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“Hey, Charles. How are you?” he asks in a louder voice, calling Scar’s and his attention towards us. Scar’s gaze flickers between the five of us, a spark of amusement there, but Charles looks surprised at D’s friendly demeanor.
“Hey, yeah I’m good,” he answers somewhat hesitantly. “Just got back from seeing my father. I wanted to update you on everything.”
Scar sits up a little straighter, eagerness radiating off her in palpable waves. Charles notices and smiles down at her. “You guys are in the clear,” he cuts to the chase.
“Oh, thank fuck,” Scar curses. “I’ll be able to go see Steel Roses in person now. After talking to Tim about the renovations, I’m excited to see them in person.”
We’re all eager to get out of the house, to be able to move around freely once again. It’s been a long time since we've been able to go about our normal routines. It almost feels like we’ve won, though we’ve only surpassed the first hurdle.
I’m not satisfied with just the outcome though. I need to know more about how Donahue reacted. I can’t trust Charles to really know if we’re truly free to move back into the open. “What did he say?”
Charles watches me for a moment. “He didn’t tell me everything. But I was able to pick up a fair amount while I was at the estate. There was something else in the house where he was keeping Romano,” he explains. I keep my expression blank. This isn’t news to us. Scar and the kid had figured that much out. Why else buy the house that had been burned?
“I don’t know what it was,” he continues, “but whatever it was, it’s held his interest more than Romano’s death. He thinks the house going up in flames has to do with whatever was already going on in that town.”
I nod and make a note to let the kids know of this intel. It’s the least they deserve in thanks. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll be too concerned about it. Donahue won’t be alive long enough to retaliate anyway.
“So, we’re really in the clear? Back to business as usual?” Ryder asks.
Letty shrugs. “Romano was the one who was actually after us and openly attacking us. With him cleared from the board, I don’t see why not.”
Charles looks at her appraisingly. “Don’t drop your guard completely,” he warns. “My father is still actively hunting you down, and he’s moved to the west coast now. I saw more invoices for CGK on his computer before I left.”
Scar grunts, but doesn’t acknowledge his words. The light in her eyes has dimmed though and I get a twisted knot in my gut at how quickly she falters. “Any news on narrowing down our culprits?” She redirects the topic.
Noah nods, stepping forward. “The notebook we took from Romano has helped us mark a lot of the names off our list. He also had dates next to each name indicating when they started doing business, which eliminated quite a few more. We still have about fifteen possibilities though. You and Charles can look through to pick out the most likely.”
I don’t like it. Based on Kade’s expression and the tightening of his fists, he doesn’t either. I meet his eyes. “We should go to the fights tonight. Check in on them in person. See how the new recruits are doing. Maybe Ian and Jade have made some progress in that idea of theirs.”
Anything to distract both of us. Anything to get us out of this house finally. We’ve all had brief reprieves as we prepared Scar’s surprise, but it isn’t the same. We should show our faces around town again. Make a show of our strength and that we came out of this war on the winning side. No one else needs to know our fight isn’t over. The rest of this war will be a silent one. One that never leads back to us. One that can’t lead back to us.
Scar is not The Fallen Prom Queen any longer. The notoriety of that name doesn’t need to follow her into this new life we’re building for ourselves. It puts her at risk even if we do eliminate her demons.
The front door opens and we all whip our heads around. “Hello, hello,” a warm, familiar voice calls out.
Motherfucker.
I didn’t realize Charlene was coming over today.
“Mommy,” a small voice calls out, followed by the pitter-patter of tiny feet. Scar beams as she climbs out of her chair just as Roe turns the corner and runs into the kitchen, Blu chasing her. Scar scoops our sweet girl up in her arms, and it’s the first time I’ve seen her truly radiating happiness in weeks. She kisses over our baby’s face and Roe’s giggles ease the tension out of the room.
Or most of it anyways. We all dart looks at Charles where he still sits, his eyes wide as he stares at the scene in front of him. Of course he didn’t know of Roe’s existence. This moment, more than anything else, tells me everything I need to know about Scar’s feelings toward Charles.
She’s forgiven him. Decided to trust him. Has let him back in. Fully.
Anxiety twists in my gut.
You’d think I’d be over this jealousy born from insecurity when it comes to him, but apparently I’m not.
“Yes, hello to you too, sweet baby Blu,” Scar greets the dog as Charlene enters the kitchen.
“It’s quite the party in here,” she says in lieu of hello. We all take turns hugging her and pressing kisses to her cheeks.
“I didn’t know you guys were coming,” I say after I release her.
Kade narrows his gaze at her playfully. “Yeah, and where is Joe? He better not be leaving our girls alone.”
Just then, the older man enters the kitchen, his arms laden with bags. “Oh, fuck off. You know better than that, kid.”
