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“Did they hurt you? I’ll fucking kill them.”
She snaps her eyes up at me, her dark eyelashes showcasing the redness in them.
“Was one of those assholes Ty?” I snap, feeling like I can still run down the stairs and catch them before they exit the building.
“That was Adrian Larrick and Brant Jesper.”
I freeze at hearing the names. I recognize the names. As much as Wren refused to tell me more about Ty Penman, he did mention that the dickhead did screw over the Keres MC the other day. He also assured me that whatever beef they had with Penman wouldn’t bleed over into Kendall’s life. He was wrong.
“And why was the president and VP of the Keres MC here?”
Maybe I have it all wrong. Maybe Penman is gone but somehow Kendall is still involved with the MC. Maybe she’s under their protection? I don’t know a damn thing about this woman.
“They’re looking for Ty,” she says, a sob bubbling out of her throat.
I go to her immediately. Although she’s lied to me in the past, I don’t see her lying to me about this.
“Why are they after him?” I ask, holding her to my chest.
I feel like the king of the world when she wraps her arms around me and buries her face in my chest.
“Ty stole something from them, and they want it back.”
“What exactly?”
She shakes her head, answering that she doesn’t know.
“Whatever it is, it’s causing them to lose money. Adrian said Ty owes hundreds of thousands of dollars and that number goes up daily. They want me to pay his debts.”
I know just getting paid back is never enough for those types of men. If they feel betrayed, they’ll ever only be satisfied with blood, and I hate to think they’ll go after Kendall for her ex’s mistakes, but they’re already doing that by insisting she pay them.
“Have they been bothering you at work?”
If they have been causing her problems there, then maybe I can convince her not to go back. Her being here at night with me would solve so many damn problems, and maybe I could actually get some damn sleep.
“No. I ran into Brant the other day at the grocery store.”
“And you didn’t bother to tell me?” I hold her tighter when she wiggles like she wants to be released.
“I didn’t owe you that then.”
Then? Does that mean she feels like she owes me more now? The thought calms me a little.
“My ex was a shitty man. First, he was loud and angry all the time, and eventually just yelling wasn’t enough.”
“He hit you,” I determine.
“He hit everything but me,” she whispers, her head against my chest. “I knew it was only a matter of time before he turned his fists on me or the kids.”
Ty Penman just arrowed to the top of my shit list.
Chapter 23
Kendall
Finn held me against him for hours, asking questions I didn’t want to answer but felt like I should.
I cried and sobbed, reliving all of that pain and trauma, and when it was time to go get the kids, I felt lighter but emotionally drained. The gods must be looking out for me because the kids were unusually calm this evening, eating, doing homework, and getting baths without an argument.
I put them to bed on time for the first time in as long as I can remember, and now I find myself curled right back up in Finn’s arms on the sofa.
The television is on, playing repeats of Coco Melon episodes, but neither of us are paying attention to it. When I look up at him, I find that his eyes are closed, and if he wasn’t steadily running his fingers through my hair, I’d guess he was asleep with how little he’s moved in the last fifteen minutes.
Movement catches the corner of my eye. Looking over, I see Kayleigh standing there with a wide grin on her face. Before I can lift myself off Finn’s chest, she darts away with a giggle.
Having to explain and answer questions about what’s going on between Finn and me from my kids would be impossible because I don’t have a clue myself. I can’t tell my children that sometimes adults seek comfort in each other but that doesn’t mean they’re together.
I climb off the couch, and shuffle away from Finn without a word.
There’s no way I can get involved with another man. All my life, I’ve only ever been disappointed with them, and now I have my kids to consider. They see everything, hear everything, and ask way too many questions. I stuck around with Ty for much longer than I ever should have, and vowed when he left that I’d never put myself in a situation where my kids could be hurt physically or emotionally. The giggle that followed Kayleigh back to our shared bedroom tells me that she’s not upset with her discovery. That says she likes the man, which also means when we leave him behind, she’s already going to be upset. I’ve already broken that vow I made years ago.
