Broken Souls

Chapter 18 - Logan

We all sat in the living room, exchanging glances. I had truly believed we could get away with it unnoticed, but she looks furious now. "Stop looking at each other and start talking, or it won't just be Julian worrying about his balls," she snapped. Our eyes immediately turned towards him, and he raised his hands defensively. "Trust me, you guys don’t even want to know." I was curious, but this wasn’t the right time to ask for more details.

Before I could say anything, Brian interjected, "We wanted to talk to you about some things." She glanced at me, and that’s her way of asking for more information, so I guess I will be the one to tell her. "We want you to work at the shop, handling the orders, admin, that sort of thing." She just stood there, not saying anything, with an expression I couldn’t quite read. "I do have a job, the one at the bar. Did you forget?" She looked like she might explode in the next five minutes. "No, I didn’t forget. I was thinking about you. The hours will be better, and you won’t have to rely on tips to pay your expenses," If it were up to me, I would just tell her, but she’s not the type of person you can just tell what to do. "Okay, I’ll think about it and give you an answer by tomorrow. But Brian said 'things,' so what was the rest you wanted to talk about?" Damn, I know she’s going to lose her s**t because she doesn’t have a say in the next part. At least she’s considering the job part, but this might f**k it up.

Brian glanced at me, and we both knew we were thinking the same thing. This was going to be interesting, and I might want to get some popcorn because things were about to get intense. He decided to address her, "you will be moving in here” her face transformed into shock “excuse me” before she could say anything more, he raised his finger, "I wasn't done. If you want to go somewhere, one of us will be with you from now on." His expression stern, Her face contorted with rage. "Are you f*****g kidding me right now? No, I will not move in. I will go wherever I please without any babysitters," she shouted, stepping closer pointing her finger at him, her voice growing louder with each word. "And I will not take any orders from any of you." She gave him a challenging look, which he seemed to enjoy. With a sly grin, he simply challenged her back, "We still outvote you, sunshine."

I anticipated this reaction. I understand her need for independence, the fear she has for putting people's lives in danger, given her long period on the run, but she needs to realize that she's not alone anymore. I have to make this clear to her. “Angel, we just want to keep you safe and help you. Do you even realize how I couldn’t pull you out of your nightmare the other night? It was like you were trapped, fighting the whole time. Do you know what that did to me, to all of us?” she began to tear up, trying to blink away the tears without success. “What do you mean, all of you?” her voice was laced with panic. “You were screaming in your sleep as if someone was actually killing you. We all had to watch you suffer. We won’t just stand by and let this happen. You need to understand that you’re not alone anymore—we’re here.” I tried to plead with her, hoping she would grasp what I was trying to convey. “I’ve told you before, I’m not your problem. I won’t endanger your lives. I know I’ll have to face him eventually, and that scares me because I don’t know when it will be, but I will handle it when the time comes.” She was now crying uncontrollably. “How are you going to deal with it? Run like you have for the past five years? Please, enlighten me on your plan.” I knew I was being harsh on her but at this point, I need to get through to her

"f**k this, I can't handle all of it right now," she grabbed her purse and slamming the front door behind her. We exchanged glances, the silence so intense you could hear a pin drop. Lost in our own thoughts, we sat there until Justin finally spoke. "Well, that went great. Maybe we should've approached it differently. What do we do now? She probably hates us." Shaking my head in defeat, "I don't know, but I'm not letting her go through this alone."

"We keep tailing her. One of us needs to know where she is at all times, whether she likes it or not," they nodded in agreement. "For a small person, she's feisty as f**k and not even afraid to challenge Brian," Julian said with a chuckle.

As soon as I got into bed, I couldn't shake my worries, so I decided to send Bailey a message:

Me - Hey Angel, are you at the Inn?

I hit send, hoping she would respond. What has this woman done to me? This isn’t like me. I laid there with my eyes closed when a text came through.

Bailey - Yes, I'm here. I'll pick up my things tomorrow.

Me - Please don't be angry with me; my only goal is to keep you safe.

Me - Talk to me. I’m not letting you go.

After an hour, I realized she wasn't going to respond. At some point, I ended up falling asleep.

I got up early so I could head to the Inn and drop off Bailey’s bag. Even though I’m not thrilled about it, I don’t want to push her any further. I got dressed and made myself a cup of coffee.

As I made my way to the Inn, my mind was scattered. I get her perspective—I’ve always prioritized keeping my brothers safe and will continue to do so, but unlike Bailey, I don’t avoid difficult situations.

I paused at her door, gathering my courage for what I expected would be a difficult conversation. After a few minutes, I knocked and waited. When she finally opened the door, I stepped inside before she could say anything or slam the door in my face. To my surprise, she simply closed the door behind her. So I placed the bag on her bed and turned to face her. It was clear she had been crying all night. “Can we sit and talk without yelling?” hoping she’d agree. “Sure,” sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, avoiding eye contact. “Can you look at me?” she shook her head. I took a deep breath, “I know we didn’t handle things right, and I’m truly sorry. We shouldn’t have dropped everything on you like that.” A tear rolled down her cheek. She looked exhausted, and I wanted to comfort her, but I knew I couldn’t. “Can you do me a favor?” she still didn’t want to look at me “What?”, she’s at least willing to listen. I treaded carefully. “Can you please accept the job offer? It would really help all of us.” She looked up, tears rolling down her face. “How?” I understood she was angry, but her one-word reply was driving me nuts. Hoping she wouldn’t push me away further. “We’re behind on paperwork and with me handling all the parts orders, I can’t assist the guys with the jobs. We have deadlines for each bike that comes through the shop,” praying she would accept. “Fine, I’ll take the offer, but I need to talk to Jeremy and work this weekend as my last.” My heart raced, relieved that she hadn’t declined outright, though I had to resist the urge to kiss her—she might punch me in the face if I did. “Thank you. That works for me. Will you be able to start on Monday?”. She nodded, and I felt a wave of relief.