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“This is ridiculous.” Lila pushed herself off the couch, her shoulders slumped with fatigue. “Hawk, you made it clear you want nothing to do with me anymore. So, just go, this is painful enough as it is.”
What the hell was going on? Why was no one bringing up the fact that I had pointed a gun at Nana’s face? “Aren’t you going to question me? Yell at me? Or something?”
“Why would I yell at you?” Confusion creased Lila’s eyes. “Your feelings are valid. You don’t have any for me. It hurts, but that’s no reason for me to yell at you. Especially not after one weekend when we both agreed it was supposed to be no strings attached.”
I glanced at Nana, who was whistling along with the kettle. “That’s not what I was talking about. I meant the”—I made a gun motion with my hand—“you know. Aren’t you going to call the cops on me? Or warn me to stay away from you and Nana?”
Lila’s mouth gaped open. “Is that why you came back inside? You want to make sure I don’t call the cops on you?”
I kept expecting to see that fear and revulsion she had when Rothwell had his hands on her, but it never came. Instead, she looked like she was getting really irritated with me, as if I were an annoying fly.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Look, you have nothing to worry about. If I was going to call the cops, I would have done it days ago when you beat the shit out of Dr. Creep. If I didn’t report you then, I’m not going to now when you’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Dr. Creep? Oh, Honeybee, is that the doctor who’s been bothering you? I told you I’d come over with my bat and take care of him for you.”
Lila huffed, annoyance radiating from her. “It’s fine, Nana. Hawk took care of it.”
“Attaboy, kid. I knew I liked you the second I saw you take my swing when you could have ducked. Lila sugar, he even softened the impact for me. I barely felt it in my wrists.”
Lila looked at me, her gaze showed a hint of appreciation. “I know, Nana.” A ghost of a smile crossed her lips. “I saw.”
I wasn’t used to being around regular families. But I highly doubted this was how a regular family reacted.
“Just so we’re clear,” I said. “Neither of you is upset that I pointed a gun at Nana?”
They both shook their heads nonchalantly as if I’d asked something as mundane as wanting sugar in their tea.
“And neither of you are alarmed that I have a gun right now?”
They both shook their heads again.
What was wrong with these two? I’d never been so confused in my life. I stood there like a lost kid, looking from one to the other. I didn’t know what else to say. And I sure as shit didn’t know what to do.
“Hawk, I’m not an idiot,” Lila said. “I know you’ve been involved in or are currently involved in some…not-so-legal dealings. The way you handled Dr. Creep squashed any doubt I might have had on the subject.”
I nearly had to peel my jaw off the floor. “And it doesn’t bother you I’m a criminal?”
“Ha!” Nana chimed in. “You’re not using that as an excuse to break up with her, are you, kid? Coz, let me tell you, Lila’s grandfather tried that same shit with me when we were dating.”
Was Lila from a crime family? Was that why she’d never been afraid of me? It couldn’t be.
But what if she was?
Lila rolled her eyes. “Nana, we’re not dating.”
“Well, not now that he’s broken up with you.” She pointed an accusing finger at me.
“No, Nana. I meant we never dated. It was like a one-night stand.”
“One-night stands don’t end in tears, Muffin.”
My eyes darted from Lila to Nana. It surprised me that Lila would talk about her sex life so casually with her grandmother. But what surprised me even more was that Lila knew what I was this whole time. And she’d accepted me for who I was.
Was this even possible? I began to hope for the first time that maybe this could actually work. “What line of business was your grandfather in?”
“I don’t know,” Lila said with a shrug, “because he died before I was born, and I never dared to ask Nana about him. But I’m pretty sure it was something illegal too.”
Nana hugged a mug to her chest while wistfully looking skyward. “My Charlie was so handsome. And brave and strong and boy, was he hung like a bull and could he make me moan all night—”
“Nana! Stop!” Lila covered her ears. “You see, Hawk, this is why I never ask about him. If you want to know, go ahead, but I’m going to bed.” She marched off.
Her gangster grandfather died before she was born. My hope deflated. So, she wasn’t raised in a crime family, after all.
“…and no man had more skill with a tongue than my Charlie.” Nana sighed cheerfully, then pointed to the table. “Take a seat, kid. The tea’s ready.”
