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Briar nodded. “We will too, given the chance. I can think of at least ten families in Daly who’d love to have her. I just can’t fathom anyone doing that to a kid, though. What the hell? There are other options.”
Dev shook her head. The world confused her. Who would discard their child in the middle of nowhere? Who would reject their son for being gay like Cannon’s family had? Who would try to sell their stepdaughter into a sex traffic ring like her own stepfather had? People were capable of truly awful things.
“There are always options,” Dev agreed. “In all situations. But there are plenty of people out there who will always choose evil or the path of least resistance.”
“There are. But there are more good than bad. And we’ve all got each other’s backs around here. Remember that.”
She nodded. Her friend wasn’t just talking about the abandoned girl, anymore. She was talking about Dev. And she was talking about their tightknit community and the Daly Way, the very reason Dev couldn’t have chosen a better place to hide.
Fifteen
All day, Cannon’s thoughts had drifted back to Dev and last night. Fuck, it had been perfect. Waking up tangled with her and Hawk had been perfect. The long shower together before having to come to work over at the Last Chance had been perfect.
Everything was fucking perfect.
Except for the situation Dev was running from.
That caused his mood to darken while Jax stood with them in the south pasture where he’d found Cannon and Hawk checking on one of the herds. He’d tracked them down to share new information from his contact, reminding Hawk and Cannon of the danger that still stalked their woman. Arms crossed, the three of them huddled near the fencerow, in sight of the main ranch house, while Jax relayed the information he’d received.
“My contact didn’t have to dig too deep to find out a whole lot of shit. Dev’s stepfather is a guy named Walter Finch. He’s in league with the Baranov family—they’re Bratva. And the guy who came here is one of their low-level soldiers, who’s looking to rank up. Thing is, they wouldn’t give a shit about Dev, but Walter owes them money. A shit ton of money, really. They could just take it out on him, kill him even, but apparently, they’re fucking stupid. They want Devon as a way to recoup their loss.”
“That’s not fuckin’ happening,” Hawk spat.
“Agreed,” Cannon said.
“Agreed,” Jax echoed. He looked off to their left. “Not that I’d know anything about the mafia and their business, but… These fuckers are rivals to…my contact’s family. According to him, the Baranovs were just about wiped out last year, but not completely. The top guys went to ground then brought in a new crew.”
“And obviously, kept up their illegal activities,” Cannon muttered. “Fuck…if they’d all been taken out, Dev could be clear of this mess and move forward with her life.” He looked over at Hawk. “We could all move forward with our lives together.”
Hawk jerked a single nod, his arms staying crossed and his boots planted in the frost dirty. Aside from the tip of his chin, he stayed stock-still, an immovable, pissed-off mountain.
“The Baranovs don’t have a ton of outside people working within their organization, but Finch launders their money. Five or six years ago, he offered Dev is an exchange for a bunch of the money that went missing. But she took off. Frankly, even I know he’s lucky to be alive, but the Baranovs must be dumber than a box of rocks. According to my friend’s inside guy, Finch is still dealing with their accounts.”
“How is that even a thing?” Cannon muttered. “They can’t be that stupid.”
Before Jax could answer, not that he could have cleared up the question, the sound of a truck drew their attention.
“You expecting anyone?” Hawk asked as they watched it pass. The shiny black vehicle appeared too pristine to be a ranch truck, and its appearance spiked all their paranoias.
“No,” Jax said, but Hawk and Cannon were already sprinting toward their ATVs. Jax headed for the mud-covered red truck he’d driven over to update them, just as they’d finished their work for the day.
“Surely, they wouldn’t be so insane that they’d brazenly come out here for her,” Cannon said, hoping to lower the heat on the tension that had instantly ratcheted up. He climbed onto the quad, preparing to take off.
“They’re dumb enough to let Finch continue cooking their books,” Hawk growled. He swung onto his vehicle, and they both took off toward the house.
The entire distance, fear and worry rode Cannon, churning in his gut, and it pissed him off. He hated feeling this intrusion, especially since he’d been reliving last night and this morning, over and over. Fuck, he’d been half hard more often than not all day. Being with Hawk and Dev again ranked high on his primal needs, right below destroying anyone who wanted to harm Devon. And that unnatural murderous feeling troubled him, too, because it wasn’t like him. But no one was hurting Dev on his watch.
He had no doubt Hawk was in the same head space. Hell, his dominant partner might be even more bloodthirsty than Cannon was. And with his past, more capable of violence, too. Truly, it was a dark turn on.
He couldn’t explore that, really didn’t want to. He just prayed Jax’s contact could help them find a way out of this mess. Then they could go back to normal.
Right now, the immediate issue was the man standing on the porch as they approached the house and skidded to a stop.
Hugh Redder.
The fuck…?
Before Cannon had fully stopped, Hawk was off his ATV and sprinting toward Hugh. His hand fisted in the front of Hugh’s shirt.
