What the fuck?

I sat up straight in my chair, my shoulders tensing. What the hell was Griff doing?

I flicked my gaze to Scott. His face registered shock, but he said nothing. Anger and disbelief seeped out of him.

I sucked in a breath at the magnitude of this challenge.

Griff.

I’d never seen it coming. And Scott obviously hadn’t either. I looked at J; he was as stunned and angry as I was.

Griff had fucking played us for fools.

He’d double crossed all of us.

And, Marcus sat there with a satisfied smile on his face that made me want to hurt every last motherfucker who was with him on this. I wanted blood. I fucking wanted Marcus to bleed for everything he’d ever done to his family, and to his club.

And, I knew that one day we would have his blood for this. Scott, J, and I would fucking make sure of it.

What happened next was a blur to me. One of the other members seconded the motion, and Marcus called a vote for next week’s Church.

Scott pushed his chair back and stood. Fury rolled off him. His eyes bore into Griff, and he spat out, “I want a vote on this today; I don’t want to wait another fucking week for it.”

“Griff?” Marcus asked.

Griff nodded his approval, and the vote began. It was happening so fast; it felt like we were on a freight train hurtling towards destruction.

Marcus voted yay, and got the voting started. I watched in horror as nearly every member voted with Marcus.

Scott was out.

Griff was in.

The gavel came down, and the decision was reached.

Loyalties had been discarded.

Trust had been broken.

Family had been screwed over.

And I knew Storm would never be the same.

Epilogue

My Sacrifice ~ Creed

––––––––

Nash ~ 3 months later

I took the three steps up to the door with hesitation. And, I hesitated again before knocking. Coming here today was essential, but I still felt trepidation.

Gabriella opened the door. She didn’t smile, but her face revealed her relief at seeing me. “Nash.” She didn’t say anything else, and I knew it was up to me to find the closure I was searching for.

“I’ve come to tell you I’m moving on. The shit that happened will always stay with me, but I can’t hold on to my anger about it any longer.” The words wrestled their way out of me. They had to be said, and I had to follow through, but I still struggled to even look at her. I wondered how the hell I would ever manage to let my anger go. And then, I remembered Velvet, and my anxiety settled to a manageable level.

“Thank you for coming,” she said.

“I didn’t come for you; I came for me, Gabriella. I’ve finally realised I had no control over what you did that day. All these years, I’ve held onto you, and let you project your feelings onto me. I’m done. And I’m finally letting you go. I’ll deal with my shit, and you deal with yours. Don’t text me or ring me anymore.”

Surprise, and then anger crossed her face. “You came here to say that to me? We need to talk about Aaron; about what happened.”

I shook my head. “There’s nothing more for us to say to each other. And what I actually came to say to you was goodbye.”

“No! You don’t get to decide that,” she ranted, her anger taking over.

“I do get to decide that. And I have decided that.” I paused, before saying, “Goodbye, Gabriella.”

Without giving her a chance to say anything else, I turned and made the short walk back to Velvet’s car. She was watching me through the window, a concerned look on her face. “You okay?” she asked as soon as I was back in the car.

I gave her a tight smile. “Let’s just say, I’m getting there. This shit is never gonna be easy though.” I blew out a long breath. “You need to drive before she comes down here,” I said. I knew Gabriella, and I knew her temper. It was as quick to flare up as mine, and she would come down to give me a piece of her mind; I was sure of it.

Velvet nodded, and did as I’d said. We drove in silence for awhile. I stared out the window, my mind drifting. The last couple of months had been fucking hard. Between dealing with my shit, and then club shit, I was exhausted. Mentally at least. And yet, there was light in amongst all that.

I turned to Velvet. “Thanks for coming today.”

She glanced at me quickly before looking back to the road. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else, baby.”

She was my light; the sweet in my life.

I reached out to brush my hand over her cheek. “I love you, sweet thing.”

It was the first time I’d told her, and I didn’t know how she would handle it. I shouldn’t have been concerned.

Turning again, she smiled at me.

And then she gave me everything when she said, “I love you too, Nash.”