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“I know Taz and Flick offered you a room in their place, but not sure you wanna be listening in on them on a nightly basis, yeah? Would you consider being our in-house emergency on-call person? Of course, you’d need to do a trial period first and prove yourself, during which time you’d live up there like any renter would.”
Excitement bubbled in me. No way would Athena have all the red tape that had driven me nuts at the AFP. And, assuming my brother pulled his head out of his arse, I’d be working closer with him and Flick.
“It’s definitely something I’d consider. Let me think on it while I go sort out Taz, and I’ll let you know by the end of the day.”
Keys gave me a nod and smile. “Looking forward to your answer. Write your number down and I’ll text you directions so you can go kick his ass for us.”
With hope sparking within me at the new start I could make for myself here in Bridgewater, I headed back out of the clubhouse with a spring in my step.
* * *
TAZ
Every round I fired from the brand new 9mm Glock tactical eased my soul a little more. But it wasn’t enough. Nothing in the past twelve days had been able to shake this bone-deep weariness I had going on. It was getting worse each day.
I was pretty sure I knew what would cure it, but I wasn’t ready to face Flick yet. Her betrayal was still too fresh.
When I ran out of bullets, I popped out the magazine and reached for the box of ammo to refill it when someone smacked my shoulder. Hard. Putting the weapon down on the bench, I pulled out my earplugs as I turned with a scowl, ready to tear a strip of whoever had interrupted my range time.
But when I saw who stood there, hands on hips looking furious, I grinned.
“Jacie!”
Reaching forward, I pulled my baby sister in against me. She tried to stay stiff, pulling away, but it was only seconds before she softened and returned my embrace.
“Hey, big bro. You’re a hard man to track down.”
I released her and she stepped away, her frown returning.
“I find it relaxing to shoot shit.” I shrugged.
She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at me. “Even on your daughter’s first birthday?”
I closed my eyes as my whole body slumped. Fuck. “I haven’t been watching the date.”
“My first stop was your house. Wanna know how your wife or daughter are doing?”
A flash of rage had me snapping at Jacie before I thought it through. “Did Flick know you were coming?” Was this something else she’d kept from me?
With wide eyes, she held a palm up. “Whoa. Stop right fucking there. No one knew I was coming today. It was a last-minute thing I managed to pull together, so figured I’d surprise you all for my favorite niece’s birthday. I thought Flick was overreacting when she’d asked I make sure you knew she didn’t keep it from you. Are you seriously still holding that against her?”
I settled a bit that my old lady hadn’t further betrayed me, but I was not having my little sister lecture me.
Folding my arms over my chest, I glared into Jacie’s gaze. “She kept information from me that nearly cost me another family!”
Her jaw clenched as she ground her teeth for a few moments before she spoke. “I’m wondering why you give a fuck, Donny? Seems to me, you’re the one who’s thrown them away. If you’re really so fucking hurt that you nearly lost your wife and daughter, why are you here shooting paper cutouts and not with them? Not making sure they know they’re the most important thing in your world.” She shook her head. “Flick had no idea where you were today. I don’t think she’s known where you’ve been for the last two weeks. How’d you think that makes her feel, considering how you felt when you didn’t know where they were for just a few hours?”
She paused to release a long breath on a sigh. “You need to get your head on straight, big brother. I get me coming back from the dead threw you for a loop. I get you’re probably still mad at me for it, even though I was a fucking child and had no say in what happened back then. You married an FBI agent. A trained woman. And she wasn’t planning on rushing in to save the day on her own. She called in your club to back her up. She was trying to fucking save you from some extra pain. That’s it. Your woman loved you enough to try to save you some pain. Yeah, it backfired. But you were there when it counted, and you saved them. Tell me, Donny—why save them if you were just gonna throw them both away afterward?”
Spinning on her heel, she strode toward the exit but stopped with her hand on the door. “Regardless of how you now feel about your wife, your daughter is only a year old and didn’t do a damn thing wrong, yet she’s lost her daddy and has no fucking clue why. You have an hour to get yourself to the clubhouse for her party. Maybe I’ll see you there.”
And with that, she was gone, and I was alone in the range with nothing but my thoughts.
Fuck. Jacie was right about Lolly. She’d done nothing wrong, had been through a really scary experience, and now I’d vanished on her. What had Flick told our baby girl? I looked at my watch, noting the time. Right. An hour. I scrubbed a hand over my jaw and the short beard that had grown in over the last two weeks. First, I had to get everything packed up and cleaned away here, then hopefully I’d have time for a shower and a shave, and I had to get my fucking head on straight. I also needed to fucking grow a set and sit down to talk things out with my woman.
I needed her in my life. Her and Lolly both.
I also had to corner my sister for another chat. How long was she here for, this time? She’d had to rush off after her foster father called her the evening after we took down Gordon and I hadn’t heard from her since, so I had no fucking clue what her plans were.
