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Before I can see the way he takes that, the sound of heavy footsteps has him spinning. I look out to see Sin stepping out onto the patio.
“You two need a referee? I gotta warn you, it puts me in a hell of a difficult position.”
“I’m your nephew, fucker.”
“And he’s my brother,” Sin says, lifting his chin at me. “Both family then, yeah?”
Ax shakes his head. “Goddammit, you loyal bastard.”
I walk to Sin and slap-shake with him. “Thanks for your help today.”
He shoves his hand through his long, gray hair. “Didn’t do much. Never got to go out there and backup Rox after all, with Runner showing up.”
“If you hadn’t picked up on something being wrong with the surveillance cameras, we never would’ve mobilized anything in time.”
“Yeah, well, we protect family at all costs.”
I smile, knowing they’re my own words he’s throwing out there.
He eyes me pointedly. “Time for you to benefit from your own code, yeah? No more doing this alone.” He smiles and points back into the house. “Honestly, it don’t look like you got much choice with that woman of yours. She ain’t gonna stand down.” He thumbs Ax. “And my stubborn, rageoholic nephew here ain’t gonna neither.”
“Rageoholic,” Ax mutters, not liking the term that Runner coined a few months back.
Speaking of, he steps out onto the patio in the next second, taking in the situation, all the tension hanging in the air, Ax’s disgruntled look, not to mention his bloodied hand. He winces, then sucks in a breath and strides up to him with that swagger of his. “I’m gonna head out, home to Sarah and my boy. You all good here now?”
Ax smiles and gives his shoulder a squeeze with his good hand. “Yeah, brother. You’re good to go. Thanks for what you did today. Real good work.”
“Nah, it’s Rox you should be thanking. She ended up having my back. If she hadn’t taken those shots, I woulda had a bullet in my back.”
I grimace at the reminder of how close it came for them both.
We don’t have cameras down those backroads they were riding on—only key areas that are hotspots of trouble in Brockford—but Roxana painted a detailed picture of what exactly went down.
I walk to Runner and hold out my hand. “Appreciate you taking that risk for my baby girl.”
He looks stunned, taking a moment before he actually reacts and takes my hand.
As we shake, I tell him, “I won’t forget it.”
Expecting him to say something sarcastic and cover up shit with humor, he surprises me, as he tells me, “I’ll never do nothing less to protect club family.”
He says his goodbyes, then takes off back into the house to make his way home to his wife and kid.
“You good with Char being here?” I ask Ax.
“No way I’m letting you out of my sight and she’s part of the package right now.”
Not a direct answer, but good enough for now.
Still, it has me wondering whether there is animosity there from him when it comes to Char after what I told him about her involvement in Kim’s death. It ain’t the right time to check in on that, though. He’s only just come down from his explosion of temper.
“You good with her now?” I ask Sin.
“We’re good,” he confirms. “She actually helped me out in there with Rox.”
“How’s that?” Ax asks.
“Rox wouldn’t get fixed up, just wanted to be with Ava. Charlotte convinced her.”
