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Rook cursed under his breath and Corvus silently pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What?” AJ asked, glaring around at all the Saints watching Diesel carefully for a reaction.
We should’ve fucking told her.
I didn’t think she’d get him a goddamned gift, though.
Why would she need to know that the beat up leather jacket Diesel wore was the last gift he ever received from his late wife?
No matter that it was falling apart. That he’d paid seamstress after seamstress to repair it despite them telling him it was a lost cause or the fact that he wouldn’t agree to replace the lining or any part of it no matter the extent of the damage.
To AJ’s credit, it was a nice fucking jacket. She’d likely paid at least a grand for it. And it looked to be Diesel’s exact size. Thicker through the shoulders with additional leather and hand-stitched elbow patches. A muted matte black that seemed to absorb all light with a gunmetal silver zipper wider than my thumb, the pull tab custom fashioned into the Saint symbol.
Diesel lowered the jacket, laying it over the ottoman in front of him with a carefully crafted blank expression. “Was there something wrong with my jacket?” he asked AJ.
“Dies,” I tried. “She didn’t know.”
He held a hand up to silence me. “Answer the question.”
Getting angry now with all the eyes on her, AJ lifted her chin, and I winced inwardly. “Not if you like the hobo-chic look.”
Diesel turned his ire on me. “I think it’s time for you boys to go,” he said, and his stare brokered no argument. “Your Docks need manning.”
He whistled sharply. “Axel, Crowley, Derrik. You’re with them. Pack up. Get out.”
AJ, skin bristling, stood from the couch, eyeing the jacket like she might take it back but ultimately thinking better of it. She hauled Becca to her feet with her. I guessed we weren’t going to be having that chat with Diesel about AJ’s stalker problem tonight after all.
“Come on, Becks,” AJ said, her face red as she pulled Becca from the room.
Corvus whispered something to Dies, and our father clenched his jaw, but made no reply as Corvus stepped away, dropping his head instead.
“Later, Dies,” I said halfheartedly, and he gave me a nod, clapping Rook on his back as we all left, some of the fire gone out of him at whatever Corvus had said.
“What did you say to him?” I asked as we moved to follow the girls back out onto the street. We’d barely lasted fifteen minutes in there. To be fair, it was ten minutes longer than I thought we’d last with AJ and Becca in tow.
“I told him that Jacqueline would’ve liked Ava Jade, and he knows it… and that he really needs a new fucking jacket.”
I snorted. My brother wasn’t wrong.
From what we knew, Ava Jade was just a younger version of Diesel’s previous wife. Strong, with a spine sturdier than a roman column and sass for fucking days.
“What the shit was that all about?” AJ demanded, tearing open the door of the Rover a millisecond after I unlocked it.
“That shitty jacket he wears,” Rook said, sliding in beside her. “It was the last thing his wife ever bought him.”
“And no one fucking told me?”
“We didn’t exactly expect you to get him a gift,” I replied, reaffirming what we were all thinking.
“It’s his birthday. That’s what you do.”
“Even for people who once tried to have you killed?” Rook asked, cocking his head as I started the ignition.
“If they also happen to be the father of the three guys you’re fucking, then yeah. Even then.”
She grumbled wordlessly to herself while Becca pressed her lips together to keep from laughing, a blush on her cheeks.
“Oh, Ghost,” Rook joked, tugging her in against his side despite her protests. “You’re nicer than I thought you were.”
