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“I didn’t know Vera before all that went down,” Poet said, his lips tipping up at the corners a little. “But Slider’d said she was a soft little thing. Sweet. He was so fuckin’ proud of her for fightin’ back. Said he’d never seen anyone so brave—man or woman.”
“And Vera always told me that she’d felt like a coward,” Amy said, smiling at her man. “That she hadn’t done more damage to her father before Charlie got there.”
“She survived,” Farrah said quietly, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “There’s nothing braver than that.”
“Well said,” Amy replied.
“Amen,” Brenna said at the same time.
Most of the women had tears in their eyes, but I was pretty sure they were reigning that shit in so their husbands didn’t decide to end our little story circle. Even my chest was tight, imagining tiny Vera getting whaled on by her pop. The woman I’d known was a badass. She didn’t take shit from anyone, not even Slider. In a world full of women who deferred to their men, she’d been a wildcard. I’d never seen her argue with Slider, but she’d get this we’ll-talk-about-this-later look when she was pissed that used to make me glad she was his and not mine.
I’d seen Vera take on three hundred pound men with nothing but a shotgun and win. She didn’t even have to shoot the damn thing. Just the look in her eyes paired with a weapon made most men take a step back. You knew she wasn’t bluffing. You knew, just by looking at her expression that she’d seen worse, done worse, and didn’t have time for your shit. She’d take care of you and go back to whatever she’d been doing before you fucked up her day. Damn, I missed that woman.
“Did they charge him?” Tommy asked.
“Nah,” Poet replied. “The old man didn’t want anyone knowin’ why Charlie’d kicked his arse. He was out before the fingerprints were dry.”
“Cops weren’t smart to let him out before he’d cooled down,” Cam said with a huff.
“True,” Poet said, nodding. “But what’s the one thing that can still a man’s hand when he’s livid?”
“Worry about his girl,” Hawk murmured, giving Tommy a soft look over her shoulder.
“Exactly right, lass,” Poet replied. “He went straight to the grandmother’s.”
“I know this all works out,” Trix said, glancing around the table. “But I’m not sure if I want to hear the rest.”
“That was the worst of it, sweetheart,” Amy said gently. “But you don’t have to listen if you don’t want to.”
“I still want to hear it,” Hawk said quickly. “I mean… if everyone else does.”
I chuckled at the intensity in her voice and Hawk rolled her eyes at me. There’d been a time in the not-so-distant past when the look of annoyance would have immediately put me on edge. To put it plainly, I hadn’t liked the girl. I’d questioned her loyalty and her motives when it came to my son. That was all in the past now. I’d had it all twisted and she’d proved me wrong. She kept both my youngest boys’ secrets and I had a feeling she’d take them to the grave. I had to admire that kind of dedication. The damn girl had made me like her.
“He went straight to her, didn’t he?” Callie asked, leaning back into me as she laced her fingers with mine.
“’Course he did,” Poet said with a smile.
Chapter 8
Charlie
I didn’t even have to call a cab when they let me out of the police station. One of the cops had felt so shitty about arresting me in the first place that he offered to give me a ride. I was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been so accommodating if he’d known that I had outstanding warrants in five states.
Mom’s car was parked safely in her driveway when we got there, and as I strode toward the front door she came out on the porch to meet me.
“Everything okay?” she asked, looking over my shoulder at the cop car.
“All good, ma,” I assured her, wrapping an arm around her so I could steer her back into the house. “Just a misunderstanding.”
“I saw Vera,” mom said as I shut the door behind us. “I told you something wasn’t right.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, flexing my hands. My fingers were stiff and my knuckles were all tore up from where they’d connected with the asshole’s teeth. Beating the shit out of a preacher hadn’t seemed any different than beating the shit out of anyone else, except that I was pretty sure the preacher brushed his teeth on a regular basis which was a nice change from the usual. Hopefully the cuts wouldn’t get infected this time.
“I was going to ask if they needed any help,” my mom continued. “But Nadine practically threw the keys to me before she hurried off.”
