•Callie•
"Are you certain it was him?" Gray speaks into the phone, his brows furrowed in concentration.
I sit up in bed, propping my upper half up on my elbow and lean over his chest, circling my index finger in the sparse chest hair covering his sternum.
The air still smells of sex, but now it's thick with the tension of waiting to hear whatever news Gray is receiving on the other end of the line.
"I understand. I'll take care of the funeral arrangements, Porter. Thanks for calling." He ends the call, placing his phone gently on the bedside table, laying back into the fluffy pillows and covering his face with his hands. He sighs in exasperation, or is it relief?
"Is it Ben?" I ask simply, snuggling into his side and slinging my arm over his stomach, pulling myself against him, the little four month bump of our baby pressed in between us.
Gray removes his hands to place one around my back and the other on my growing stomach. "He was killed. In a gang fight," he says, holding up air quotes around the explanation.
"Are you upset?" I ask quietly, not looking into his eyes, unsure of what reaction I'll get.
He sighs long and deeply, trailing his hand up and down my spine, sending shivers through my nerves. "He was my brother."
"And he always will be. At least he can't hurt anyone, anymore," I whisper, thinking back to how him and Vera tormented us, threatening my very life and unknowingly the life of our unborn baby so new inside my womb.
"I know you're right. And I knew it was going to happen soon. I mean, I allowed it to happen. Hearing it and accepting it... I didn't expect it to be this hard. I guess I wish he had found a way to change over the years. Had found the help he needed. Found someone to help lift him up when he needed it most."
I sit back up and place my chin on his chest, finally looking into his solemn eyes. "It sounds as if you're blaming yourself for the way he was."
Gray doesn't say anything, but instead looks up to the ceiling in thought.
"Gray, you weren't what made him the way he was and you weren't capable of changing him. He was too far gone way too early in life. There was nothing you could do. The only thing that could be done was making it so he couldn't do anything to harm anyone ever again." It's harsh and it's tragic that the only solution is death, but it's the truth.
Ben would have kept finding a way to escape. He would have kept coming after Gray until the end of time.
And with him now becoming a father and us on the road to getting married, there's too much as stake for Gray to risk letting Ben stay alive out there, just waiting to cause havoc.
Gray wraps his arms tight around my back and holds me to his chest, my little bump squeezing hard against my bladder already in this position. He dips down, pressing our foreheads against one another, our noses brushing. "And he won't harm anyone. Not the club, not you, and certainly not our precious little girl."
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REMOVING 1 JANUARY 2025 Gray (Savage Wolves MC) #2 | ✓
RomansaREMOVING FROM WATTPAD PERMANENTLY ON 1 JANUARY 2025 Mature Content 17+ || Savage Wolves MC Book Two In the wake of tragedy, Callie never fails at staying positive. But, after having her brother and the rest of the club nearly taken from her, she's a...