you a

heart gave a hard thump against he

like

is voice rough. "It's been a long time coming

omeone. Lily. She's a waitress d

er. Lily. She'd seen her once, a kid

stable life, someone to look out for h

The words hu

dded, almost as an afterthought

from for him – he saw it as a distant, irrelevant fact, not the safety net it always was. He

continued, oblivious to the storm inside her. "They cal

ifferent, Ava. Lily's different. She's not like you were. You could ride out

aking up, the danger, the wild loyalty she'd given

he said. Her v

edroom, and started pulling a duff

asing his forehead. "You're

. She almost laughed. A

ax. No

satisfaction. She wouldn

relieved. T

hat's go

turing his clean new life. And she, apparently, was just a piece of the old one, easi