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“Got it,” Killer responds, seemingly annoyed that he has to do any of this.
“We’ll get the information for the restaurant, take a tour of it, and then we’ll call it to a group vote based on those findings. Is there anything else anyone would like to add?” Breaker looks around the room.
No one says anything.
“Since there’s nothing else, church is adjourned.” Breaker slams the gavel down on the table, and we all proceed to leave.
I head to the bar to see if Hammer might be there since he was helping Archer, but he isn’t, so I shoot him a quick text. Within a couple of minutes, he texted me back and said he was in the alleyway smoking. I never remembered him smoking before, so that’s new.
I make my way out to the back, and Hammer’s smoking a cigar with a shit-eating grin on his face. “You good, man?”
“Yeah, just wanted to let you know what’s going on.”
“You must have some news for me then,” Hammer states, and I dive right into it. I give him every detail I can, and he nods as I speak. He offers to call Zane up and see if he can spare a couple of the Reapers Rejects to help us out for a bit, but I tell him I need to speak to Breaker about it first before he makes a call like that. It’s good to know we have allies here if we need them, but I’m hoping this is something we can handle on our own. If it isn’t, it means that there will no doubt be a lot of bloodshed.
I’m always prepared to shed others’ blood, but I’m never ready for my brother’s being hurt.
CHAPTEREIGHT
Luna
The bus I took to LA left Julian just before seven a.m., and most of the route took us along the coast. The Pacific Ocean is glimmering like the finest cut diamond in the mid-morning sun, and I can’t get enough of just looking at it. I love the ocean. Love how its vastness and endlessness just give me this sense that anything is possible and that nothing, no problem big or small, is insurmountable. Not even Kevin getting out of prison after just a year and a half behind bars.
I’ve been trying not to think about that. But the thought and the fear it brings just keep creeping into my thoughts. Since I got the call from the PI, the fear is constantly lurking at the side of my thoughts in the same way that Kevin always lurked just out of sight.
But I’m nearing LA and should be there in a little over half an hour. Butterflies are already whirling in my stomach at the thought of finally seeing Brennon again. I don’t want to bring all that Kevin baggage with me to LA. I just wish it was easier to leave it behind. But I mean to do my best to ignore it while I finally get my time with Brennon.
We leave the ocean behind, and for a while, the only things I see out of the bus window are tall and not-so-tall buildings, people, and cars. LA isn’t NYC, but I’ve been living in Julian, with its population of fewer than 1500 people, for so long now that being in a big city seems overwhelming. In NYC, I constantly had this big, hard knot in my stomach wherever I went. It’s safe enough, but you still have to constantly be on your guard, just in case.
I sometimes miss the big city, but I don’t miss that anxious fear and feeling slightly unsafe. It reminds me too much of Kevin. I felt very unsafe even in Julian because of him.
But I don’t think LA is as bad as NYC. Despite being a big city, it has this manageable, small-town vibe. I think I could like living here. And there I go again . . . making plans for the future with nothing more to go on than a night of passion and about a million texts and calls exchanged over a couple of weeks.
LA’s main bus station is huge and bustling with people . . . like a city in its own right compared to Julian. For a split second, as I get off the bus, I’m gripped by the irrational fear that I won’t ever find Brennon in this crowd and that this trip was a waste.
But then my eyes find him in the crowd the moment my feet touch the pavement. His gaze swallows me up as he walks up to me until I feel like I’m swimming in that glimmering ocean I spent the last two hours watching out the bus window.
He scoops me into his arms as he reaches me and gives me the deepest, most sensuous kiss I’ve ever gotten. And now I really feel like I’m not standing on solid ground, in the best way possible. I don’t want this kiss to ever end. It makes me feel like no time has passed since we said goodbye two weeks ago.
“Now, that’s better,” he says and grins at me once the kiss is over. “I’ve been wanting to do that since the last time I did.”
“Me too,” I say. “I can’t believe I’ve been able to wait this long.”
“Hey, it’s you with all the work you had to finish before you could make it out here,” he admonishes, but gently.
I shrug. “And I’m not finished with all the work yet. I have a teeny-tiny novella to edit while I’m here. It’s a last-minute project. I couldn’t say no because my client spent three days begging me to take it on. But there was no way I was gonna postpone this trip because of it. I hope you don’t mind.”
He’s just smiling at me, his eyes following the movement of my lips. “Novella . . . that’s what? Like a short novel, right?”
“Yes,” I say.
“See how well you taught me about books,” he says and grins.
“Good to know,” I say. “You were definitely my best student.”
That makes him chuckle.
He points at the backpack at my feet. “Is this all you brought?”
