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He got it; he’d fucked up by subverting their authority and taking matters into his own hands. They didn’t know he was already paying the worst possible price since he’d had to push away the woman he loved and didn’t know when or how he’d ever win her back.
But he would—no matter what it took.
Cutter being gone to California was both a blessing and a curse. Great that the Boy Scout wasn’t trying to cozy up to her. But terrible because Cutter wasn’t there to protect her. So One-Mile hadn’t dared to paint a target on her back by paying her even a speck of attention, no matter how tempting. Instead, he’d watched from a safe distance.
Someone had to.
Sometimes, he cruised around Sunset, driving “aimlessly” in case anyone was trailing him. He hadn’t noticed Montilla’s guys on his ass…but that didn’t mean they weren’t lurking. Thankfully, everything around the sleepy little town seemed normal. One-Mile took reassurance from that. Because news would spread through Sunset like wildfire if someone had done Brea harm. He would have overheard it during his “random” stop in the grocery store or his fill-up for gas just down the street from her father’s church.
Since he didn’t dare head to her little spot on the map every day, he’d taken to stalking Brea on social media, too—what little she had of it. She had an occasionally used Instagram account for posting clients’ new hairdos or a very pretty sunrise. She only used her Facebook to help organize various church groups. The salon where she worked also had accounts on most social platforms, as did the church, so he’d focused on those, too.
He grabbed his phone off his desk to check the time. Quarter till five.
“Walker, got a minute?” Logan approached, looking grim.
“Sure.” Fifteen of them. Then he was fleeing this corporate prison, thank fuck.
“In the conference room.”
Logan ignored the brow One-Mile raised at him. Not the boss’s office? Were they going to officially reprimand him? Or just fire him?
Son of a bitch…
With a sigh, he made his way down the hall to the lone conference room. He wasn’t terribly surprised to see Joaquin and Hunter sitting there, waiting for him.
He stopped in the door. “So you waited until Friday afternoon just before quitting time to give me the ax?”
“Shut the door and sit down.” Hunter’s tone made it clear he had no patience for his attitude today.
Joaquin didn’t bother speaking, just sent him that mean motherfucker face that told him the trio of badasses wouldn’t hesitate to come down like a ton of bricks if he gave them shit.
Fine, he’d play along.
He shut the door and slid into the chair across the long table from the other three men. “Now that I’ve followed directions like a good boy, what do you want? If you’re going to fire me, fucking do it.”
Hunter snorted. “If it were up to me, you’d already be gone. Thank my brothers that you’re still gainfully employed.”
Fuck you. “So what’s this little soirée about?”
Logan sighed. “We have good news and bad news.”
“Give me the bad news.”
“We didn’t ask your preference,” Hunter growled. “We’re going to start with the good.”
With a well-placed elbow, Logan shut his brother up. “Don’t be an asshole.”
“According to you, I am one.”
“You are,” Joaquin said with a little smile. “Now I know why God gave me two sisters growing up. I couldn’t stand this fucking bickering.”
“Hey,” Hunter protested. “If you think your younger sister can’t argue…”
That made Joaquin break out in a rare laugh. “Oh, I know she can. And I’ll bet that makes for a really charming wife.”
Hunter snorted. “Charming isn’t the word I would use to describe Kata.”
“I would since she’s got you by the balls…”
One-Mile had heard enough. “The good news?”
“Right.” Logan nodded. “We’re going to cut you some slack. It wasn’t a bad idea to pursue Montilla while he was still on US soil, but you shouldn’t have done it behind our backs, risked the client, and gone in without backup.”
“Over the last couple of weeks, you’ve been loud and clear about what I did wrong. I got the message, Dad.”
“Goddamn it, I’m trying to be on your side. Why don’t you close your mouth for a minute and fucking listen?”
As much as One-Mile didn’t like it, Logan was right. He sighed. “Fine. I’m all ears.”
“Great. Here’s the thing: your decisions sucked…but your instincts were right. And we fucked up by not taking your idea more seriously when you called and proposed it.”
“He means me,” Hunter cut in. “And I still stand by my decision.”
“You got outvoted on that, too,” Joaquin put in slyly.
That was more honesty than One-Mile had expected. “So where do we go from here? I’ve beat all the bushes I can to track down that son of a bitch. Nothing. I’m sure he’s back in Mexico.”
