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Then he was gone.
Off to put an end to it.
Once and for all.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Seth
I thought I knew anger.
There were many situations where my loved ones were in danger or hurt, and I’d been pissed the fuck off at whoever had done it. There was often revenge involved with that as well.
But nothing, fucking nothing, I’d ever felt before created the same sort of bubbling rage I felt when I saw Lana standing in the club with a busted face and haunted eyes.
It took a lot of self-control not to rush out of there right that moment and beat that motherfucker down.
There would be time for that.
What I had to do was take care of Lana first.
She’d already been through enough. She didn’t need to be faced with another man’s anger. She needed softness and love.
That was what I gave her.
All the while, my fucking insides were shaking with anger.
I felt like I was vibrating with it.
Even as I climbed in the shower with Lana, washing that bastard’s touch off of her, then getting her settled in bed to nurse her migraine.
“How is she?” Layna asked as I came down into the kitchen, finding Kit there as well, making some lemonade for the kids.
“Hopefully sleeping. She needs it. Her head is splitting but she doesn’t want to take anything strong enough to actually make a difference.”
“You’re sure she doesn’t need to go to the hospital?”
“No,” I admitted. “But I’m pretty sure she’s alright. She’s not dizzy or having breathing issues. I would appreciate it if one of you guys checked in on her periodically, though, while I’m gone.”
They didn’t ask.
They didn’t need to.
Everyone in our family knew how shit like this went down.
You touched one of ours, you paid.
Case fucking closed.
“Of course we will,” Layna said, rocking a restless Clara.
“If she gets really restless, see if Callow will hold her. She’s kind of fascinated by men. I don’t think she’s spent any time with them before.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Layna said, nodding, as I went to the door.
“Hey,” Kit called as I was about to step outside.
“Yeah?”
“Be careful, okay?” she said. “They need you,” she added.
And that, fuck, that made me pause for a moment there.
It was the first time I had to worry about coming home to someone.
Sure, in an abstract way, I always had to worry about my parents and sister and the rest of my family. But it was different.
Lana and the kids had started to come to be a part of my life. A really fucking important part. They were expecting me to come home. They were planning on seeing me in the kitchen in the morning. Isaac and I had some repair projects we were going to work on. And I told him I’d work with him practicing for baseball.
Hazel was counting on me painting part of the bedroom wall in chalkboard paint.
And Clara loved to fall asleep on me when her mom was frazzled.
I had to come home to them.
To keep building the life we were working on.
So Kit was right.
I had people counting on me.
I had to be careful and make it home to them.
Not that I thought this Simon fuck posed any danger to me. I knew guys like him. Bullies. Only big and bad when no one was standing up to them.
Confronted with someone bigger and stronger and meaner than them, though, their innate weakness always came to the surface.
I’d asked the guys at the club to work on the Simon angle while I’d been getting Lana settled.
“What did you find out?” I asked as I walked into the club, finding Fallon and Brooks there with the others, all of them turning to look at me.
“Did your girl mention how fucking loaded this bastard is?” Fallon asked.
“She mentioned him being rich, yeah,” I said, nodding.
“His house is worth a couple mill,” Fallon said.
“I don’t give a fuck. He’s still gonna pay.”
“Just a heads-up since guys with money like that might have cameras and shit like that.”
“I don’t think he went home,” I said, shaking my head. “Not without making Lana pay, and getting his son.”
“You don’t think she’s already paid?” Sutton asked, shaking his head.
“Not for the embarrassment of being held at gunpoint by an old lady. How is she, by the way?” I asked.
“I checked in on her,” Sutton said. “She said she let him run off after she was sure Lana had a chance to get away. She’s a tough old broad.”
I made another mental note to do something nice for her too when this was all done.
“Good. He didn’t hurt her?”
“I don’t think he would dare,” Sutton said. “That has consequences with the law. He knows that the situation with Lana is more complicated because of the kids.”
Yeah, that made sense.
“Just going to be the devil’s advocate here,” Brooks said. “The law is an option in this situation.”
