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Her smile grew larger. “Well, now I like you even more. I’m old enough to have a sixteen-year-old.”
“Daughter?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, I wish you well.”
Her brows lifted. “You have daughters?”
“No, but I’ve got experience raising girls.” I jerked my chin at her smoke. “That’s not gonna be anywhere near strong enough soon.”
“Trust me, I know.” She glanced at her watch. “Shit, I’ve gotta go. My boss will kill me if I’m late today.” She rummaged through her bag and pulled out a breath mint before smiling again and saying, “Your sister did really well yesterday. She should be standing on both legs by this afternoon.”
“Good. I need her home with me as soon as possible.”
She slowed and fixed her gaze on me. “I like your dedication to family. I mean, unless you’re some creepy stalker brother who keeps his sister locked away, but out of all the vibes I’m getting about you, that isn’t one of them.”
We watched each other silently for a few moments as more thunder rumbled overhead. And then she was gone, and I was alone again with my thoughts. Fucking worst place to be.
I had another smoke before going back inside to check on Skylar. Today was going to be a long one. And with a bit of fucking luck, one that produced some results in our efforts to track Romano and our rat down. But to get that shit done, I first needed to make sure my family was okay.
Annika glanced up from the coffee she was making when I entered the clubhouse kitchen an hour later. “You look like hell.”
“I fucking feel like it too.” I jerked my chin at the kettle. “You got enough for another one?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll even take pity on you and make toast to go with it if you haven’t had breakfast. You want vegemite?”
I lifted a brow. “What are you after, Nik?”
She pulled another mug from the cupboard. “Maybe I just think you need some TLC at the moment. I’m not the sister always wanting stuff, remember?”
She was right. Annika was the maternal type while Skylar was the complete opposite. Nik never asked me for much at all. I had to force my way into her life when I knew she needed me. Skye, on the other hand, was the sister who came looking for me when she wanted something. It had been the other way around before Margreet died. Her death altered our relationships, causing Annika to shut down on me, and Skylar to demand my attention constantly.
I moved closer to her and leant against the counter. “Vegemite sounds good.” As she made coffee and toast, I asked, “Are you guys holding up okay here?”
She stopped what she was doing and gave me her full attention. “We’re fine, King, but it’s odd for you to even ask that. Usually you just want to tell us what to do, not ask us how we’re doing. What’s going on? And where’s the brother I know and love?”
Scrubbing my face, I muttered, “I’m trying here.”
She smiled. “We’re good. The kids are running wild, but they get on well with Kree’s kids, so at least there aren’t any problems there.”
Fuck, I hadn’t made the time to speak with Zane about Kree’s ex. He was due to arrive today, so I made a mental note to do that then.
I took the coffee she passed me. “I just came from the hospital. Skye’s physio says she’s doing well. She should be home in a few days.”
Axe joined us, his gaze coming straight to me. “Zane’s about five hours out. He’s got all his gear with him.”
Zane ran his own security firm, his team mostly all ex-commando, and had the best surveillance gear you could get your hands on.
I nodded just as my phone rang. Bronze.
“Bronze, you’re not gonna hit me with bad news so early in the morning, are you?”
“Not bad so much as interesting. The info you have on Romano being raided by the cops is wrong. It didn’t happen.”
I gripped my phone harder. “He wasn’t raided?”
“Correct. Whoever told you that is full of shit. He’s not even on their radar at the moment. Well, not besides the usual level of interest they have in him that is.”
