Page 26 of Empower

There wasn’t a lot of applause for the other students.

Not until they called Raine’s name. Which I chuckled and looked at the back. Nothing but leather stood as far as the eyes could see.

And then when I was called, the same cacophony rang out in the auditorium.

I smiled wide, as I accepted my diploma, then looked at my dad, then at Storm and smiled even wider.

Chapter 4

Storm

With a glass of whiskey in my hand, I tried to fight the demons that were coming at me tonight. I knew that I wouldn’t be getting any sleep.

I saw the faces of those that I had taken out through my scope. The women, the men, and the kids that had bombs attached to their chests.

“Pres., Armand called. He wants a meeting.”

I tilted my head back and looked at Red, “When?”

“Tomorrow night,” Red said with a wince.

That wince was because we had a barbeque scheduled for tomorrow, and one thing I had learned as Pres. and well, being a man, was that I didn’t cancel plans for anything. Therefore, I said, “Tell him to wait until Saturday.”

“He ain’t gonna like that, ya know?”

“I don’t really give a fuck. He wants the power we can offer him; his fucking ass can wait until Saturday. We have plans as a club.”

Red shook his head, a smile threatening to pool at his lips, and then, he nodded, “Got it.”

As Red walked away to let Armand know what I said, something pulled at me, to finish my whiskey, and then head up to my room at the clubhouse.

The moment I was undressed and lying in my bed, I pulled out my phone and looked at a picture I had swiped from the photographer, Raine, who begged me to hire.

And yeah, when we had another major event happen like a wedding, we were hiring her again.

Because she had captured a photo of someone who I was quickly learning was my one weakness.

Yes, Raine, my daughter, and I loved the hell out of her.

I would take a bullet for her.

I would give my heart for her.

But she wasn’t the person that had the power to bring me to my knees.

Not with a single fucking smile in my direction.

Raine didn’t have the power to tell me to walk off a cliff and die.

But Lena did.

As I stared at the photo of her in that light blue dress as the sun hit the top of her head just right, it appeared as though it was shining out of her body.

Bolts of lighter colors surrounded her.

Yeah, I felt like a creeper as I zoomed into the image and caught that soft smile on her face.

That soft smile I would give everything for to be the only one to see it.